News

£2.75 million traffic scheme to start

October 29, 2012

A multi-million pound project to improve bus services and install state-of-the-art traffic lights to ease congestion along the A329 gets under way this month.

The works are the first phase of a scheme across the borough, thanks to Wokingham Borough Council’s successful bid for £2.75 million funding from the Department for Transport under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF).

A key aspect of the bid is to reduce car usage and achieve a 10 per cent increase in public transport usage along the A329.

From the end of this month, 750 people living in Winnersh will be offered incentives and personalised travel plans, which aim to help them consider all transport options including cycling and bus services.

Travel plans, which are already used in schools, will be rolled out across the borough in the next two years. Businesses based at Thames Valley Park, in Earley, will also be offered similar travel planning advice for staff, such as car sharing schemes to help save money on fuel bills and reducing the number of cars used for commuting in Wokingham.

From next month, work will start to install traffic lights at the Three Tuns junction in Wokingham Road which react to real-time traffic flows.

The new system aims to ease congestion, therefore reducing journey times and carbon dioxide emissions.

The junction will also be resurfaced, and improvements made for cyclists and pedestrians, which are due to be finished by Christmas.

On public transport, First has introduced extra peak-time journeys on its 190 bus route and the council plans to replace the current real-time information screens along the route, between Wokingham and Reading.

Improvements in future phases will include enhanced bus shelter provision and raised kerbs to help passengers to board buses.

The LSTF was awarded to Wokingham Borough Council from a £560 million funding pot for councils to improve sustainable transport and boost economic growth during the next three years.

Councillor Keith Baker, executive member for highways and planning, said: “These initial projects mark the start of the process to ease congestion on this vital through route.

“This will directly contribute to the economic wellbeing of our leading companies keeping them competitive in an ever challenging environment. I look forward to subsequent phases where cycling becomes a focus of attention.”

Wokingham’s LSTF programme has the support of neighbouring councils, South West Trains, First and Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

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Most recent user comments 11 of 11

This does seem a ‘spend money’ for the sake of it scheme as this junction was only changed a few years ago

There again it does cause major hold ups but that’s mostly bad phasing

Oh and yes more cycle lanes, that cyclists can ignore along there – I use them safely so why can’t others?

A Concerned Local, Reading
06/11/2012 at 14:50

@Smiffy - The Mereoak Park & Ride, although located in Wokingham borough, is part of the Reading LSTF scheme.

Earley Man
30/10/2012 at 15:11

The dedicated cycle lanes are so much better in London. Where the cycle has a dedicated lane separate from pedestrians and cars, where cars cannot park and even their own traffic lights. The ones between Reading and Wokingham do not appear very safe.

Further more, the timing of this initiative is strange. They want you to cycle, just and the winter weather arrives.

Mr Jolly
30/10/2012 at 14:40

It seems that a dedicated cycle lane (not sharing the pavement with pedestrians) and more Advance Stop Lines would be a good improvement on my daily commute up the A329 to Reading.

I emailed and wrote to councillor Keith Baker when the money was announced, offering the views of someone who cycles on the road daily, but I didn't get a reply.

Maybe an ASL on the Winnersh roundabout would have saved the poor cyclist hit this morning http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2123170_cyclist_taken_to_hospital_after_collision_

Qwerky
30/10/2012 at 14:26

Moving the cycle lane on the A329 off the pavements into a dedicated lane in which parking is banned would speed up the travel time of cyclists by about 100%. It would probaly also encourage more people to cycle.

This would be a much better return on money spent than any minor improvement achieved by new traffic lights.

PoneRana, Wokingham
30/10/2012 at 10:52

DT - I agree it does need a drastic change and huge investment. As cars are generally more convenient to use, and usually quicker and door to door transport, there needs to be at least a cost incentive not to use it. However at the moment, we have going by car being the more convenient as well as being the cheaper mode of transport.

If I visit my parents up north, an off-peak return costs £127. If I go with my partner, this makes it £254. Add the costs of a taxi to my parents who don't actually live next door to the train station. By car, the diesel costs are £70 there and back for two of us, in less time and door to door.

alex_f, Wokingham
30/10/2012 at 10:49

To change our reliance on cars and make us more green will require massive national investment. Or to put it another way, 'won't happen'. My cousin visited me at the weekend via public transport - it cost him £20, 2 hours, two trains and a bus. It would have taken 35 minutes to drive. Public transport isn't good enough. Nationalise it, invest the money that private enterprise would have got for running it into the infrastructure, and then we'll use it. A cycle lane in Winnersh is not going to make any significant difference.

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
30/10/2012 at 10:18

@PaulDaniels: Couldn't agree more - cyclists sharing a pavement with pedestrians really diminishes the attraction of cycling as a mode of transport. Having to go at a slow enough speed to dodge pedestrians is hard enough work, but having to potentially stop and give way for every single junction is equally as frustrating and slows the average speed down dramatically.

MSmith
30/10/2012 at 09:34

Interesting that there are no comments about Park and Ride - either a replacement to the Showcase Park and Ride or the Mereoak Park and Ride, which has been talked about for ages, but never quite gets done!

Smiffy, Reading
30/10/2012 at 09:07

"I look forward to subsequent phases where cycling becomes a focus of attention.”..... roughly translated as we will not be spending money on dedicated on road cycle lanes any time soon. Seriously, a Travel Plan? That's not going to change my habits. Proper provision of cycle routes designed for those cyclists who commute has to be addressed. I will not use an on-pavement cycle route if I'm travelling over 15mph for fear of hitting/winding up pedestrians.