CRASHES and temporary traffic lights caused travel chaos in and around Oxford this morning, with major delays on the A44, A34 and M40.
The roads are now clear following rush hour, but some people spent a large chunk of their morning sat in queues.
Traffic was slow on the A34 southbound all the way from the Botley Interchange to the Wendlebury Interchange, with nine-mile queues at the height of disruption.
The A420 was extremely slow in the Cumnor area, with Botley Road also badly congested.
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One driver said she was stuck for half an hour on the A34 southbound slip road onto the Botley Interchange.
According to the one.network roadwork map, shown below, there are roadworks on the A420 towards the Botley Interchange today and separate works at the Botley Interchange southbound slip road.
Delays on the A44 southbound have eased following an earlier crash at Yarnton, which blocked part of the road until 8.45am.
Two cars also crashed on Marston Road in Oxford, at Headley Way, causing delays towards Oxford.
Oxford Bus Company tweeted just after 9am, announcing that its City 5 service would not be able to serve the rail station due to 'severe congestion' in the area.
Due to the severe congestion around the Rail station area, our City5 services will terminate at Speedwell Street and will be unable to serve New Road, Park End Street and the Rail station for the time being. Apologies for the inconvenience this may cause.
— Oxford Bus Company (@OxfordBusCo) January 13, 2020
In an earlier tweet, it blamed the closure of Worcester Street for the congestion.
We are currently experiencing severe congestion across the City Centre due to the closure of Worcester Street. Most routes are experiencing delays of 20-30 minutes. Thank you for your patience.
— Oxford Bus Company (@OxfordBusCo) January 13, 2020
Oxford city centre.
— BBC Oxford Travel (@BBCOxTravel) January 13, 2020
Very long delays in the city centre. Beaumont Street - Frideswide Sq - Botley Road - A420 Cumnor, all caused by temporary lights on Beaumont Street that should be removed within an hour.
One woman tweeted to say it had taken her an hour this morning to get from the bottom of Cumnor Hill to the McDonald's traffic lights on Botley Road.
Another said a 28-mile journey had taken almost two hours.
1 hour 45 minutes for a 28 mile journey.. cheers Oxford traffic 👍🏽
— Christian Seeney (@CJSeeney) January 13, 2020
Elsewhere in the county, there were reports of an overturned vehicle in Frilford, causing delays on the A338.
Expect delays on the #A338 at #Frilford due to overturned vehicle #OxonTravel pic.twitter.com/bjMzd57BdL
— OxonTravel (@OxonTravel) January 13, 2020
Motorists also faced major delays on the M40 southbound this morning, following a crash between Lewknor and Milton Common, but those queues have since cleared.
There were queues on the A418 both ways in Thame, at Kingsey Road, due to roadworks.
READ AGAIN: Months of gas works on Cowley Road
Donnington Bridge Road and Abingdon Road were also more congested than usual during morning rush hour, as was Cowley Road due to the ongoing gas works.
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