WORK to improve a junction where a cyclist died four-and-a-half years ago will start in the new year.
In March 2017, student Ben Pedley was involved in a collision with a pedestrian, causing a severe traumatic brain injury, at the crossroads near the Three Tuns pub. It straddles the Reading/Wokingham border and links Church Road with Wokingham Road.
Although an initial report for Wokingham Borough Council was produced by consultations WSP in August 2018, it has not been followed through.
In it, it looked at accidents at the junction between November 1, 2014 and October 31, 2017. It notes that there were seven, of which four occurred between 2016 and 2017, and six of them took place on Church Road.
Last year, Wokingham Borough Council said that it would conduct a public consultation into how the junction can be made safer for pedestrians. One of the problems is narrow footpaths due to the proximity of housing to the kerbside.
Green councillors in Reading’s Park ward – of which the Three Tuns area belongs – are frustrated that the process is taking so long.
Cllr Rob White, who leads the group on Reading Borough Council, said he had been told four scheme options had been prepared and a traffic survey would be carried out within a month.
“Since the tragic death of Benjamin Pedley at this crossing we have been lobbying Wokingham Council to put in a proper crossing over Church Road to the Co-op,” Cllr White said.
“Unfortunately Covid has slowed this project down, but we will keep up the pressure.”
And the delay was frustrating Cllr Clive Jones, leader of Earley Town Council.
“To do nothing for four years is really not acceptable,” he said. “The excuse we’re given many times for not making improvements is that it can’t be done because there is no accident data. I have also heard highway executive members say that no one has died (at a site in question) so we don’t need to do anything. That always fills me with horror.
“Why should you have to wait for someone to die to correct a bad situation?”
He felt that in this case, by not taking action sooner, the council was putting more students lives at risk.
“The borough council should have made it a priority,” he added. “They should be explaining to Mr Pedley’s family why they don’t.”
A spokesperson for Wokingham Borouigh Council confirmed that schemes were being worked on, with a view to installing one in early 2022.
“We have been speaking with Reading Borough Council on improvements to this area,” they said.
“We are working on four scheme options, and will evaluate the impact of the options on the traffic in nearby residential streets.
“We will be carrying out traffic surveys of post-covid traffic conditions in the next four weeks.
“Once this data is collected and analysed we will agree which option can proceed to detailed design and consultation with a view to implementing the preferred scheme in the new year.”
