PLANS to tackle poor parking in Coley will be discussed by Reading Borough councillors this evening, ahead of a possible consultation.
The Wensley Road loop in Coley Park encompasses high-rise flats and a mixture of houses and terraces. These properties will be joined by a 46-home development which will be completed later this year.
To help accommodate the extra homes, the council is proposing changes that would restrict parking and create a one-way system.
The plans include no waiting and no loading restrictions at junctions along the Wensley Road loop to keep traffic moving and limit obstructions to buses.
A new bus stop, with a shelter, would replace the temporary bus stop opposite 180 Wensley Road.
Two speed bumps would be relocated. One would move to provide space for the entrance to the new council development, the other to create a pedestrian crossing.
A new road through the development will be one way, with an entrance to the north of the loop and an exit to the south, close to the junction with Lesford Road.
The changes to driving and parking rules are to be discussed at a meeting of Reading Borough Council’s traffic management sub-committee tonight (Thursday, January 11).
If approved, the council’s assistant director of legal and democratic services will begin a statutory consultation before implementation.
Subject to no objections being received, the assistant director will then be given the power to make the adaptations proposed.
A proposal to make the loop one-way in an anti-clockwise direction received opposition from neighbours in 2017, who said it would be unnecessary and increase residents’ journey times. It was shelved a year later.
There will be an extra 38 car parking spaces created as part of the new development.
The changes to parking rules and access in Wensley Road have been designed in part to provide better access for buses, addressing issues along the loop as drivers pass vehicles parked on the road.
Back in 2017, a council spokesperson said: “The bus route was changed in 2012 in direct response to concerns from elderly residents, who found it difficult to walk to the previous bus stop.
“This change significantly improved access to public transport and consequently has increased use of the local bus service within Coley.
“Bus drivers would also regularly encounter issues with negotiating the old route via Lesford Road, which is narrower than Wensley Road and also heavily parked up.
“While there were some local objections at the time, the change was welcomed by the majority of residents.”
