Last week saw two big pieces of news on local infrastructure for Oxfordshire.

The first was an announcement from the Department for Transport and concerns the A34.

After months of campaigning by myself, local MPs, councils, LEPs and the A34 Action Group, the Department for Transport have agreed to fund the proposals recommended by Highways England in the A34 safety review.

For those who haven’t been following this campaign, following the tragic crash at the end of last year I convened a debate in Westminster on safety on the A34.

As a result of the debate, the Roads Minister agreed to fund a safety review of the road to determine what measures could be taken to improve it.

The review was completed earlier this year, and the Department for Transport announced last week that they would be implementing nearly all of its recommendations.

Upcoming changes to the road will include improved laybys and new digital signage which will change depending on the current traffic flow.

A new sign has also been recommended designed to make it clearer to heavy goods vehicles where they are not allowed to overtake.

Removal of vegetation from junctions was another recommendation.

I am pleased that the Department for Transport are taking the problems on the A34 seriously and will continue to campaign for further improvements.

The second piece of news comes from the Housing Secretary, Sajid Javid and is part of the new housing deal across the county.

As you all will know, Oxfordshire is set to receive many new homes over the next few years, and this announcements aims to provide the infrastructure to support them.

Depending on housing, the government has announced £150 million to build much-needed bridges, roundabouts and roads and £60 million to support new affordable homes.

In total the government has committed up to £215 million of funding.

Housing is always a contentious issue locally, but I am pleased that some serious thought is being put into how to improve local infrastructure.

These announcements are positive steps forward for local infrastructure growth and improving safety on the A34.

Many of you have been in contact with me over the past month to let me know of problems on the roads, and while none of the above is a quick fix, it should go a long way to relieving pressure created by new developments.