[2] The case for the road was examined in a Strategic Study for the Cambridge – Milton Keynes – Oxford corridor, published by National Infrastructure Commission in November 2016.
[3] In his Budget speech in Autumn 2017, Philip Hammond referred to the plan and declared it was the Government's intention "to create a dynamic new growth corridor for the 21st century".
[citation needed] The three broad corridor options that were considered by the NIC are shown in outline form on page 39 of the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway Strategic Study: Stage 3 Report.
[needs update] In an interview in The Sunday Times in March 2018, Sajid Javid, the housing secretary, said that he would give the go-ahead to at least two new towns along the corridor "in the next few weeks" and could push for up to three more.
The National Infrastructure Commission launched a two-stage ideas contest in June 2017 in support of the project with the objective of encouraging a wide range of bodies to put forward suggestions about how the urban space alongside the route could be used.
On Tuesday 2 April 2019 the Council passed a further motion demanding that a fuller consultation is carried out asking local residents if they want an Expressway and associated construction before any route is considered.
[15] On Tuesday 5 November 2019 the County Council passed a further motion stating "Oxfordshire does not support the building of the Expressway irrespective of which route is chosen.
[20] Keith Taylor, a Green MEP for the South East, said that the lack of a potential public consultation of the proposed road breached international environmental law.
[25][needs update] In March 2020, the Department for Transport announced that it was "pausing" (but not cancelling) work on the segment of the Expressway between the M1 and the M40 as part of the RIS2 Strategic Roads Network strategy.