WATCH Wokingham column with Adrian Betteridge
“Local authorities should continue to make significant changes to their road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians.”
Not the rantings of a lycra clad activist or booted rambler, but direction from the Secretary of State for Transport in the foreword to the latest statutory guidance on traffic management.
In the face of the climate emergency, unprecedented pressure on our health services and ever growing congestion on the roads, the government has realised that as a part of solving these issues we need a wholesale shift in how people travel in their local area.
Meanwhile, in Wokingham, we cannot help but point out that we have yet to make any such changes, let alone significant or continued.
To our knowledge, in the past year, no space or funding has been reassigned from motoring to sustainable travel, and not a single metre of safe, segregated space – temporary or otherwise – has been created.
We are holding on to the false premise that we can reduce congestion and emissions by making driving easier, rather than the opposite of this as the government is demanding.
This is odd given the intentions stated elsewhere.
Thanks to our regular local elections we know that every local political party wants better walking and cycling provision.
The three main party manifestos promise “more sustainable transport options safely separated from the main highway”; “a network of high-quality walking and safe cycling routes” and; “to ensure [active travel, walking and cycling are] chosen as the first option by more residents more often”.
The Council’s climate emergency plan is targeting a huge shift from driving to sustainable travel.
A plan for where future walking and cycling routes could run has been drafted, and the council agreed last year that if built these will meet the national best practice standards wherever possible.
But while promising and planning, we are failing to take simple practical steps as the government asks.
We think it’s time to stop talking about it and to get on with doing it.
If you agree, let your local candidate know.
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