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A PUBLIC consultation into one of the borough’s busiest crossroads will be carried out to see if it can be made safer for pedestrians.
Wokingham Borough Council is pledging to conduct it once the coronavirus pandemic has passed, as part of its plans to improve the Three Tuns junction that straddles the Reading and Wokingham borough borders.
A feasibility study was carried out two years ago, but has recently been released under a freedom of information request.
It had been ordered after cyclist Benjamin Pedley died at the crossroads on Monday, March 20, 2017.
The 26-year-old had a severe traumatic brain injury after colliding with a pedestrian who had been crossing the road.
An inquest in September 2017 saw Mr Pedley’s family raise concerns about the safety of the junction that links Wokingham Road with Wilderness Road and Church Road. They felt that Wokingham Borough Council should accept total responsibility for the incident.
A report commissioned by Wokingham Borough Council was presented to them in August 2018 and compiled by WSP.
It looked at the existing junction layout, traffic flows during morning and evening users, and pedestrians using the crossings across the day. This site visit took place on Tuesday, January 23, 2018, and saw inspectors use the crossings as well as observing how people made their journeys across the road.
A further section looked at potential pedestrian crossings that could be implemented and their costs.
Problems highlighted included the lights on Wokingham Road, which need to be changed to directional arrows instead of existing green roundels, to make it easier for motorists to see which way they can turn.
The report also looks 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.
However, when it came to a new crossing, it worried that it “will worsen the operational performance of the junction and increase delay for motorised users”.
It recommended that a signal-controlled pedestrian crossing facility should be installed on Church Road, with no left turnfrom Wokingham Road into Church Road.
It warns: “The implementation of this banned turn is likely to see some reassignment traffic along the residential streets of Heath Road and St Peter’s Road which may prevent this from being considered a viable option”.
As a result, it says that the existing crossing should be converted into a signalised pedestrian crossing, but guardrails couldn’t be considered as the pavement is not wide enough.
It felt that the project, which is estimated to cost just over £41,000, would “involve minor changes to the existing infrastructure at the junction.
“The proposed pedestrian crossing facility at the B3350 Church Road (N) has been positioned inside the junction as much as possible in order to address junction intervisibility constraints and maximise safety for all road users.”
Responding, Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport for Wokingham Borough Council, said: “This is one of the busiest junctions in the borough and a key access point for our residents in Woodley and Earley as well as being a major transport route into Reading.
“It is congested at peak times which is why it’s high on our list of priorities for relief measures.
“We commissioned a feasibility study to examine the potential to improve the pedestrian crossing and then began gathering data on how motorists, cyclists and pedestrians use the junction and surrounding streets.
“This information is crucial because it will inform new camera and traffic light technology we’re introducing as part of our climate emergency actions.
“Once the current public health crisis is over we’ll discuss with our colleagues in Reading the options raised by the data. But before we do anything at the junction, we will, of course, carry out a public consultation.”
