Wokingham’s notorious ‘danger’ road is reducing queues of traffic and is safe for all road users, according to surveys carried out by Wokingham Borough Council.
The claims came as Highways England (HE) finally completed work to improve signage on the A329M and start the process of handing back responsibility for the road to the council.
Over the past fortnight, HE has been installing new signs that end its involvement with the year-long project to convert the two-lane motorway into two single lane carriageways, one for the A329M and one for traffic going on to the M4.
A spokesperson for HE told The Wokingham Paper: “All works are now complete and all signs installed at the junction.”
Since the project opened in October last year, we have reported on numerous accidents and near misses while readers have commented on the increased journey times they face as the single lane A329M has caused additional delays to their commutes.
Both John Redwood MP and Rob Wilson MP have also added their weight to the campaign to restore the A329M and a Facebook group has been set up called Fix The A329M. It currently has more than 900 members.
Councillor John Kaiser, Wokingham Borough Council’s (WBC) executive member for planning and highways, told The Wokingham Paper that the changes to the A329M had been given a safety audit which showed that it would provide necessary capacity and “be safe for all road users”. This, he added, “has worked”.
He said: “The recent A329M scheme was designed by Highways England to reduce the amount of traffic queuing on the M4 – something that had been identified as a significant safety problem.
“The design was checked by WBC’s consultants, WSP, and both agreed it should provide the necessary capacity at the junction that would be safe for all road users. And this has worked.”
Speaking on the problems related to the signs on the road, which have added to motorists’ confusion, Cllr Kaiser was upbeat.
“The originally planned scheme is now complete,” he said. “The scheme’s safety was audited independently before Christmas and one of the recommendations made was to improve signage.
“The additional permanent signs will be in place by the end of January.”
And the council aims to continue to monitor the way in which motorists are using the new A329M.
“In the last couple of weeks we’ve carried out video surveys and further ones will be carried out in the next few weeks,” Cllr Kaiser said.
“This will help us identify what is causing delays, in particular during the morning rush hour, and what measures we could safely implement to reduce them if it’s appropriate. Off peak, the junction works well.
“The police were involved in the safety audit carried out in December and we continue to keep them updated on our plans.”
