A BUS LANE on one of the busiest roads in Reading is expected to open in May, something the leader of the opposition says will double the length of traffic jams.
Last week, councillors approved six new bus lanes aimed at making it easier for buses to get around town, thereby encouraging people to get out of their cars and on to public transport.
The first would be on the Oxford Road between Zinzan Street and George Street, and is aimed to be in by April. A second stretch, between Pangbourne Street and Norcot Junction, would be created in the outbound lane by November.
The second would see a lane installed between Liverpool Road and Cemetery Junction on London Road, and be operational by May.
A second stretch would be between Sidmouth Street and London Street and be installed by the end of the year.
Close by, a bus lane would be created on Southampton Street heading toward the town centre between Pell Street and The Oracle.
The final bus lane would be on Bath Road between Circuit lane and Granville Road in the direction of Calcot. This would be in place by September next year.
The project comes from a £26.3m funding pot awards to the council in 2022, with the aim of improving the town’s bus network.
The new lanes were approved by Reading Borough Council’s traffic management committee, when they met last week.
Councillors debated the potential for traffic queues caused by the changes.
Reading Borough Council’s lead councillor for climate strategy and transport, Cllr John Ennis, said the changes will cause jams, but the scheme has been designed to encourage people to change their journey habits.
He also said the new bus lanes are aimed at meeting the council’s net zero emissions targets and tackling poor air quality.
Cllr Ennis (Labour, Southcote) said: “It’s an excellent project. These ideas haven’t been plucked out of the sky, they are aimed at how we can tackle poor air quality.
“The way to defeat that is to enhance our public transport, that is the way to do it.”
Cllr Sarah Hacker (Independent, Battle) agreed, stating that she has to clean her windows that are ‘thick with grime’ coming from car engines.
She said: “Unfortunately it will be awkward and uncomfortable but it’s absolutely necessary.”
The most controversial change is turning one of two inbound traffic lanes in London Road between Liverpool Road and Cemetery Junction into a bus lane.
Cllr Rob White (Green, Park), the leader of the opposition cited council traffic modelling that the change would increase the morning traffic queue by 176 cars and the evening queue by 107 cars.
Cllr White said: “This is approximately a doubling of both of those traffic jams.”
He added that the Greens supported “five out of the six bus lanes proposed”, calling for a decision on the London Road bus lane to be deferred.
Cllr Raj Singh (Conservatives, Kentwood) pointed out that the majority of respondents to a statutory consultation objected to the changes.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service counted 116 written objections to the London Road bus lane between Liverpool Street and Cemetery Junction, with 45 written submissions supporting the change.
The majority of these were supportive, on the condition that motorcycles should be able to use the lane as well as buses.
Cllr Will Cross (Labour, Redlands) said of the opposition parties: “We’ve seen vote chasing, we’ve seen a lack of leadership and we’ve seen naked populism.”
Cllr Ennis called the Greens and the Conservatives “two cheeks of the same backside.”
In a vote, all Labour members, Cllr James Moore (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst) and Cllr Hacker voted for the bus lanes, with Cllrs Singh, White and Cllr Kathryn McCann (Green, Redlands) voting against them at the meeting on Thursday, January 11.
The projects to establish the lanes can now begin.
