Bhas been accused of ignoring safety concerns over the new South Wokingham Distributor Road by a retired chartered engineer.
Les Roland, who is also a former chairman of Frog Hall Drive Residents’ Association, says he and other engineers feel the original Government inspector’s suggestion for a relief road alongside the railway line was much safer than Wokingham Borough Council’s (WBC) final choice of a distributor road through the new housing estates.
Mr Roland says a relief road would have no crossings and would keep pedestrians and traffic separate. A distributor road would bring them closer in areas where new schools are proposed.
He added: “I have a lot of friends who are chartered engineers and equally qualified.
“They all agree with me that it’s ridiculous when you can have a safe road, to have a less safe road.”
Mr Roland also insists the bridge over the railway line would be unnecessary if the relief road were built rather than the distributor road.
He has spoken at meetings and written to councillors to question the engineering qualifications of officers but says his concerns are being ignored.
But Cllr John Kaiser, WBC’s executive member for planning and highways, said before any road was built there would always be a safety audit and the council worked with some of the most experienced firms to design the best roads.
The northern and southern distributor roads were, he said, designed to disperse the traffic in a logical way and the railway bridge would eliminate the level crossing, itself a major hazard.
“Level crossings are dangerous,” he said.
