The main construction work on the long-awaited A34 Lodge Hill interchange started today (Wednesday 3rd September).

During the day, surveyors could been on site with their theodolites, aimed at the splitter island at the A34 southbound off-slip junction. This island will be the first thing to go, creating more space for construction vehicles to move in and out.

Traffic management is already in place. On the A34, lanes have been narrowed and drivers are being asked to slow down near the works to keep everyone safe. Overnight temporary traffic lights are also running between 9 pm and 5 am on the A4183 and the A34 southbound off-slip while the islands are removed.

Cllr Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “We have all campaigned for this for so long and it is wonderful news that construction has begun.”

The project, being delivered by Balfour Beatty with support from Homes England, is expected to finish by the end of 2026. When complete, it should reduce through-traffic in Abingdon. A condition for the new homes being built to the north of Abingdon was that the Lodge Hill interchange improvements were funded and built.

You can find more details about the A34 Lodge Hill scheme and traffic management plans on Oxfordshire County Council’s website:

Drayton Road has long been one of Abingdon’s most congested routes.

A sign on Drayton Road warned of gas mains replacement works with multi-way traffic lights “for two weeks from 4th August.” The fact that the works are still ongoing has caught some people off guard, raising concerns that the delays might continue and get worse after schools return on 2nd September.

However, One.Network lists the schedule from 4th August 10:30 until 29th August 23:59 — nearly four weeks in total — so the works should finish before the new school term.

You can check the latest updates on the One.Network website.

It all started so well this morning with traffic flowing smoothly along West St Helen Street. But by lunchtime, a queue of traffic had slowed to a crawl.

The usual school run chaos is over for a few weeks. Although term officially ends tomorrow (22nd July), many local schools are having inset days on the 21st and 22nd. With staff training underway and students at home, the school year is effectively over.

Even so, by midday, Radio Oxford was reporting traffic problems — not across Oxfordshire, just here in Abingdon. Temporary traffic lights on Ock Street were causing long tailbacks, holding up drivers trying to get out of the town centre via the High Street, and all its tributaries. Radio Oxford said it added twenty minutes to the journey from Culham, and fifteen minutes from West St Helen Street.

One man sitting in his car told me, ‘I’ve lived here since 1978, and the traffic just keeps getting worse.’

By the afternoon, things had quietened down as the temporary lights were switched off. But the lights might be back over the next couple of days.