Oxfordshire park and ride opening delayed another year

Eynsham park and ride, which is now nationally known for being a for being a multi-million-pound ‘car park to nowhere’, is now expected to open in summer 2028.

Previously, Oxfordshire County Council had been wanting to get it open in “early 2027”.

What’s more, Oxfordshire County Council will cease to exist months before the park and ride finally opens due to local government reorganisation.

Completed in 2024 with 850 spaces, the facility has been sat completely dormant and fenced off for years because inflation and funding shortages left it with no connecting road access or entry junctions to the A40.

In February, opposition leader Liam Walker mocked the council by baking a birthday cake to mark the second anniversary of the park and ride remaining shut.

Liam Walker, the leader of the Oxfordshire Conservatives, celebrating the two-year anniversary of the Eynsham Park in Ride with a birthday cake (Image: Ed Nix)

The council has said enabling works will begin this autumn, with main construction starting in spring 2027.

It added that based on the current programme, the park and ride is expected to open in “early summer 2028, with the remainder of the project completed and open by summer 2029”.

Conservative leader Liam Walker said: “This latest update highlights exactly what I have been warning about for years: the Liberal Democrats simply do not know how to deliver major infrastructure projects.

“Had they not cancelled the planned A40 dual carriageway upgrades between Witney and Eynsham, we would already have proper access to the park and ride and work on the wider bus-lane improvements would be well underway.

“Instead, we have a brand-new park and ride sitting closed while taxpayers continue to pick up the cost, and we are now being told it may not open until early summer 2028, with the overall project not completed until 2029.

“The constant delays, redesigns and changing timetables are a damning indictment of the way this project has been managed.

“The Lib Dem administration simply does not have a clue what it is doing when it comes to delivering the key infrastructure West Oxfordshire desperately needs, and, perhaps most frustratingly, nobody ever seems to be held accountable for this appalling project management.”

A council spokesman said: “The council’s target throughout has been to open the park and ride during 2027, and that remained the programme we were working towards.

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“However, the later-than-anticipated granting of planning permission, together with the time required to discharge planning conditions, complete utility diversions and undertake other preparatory works before main construction can begin, has required a review of the programme.

“That review has now been completed and the updated timeline is being communicated to stakeholders and the public.”

Dan Levy, the cabinet member for finance, previously admitted the delay was “embarrassing” for the council.

Eynsham county councillor Dan Levy (Image: Contributed)

Liz Leffman, cabinet member for highways construction and repair, said: “The A40 Eynsham park and ride to Wolvercote project is an important investment in Oxfordshire’s transport network that will enable the Eynsham park and ride to open, provide new bus lanes and improve walking and cycling facilities along the A40 corridor.

“We know people are keen to see these benefits delivered, and our focus is on progressing the work needed to connect the park and ride to the A40 and bring it into use as soon as possible.”

The £51 million Eynsham Park and Ride facility has accumulated nearly £300,000 in security and maintenance bills since it was completed in January 2024.