Oxford-Cambridge expressway 'paused' for other roads work

Campaigners have called on all parties to stop the scheme over concerns about housing

Work on the Oxford to Cambridge expressway has been "paused".

The Department for Transport and Highways England said they will "undertake further work on other potential road projects" between the two university cities instead.

They said that work would seek to reduce congestion in other areas between them.

Labour's Anneliese Dodds criticised the "woolly" announcement and said the government's intentions remain unclear.

The expressway has been a key plank of infrastructure plans since 2017.

At the time, the National Infrastructure Commission said the new road and the East-West Rail project had to "be built as quickly as possible to unlock land for new homes" in the area known as the Oxford-Cambridge Arc.

The rail project is widely supported and work on it continues, but the road has been labelled potentially "catastrophic" by campaigners who worry about environmental damage.

The government said it hopes the new work - announced in its Road Investment Strategy 2 - would "alleviate congestion around the Arc's major economic centres, such as Milton Keynes".

But Ms Dodds, Oxford East's Labour MP, said: "Just to talk of a pause is quite woolly and it's going to be difficult to discern what the real intention is: whether it is that they will go ahead with the expressway in a few years or whether they are really going to can it."

In November, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the new road was "not environmentally friendly" and would be subject to an urgent review.