Question:
The impact of the major housebuilding in the Arborfield and Shinfield areas in recent years is now directly affecting traffic in the mornings from Arborfield, through Sindlesham and on to Winnersh. For example, most mornings traffic is backed up from the Hatch Farm Way/King Street junction underneath the M4, back to the Reading FC training ground on Mole Road. On bad days the traffic queue can reach even closer to Arborfield Village and we have examples where it has been quicker to walk the 40 minutes from our home to Winnersh Railway station, rather than travel by car. What traffic management actions can the council undertake in such circumstances to reduce the environmental impact of the queuing traffic and the significant inconvenience to drivers caused by the delays encountered?
Minutes:
Question
The impact of the major housebuilding in the Arborfield and Shinfield areas in recent years is now directly affecting traffic in the mornings from Arborfield, through Sindlesham and on to Winnersh. For example, most mornings traffic is backed up from the Hatch Farm Way/King Street junction underneath the M4, back to the Reading FC training ground on Mole Road. On bad days the traffic queue can reach even closer to Arborfield Village and we have examples where it has been quicker to walk the 40 minutes from our home to Winnersh Railway station, rather than travel by car. What traffic management actions can the council undertake in such circumstances to reduce the environmental impact of the queuing traffic and the significant inconvenience to drivers caused by the delays encountered?
Mr Watts was not present at the meeting and so it was agreed that a written response would be provided and is included below:
Answer:
The council has been working with developers to minimise the impact of development on the existing highway network. Through the planning process we have delivered significant major schemes including the relief roads and distributor roads as well as greenways and making other improvements for walking, cycling, and public transport all with the view to promote active travel and encourage alternative options to private car use for many.
The My Journey team continues to promote active and sustainable travel and we are developing our Local Walking and Cycling Implementation Plan which is our plan for a comprehensive joined up network which will enable more people to switch to walking and cycling.
There is an ongoing increase in population in the borough and we have to ensure that there are alternative transport options available to prevent an increase in road traffic as much as possible. Lastly our Local Transport Plan is currently in development, we are currently consulting on some high-level principles which will help us understand many people’s priorities for transport in the borough and help us plan better when new developments and promoted by developers / land owners.
Regarding the specific question around traffic management, we have a rolling programme of signal upgrades and continually work to try and improve performance of junctions. During one of our recent reviews an issue was identified at the signals within Winnersh, once tweaked and repaired the observed increase in queues and delays were improved. We continue to monitor our signal junction’s operations and performance to ensure the best operation is achieved.
The availability of other roads such as Mill Lane Sindlesham can also have an impact on the B3030 King Street Lane and Mole Road. When Mill Lane is closed, traffic that would normally use it would be diverted through the Hatch Farm Way junction and add to the normal queues in the am peak.
Through ongoing assessments junctions like the showcase roundabout, Winnersh, which has been assessed, options to upgrade this junction to a system called MOVA (Microprocessor Optimised Vehicle Actuation) are being considered and could be developed subject to future scope/funding.
Whilst junction / signal optimisation and improvements can be beneficial, our longer-term aspirations need to focus on active travel which will also have environmental and health benefits for our residents as well as aligning to our Emergency Climate Change Action Plan.