CAVERSHAM residents are ‘fed up’ with HGVs using the village as a cut-through and need a third bridge across the River Thames.
That’s the view of Cllr John Ennis, the lead councillor for transport on Reading Borough Council.
He made the comment during a discussion on BBC Radio Berkshire about the council’s Transport Strategy 2040. This suggests journey times could be improved if a third Thames bridge were to be built.
However, proposals have stalled because neighbouring South Oxfordshire and Oxfordshire County councils have not agreed.
“We’ve always been stuck with our neighbours, and we’re desperate to engage with them,” Cllr Ennis said. “Let’s be honest, North Reading and Reading are fed up with the beautiful area, amd small roads, being used as a shortcut to the M4.
“We’ve really got to come to some sort of conclusion soon about what we’re going to do if there is always an obstruction and objection to building the bridge because we’re desperate for it.”
Any third bridge would require cooperation with South Oxfordshire District Council and Wokingham Borough Council to implement, as a prospective bridge would link Thames Valley Park in Earley with the junction of Henley Road and Caversham Park Road – just outside the borough boundary.
While Reading council wants the bridge to be built, it is a suggestion that has proved unpopular in South Oxfordshire.
Also speaking on Radio Berkshire was Cllr Mike Giles, (Liberal Democrats, Sonning Common), who said: “Cllr Ennis is trying to win hearts and minds in South Oxfordshire by threatening to bring in road user charging, and I’m not sure that’s really the right way to go about it if you want to engage with the local people.
“In terms of the bridge itself, I think the proposal is a bit half-baked, the proposed bridge would be very expensive probably costing hundreds of millions of pounds, it’s opposed by many residents across the district, and its construction and usage will harm the local environment.”
Cllr Ennis replied: “If South Oxfordshire say, ‘we don’t want it’, we have to move on.
“If all councils were engaging and in favour of it, we could move forward with a bid. We’ve done that before.
“We want to work with our neighbouring colleagues, we’re not threatening. The people of North Reading are fed up.”
He then said that 25% of traffic has no destination in Reading, but adds to congestion nonetheless.
Cllr Ennis floated the idea of charging drivers using Reading roads as a cut-through route in a conversation about the Reading Transport Strategy 2040 with the Local Democracy Reporting Service. This would not be a congestion charging zone, something the council has previously ruled out.
The Transport Strategy’s aims and proposals can be viewed on the Consult Reading website.
