A project that will improve walking and cycling access into Reading and one of the biggest parks in the town has been given the go-ahead.
The Woodley Active Travel Scheme is a walking and cycling route between Woodley town centre and Palmer Park.
Although the route is largely in Wokingham Borough, it ends at the junction of Wykeham Road and Palmer Park Avenue in Reading Borough.
Councillors have recently approved an improved parallel crossing for this junction at the last stretch of the route.
The project was discussed at a council meeting, with John Ennis, lead councillor for climate strategy and transport, arguing the route will encourage more people to use active travel methods.
Cllr Ennis (Labour, Southcote) said: “I’m really pleased with this piece of work, it shows that we are in an adult fashion working with our colleagues in Wokingham.
“It opens up further avenues for out-of-town cycling into Reading, because we know traffic congestion is often cars and vehicles that are not from Reading Borough but are coming in for work and leisure.
“And that’s fine in many ways, because Reading is a vibrant area and we need people from other areas coming into the town, we want them and need them.
“But we would like them to come in forms of active travel, and this is just one of the areas promoting that.”
He called it an ‘excellent’ project, thanking council officers and lead councillors in Reading and Wokingham for working together.
Cllr Rob White (Green, Park), the leader of the opposition who represents the area, said: “I love cycling around Reading and Greens are continuing to lobby to join up Reading’s fragmented cycle network.
“At the moment, if you are unlucky enough to be a cyclist travelling from Palmer Park Avenue, under the bridges, up Culver Lane, like many Bulmershe schoolchildren, it is a pothole-riddled mess.
“We have been lobbying Reading and Wokingham to sort this out. Wokingham have committed to doing so this year but Labour-run Reading disappointingly haven’t. It is even worse when it rains as you can’t see how deep the potholes are.
“This cycle link, which Greens support, will improve things for cyclists, but Reading needs to pull its finger out and fix the severe potholes in this area.
“We’ll support good schemes like this one, and oppose bad schemes.”
Welcoming the consensus, cllr Jacopo Lanzoni (Labour, Caversham), who is openly gay, quipped: “I’m very pleased to see some bromance in Pride Month.”
The new parallel crossing at Wykeham Road and Palmer Park Avenue was unanimously approved by the council’s traffic management sub-committee on Wednesday, June 11.
