FOR THE second time today, cars have crashed at the newly-opened Winnersh Relief Road junction on King Street Lane.
Approximately 40 minutes ago, at 1pm, a Ford took a right turn from King Street Lane down to Hatch Farm Way, said Cllr Prue Bray, Liberal Democrat councillor for Winnersh.
Standing at the scene of the crash, she said an Audi – which was travelling from Sindlesham towards Sainsbury’s – has been damaged on the bumper, and airbags triggered.
But she said the Ford, which made the illegal turn, fared much worse.
“It’s pretty bad,” she said. “They’ve taken out a traffic signal pole.”
Ambulance and Police crews are currently on scene, but Cllr Bray said nobody is seriously injured.
“It’s worse than the crash this morning,” she said. “It must be local people who have got used to turning right.”
The car owners are awaiting recovery vehicles.
The councillor said the parish council has called on the borough council to paint road markings for extra clarity about the change to the junction.
“You couldn’t miss the signs,” she said. “People are just taking a chance.”
Next week a formal safety review is due to take place.
At roughly 8.30am this morning, another Ford was involved in a crash, after taking the same illegal right hand turn.
Since the relief road on Longdon Road opened, the junction has changed to limit drivers from joining or exiting mid-way through.
In a post on social media, Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways on Wokingham Borough Council, promised action for a different part of the road.
She wrote: “I have asked highways to look at light phasing so you can turn right out of Sainsbury more easily and join the new road at the roundabout which was designed for the purpose. That avoids King Street Lane completely.”
She also said she had requested installation of right turn enforcement cameras and improvements to the light timing on the main Sainsbury exit on Reading Road.
