THE cost of dualling the A40 from Witney to Oxford was put at £120m by transport bosses last night.

The proposal would involve major changes to widen roads and overhaul junctions, including a possible bypass at Eynsham.

And the idea of the “Tin Hat” bypass – a road running through North Oxford from Loop Farm to the Northern Bypass – was also resurrected with an extra £100m pricetag.

The dualling plan is one of five radical options for battling rush- hour congestion on the notorious road, with others including a bus lane, guided busway, trams and trains.

Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth said the authority would launch a public consultation on its ideas tomorrow but insisted the authority does not favour any of the options.

The council is already set to plough £38m into improvements along the route – but senior figures say bolder measures are needed to beat long delays experienced by drivers on a daily basis.

Mr Hudspeth told the Oxford Mail: “We want this to be a serious conversation about what can be done along the A40, with a focus on how much it would cost and how quickly it can be delivered.

“This is the first time we have come out with all the options and the idea is to ask people what they want and whether it is viable.”

But he added: “The £38m we are already spending is the single biggest infrastructure project in the county, so it will be important to think about how likely it is that we would get almost £300m in funding from the Government.

“In the past we have simply said some ideas would be too expensive, but now we want to lay out the facts.

“It may be that we would have to build substantial amounts of housing to finance it.”

Ideas being considered by the council for the route from Witney to Wolvercote include a £50m bus lane, a £120m dual carriageway with a possible £100m ‘North Oxford Bypass’, a £165m guided busway, a £240m tram and a £285m railway.

The authority has estimated the shortest journey time – seven minutes – could be achieved by creating a dual carriageway.

But it warned this could encourage a surge in car usage and would require purchasing “considerable” areas of land to create space, with the extra £100m bypass possibly required to ensure traffic does not bottleneck at junctions in North Oxford.

It added that the widening required could also encroach on protected land close to Port Meadow, part of the Oxford Meadows Special Area of Conservation.

Mr Hudspeth added: “You would have to ask people in North Oxford if they were happy with the situation they have now.

“I am sure many people would like the A40 to run more smoothly and quickly.”

The A40 is used by more than 30,000 motorists every day and according to figures from the county council, 91 per cent of eastbound users in the morning rush hour came from West Oxfordshire and 72 per cent were travelling into Oxford.

But the authority fears daily congestion along the route is putting the brakes on economic growth, with Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron previously describing it as “the foot on the windpipe of the West Oxfordshire economy”.

The county council said it launched the new consultation so it could “be ready” for funding opportunities from the Government.

“A combination of schemes could be brought forward,” it added.

The consultation will run until November 8 and the authority will discuss findings in the spring.

To comment on the options visit oxfordshire.gov.uk/A40 from tomorrow.

THE OPTIONS

* £50m bus lane – A bus lane is both directions from Witney to Wolvercote, extending the bus lane already proposed from Eynsham to Wolvercote for eastbound traffic. 11-minute journey.

* £120m dual carriageway – A dual carriageway from Witney to Wolvercote with a central servation. This could involve a bypass at Eynsham, as well as a possible £100m ‘North Oxford Bypass’ from Loop Farm to rejoin the Northern Bypass. Seven-minute journey.

* £165m guided busway – A two-way guided busway, a concrete track for specially-adapted buses, from Ducklington, near Witney, to Oxford. It would use the route of the old railway from Witney to Cassington, running alongside the A40 into Wolvercote. 12-minute journey.

* £240m tramway – A double-tracked light rail system running along the old railway route from Duckington, near Witney, via Eynsham, to either Yarnton (and on to Oxford via heavy rail tracks) or to Wolvercote. 20 to 25-minute journey.

* £285m railway – A single-track heavy rail system running along the old railway route from Duckington, near Witney, via Eynsham, to Yarnton (and on to Oxford via heavy rail tracks). Double tracks at stations to allow trains to pass each other. An alternate route could run from Oxford Hill, in Witney, to Yarnton.