THE MP for Wokingham has criticised the council for creating cycleways he claims are not being used.
John Redwood MP has called on Wokingham Borough Council to justify the cost of the new A329 cycleways scheme, which was recently completed, in a recent post on his blog.
Mr Redwood wrote: “I was worried about possible conflict between pedestrians and cycles along the A329 route, as the cycleway diverts cycles from the old highway to the pavement at several points along its route, usually where there is a pedestrian crossing point or pinch point on the highway.
“I am pleased to report that when I went on two occasions to see if there were problems there was no such difficulty.
“On the first occasion I drove from Wokingham to Reading along the full stretch of the A329. I saw two cyclists. One was a young man on a racing bike who appeared to be out for sport cycling, riding very fast. He chose to ride in the vehicle lane, not the cycleway.
“The second was a more elderly man who chose to ride on the pavement at a slow speed, so any pedestrian could see he was on the pavement all the time and adjust their route accordingly.
“On the second occasion I drove from central Wokingham to Winnersh Triangle along the A329. I saw no cyclists at all.”
Mr Redwood ends the post by stating that he has written to the council asking why the schemes were undertaken, and what the usage levels of the cycleways are and are predicted to be in the future.
Several comments on the blog suggest that readers agree with his view.
One commenter called Grumpy Goat wrote: “It is the lack of use of these new expensive facilities that gets me. Money would have better spent on the railways, buses and roads which are far more used by the majority. Like John, I have seen very few cycle users of the cycle lanes.
“I still see some of the cyclists ignoring the especially built path and cycling on the now more dangerous narrow road way – what is the point!”
Cllr John Kaiser, executive member for planning and highways at Wokingham Borough Council, said: “The £2million A329 cycleway, that will eventually run the length of Wokingham Borough’s section from the Three Tuns junction to Coppid Beech roundabout, has been financed using the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) alongside developers’ contributions.
“There are currently more than 4,000 cycle movements a week in places along the A329, this isn’t just a major route for vehicles.
“This project will make it safer not only for cyclists of all ages, but everyone else using the road, whether in a vehicle or on foot. And of course, we hope it will encourage more people to get on the saddle.”
