‘Traffic slowing improvements were promised a year ago’

PROMISES TO improve a dangerous road in Finchampstead were made a year ago and are yet to be upheld, according to a concerned resident.

Last month, Wokingham.Today reported that the borough council will install a vehicle activated sign scheme, to help slow traffic on the A327 Reading Road.

But road resident Gareth Rees, who has spoken on behalf of the community at many council meetings said that same promise was made in November last year.

“All we want is a clear timeline,” he said. “I had a meeting with the highways executive and it was amicable but not committal.

“They said they would acquire the Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) and install poles to place them on within three months.”

Mr Rees said these same actions were agreed last autumn, but nothing has been done. And as the nights draw in, he’s concerned that the residents using the path will be at higher risk of an accident.

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“The council’s school safety report in April said action needed to be taken to clean it — but it hasn’t been done.”

This would see debris cleared, giving walkers full use of the path. But six months on, it is yet to be cleared up.

Mr Rees said he’s not confident in the improvements being made unless the council communicates clear timelines to the residents.

“Until I see some action, I’m sceptical,” he added.

He’s also concerned the data the council uses to analyse traffic speed lacks accuracy.

“In the meeting, they said they’re monitoring the road and pulling the data from a source that uses drivers’ mobile phones,” Mr Rees said. “It’s GPS data from Google and Apple and isn’t as accurate as radar monitoring used for speed cameras.

“It has a higher inaccuracy band. It would record a car doing 50pmh but that could be anywhere between 45mph and 55mph.”

And Mr Rees said by analysing a weekly speed average, the data isn’t accurate.

“On a weekend there’s less traffic, but moving at a faster speed. And on the weekdays there’s more traffic moving at a lower speed.

“Combining the two means it looks as though less drivers are speeding. When really if they took an average of the weekday and weekends separately, this would be a more accurate representation of the road.

“It sounds to me like people are hiding behind the numbers.”

BT Openreach have also raised safety concerns to the borough council.

Last month, temporary traffic lights were installed on Park Lane so that engineers could move the broadband box to a safer location following a crash last year involving a BT van.

“I spoke to the engineers and they were all refusing to work there as it’s just too unsafe,” Mr Rees said.

“So they’ve moved the cabinet 100 yards way, towards the ford down New Mill Road.

“BT asked for temporary traffic lights for the safety of the engineers and the council refused.

“It took a year for BT to get permission from the council.”

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport said the two SIDs will be installed early next year and said Covid-19 had impacted their progress.

She said: “Borough council officers and elected members met with residents in November last year and made a commitment to assess the vehicle speeds and pedestrian crossing safety on the A327.

“The data shows that most of the traffic using this section of the A327 is doing so in compliance with the current 40mph speed limit.

“Although some drivers exceed the speed limit, mainly during quieter, off-peak periods, the road safety performance of this very busy strategic route is generally good.

“An independent study into pedestrian safety has highlighted the difficulty for young pedestrians in crossing the road.

“As a result, the council is developing measures to help reduce excessive speeds and assist crossing safety, alongside designing locations for Speed Indication Devices (SIDs) to be installed for short term periods.

“I completely understand the frustration of residents that SIDs devices have not yet appeared, unfortunately the impact of Covid and resulting workload has delayed progress.

“Installation of poles is planned before Christmas with two Speed Indication Devices (SIDs) to be installed early in 2021.

“The council will consult with the public on the additional measures mentioned above in spring 2021.”