Wendlebury Interchange
| Wendlebury Interchange | |||
| Location Map ( geo) | |||
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| Location | |||
| Wendlebury | |||
| County | |||
| Oxfordshire | |||
| Highway Authority | |||
| National Highways | |||
| Junction Type | |||
| Grade separated roundabout | |||
| Roads Joined | |||
| M40, A34, A41 | |||
The Wendlebury Interchange is junction 9 of the M40. It's also the northern end of the A34's HQDC section, and consequently is often the source of long queues on the northbound carriageway. It's also not unusual to see traffic queueing onto the M40 southbound.
The northbound approach to the junction, as well as M40 J8a southbound, feature unusual central-reserve mounted signs listing only the junction number.
In 2007 there were plans to widen the roundabout to include, amongst other things, three lanes for traffic heading onto the A34 southbound. This was postponed to Summer 2010 due to a lack of funding. Due to the increasing congestion problems at the junction, the B430 has developed as a rat-run.
Work was eventually completed on the junction by 2016 as part of the pinch points programme, at a cost of £7.23m - however, subsequent studies revealed that the design changes had actually made the situation worse overall[1]
History
Instead of the A34 and A41, this junction was originally home to the ruler-straight A421 Bicester-A43 road. The current junction opened in 1991 with the rest of the M40. Lane one of the southbound M40 through the junction was later hatched out due to the volume of traffic leaving at the junction.
When the junction was built, Oxfordshire County Council argued that a roundabout would not be suitable here, but were unable to force a change of plans.
Routes
| Route | To | Notes |
| The MIDLANDS, Northampton, Banbury | ||
| London, Aylesbury (avoiding low bridge), Thame | ||
| Oxford, Newbury | ||
| Aylesbury, Bicester, Buckingham (A4421) | 4.5m / 15'0" height limit in 4 miles |
References
