Cycle lanes on London Road and in town centre – more active travel plans revealed

Last week, Reading Borough Council (RBC) announced plans for seven cycling and walking schemes in response to the coronavirus pandemic and the need for social distancing.

These include cycle lanes on Reading Bridge, Oxford Road and Sidmouth Street.

You can read more about these proposals and the reasoning behind them here.

RBC has revealed a further nine medium-to-long-term proposals to encourage walking and cycling in the town.

There are four medium-term plans, which the council says it could start on once it gets funding from the government’s Active Travel Fund. These are:

• A temporary westbound cycle route on London Road, which could be shared with buses, and could later be made permanent
• New permanent cycle lane on Blagrave Street, between Reading Station and the Town Hall square
• Permanent improvements to bus and cycle lanes on Basingstoke Road
• More areas with 20mph speed limits

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Further proposals have been outlined by the council to “compliment” the short and medium-term plans and ensure the initial cycle lanes are not seen as “piecemeal”.

These plans are:

East Reading – scheme from the centre to East Reading, joining up sustainable transport facilities on Kings Road and London Road

West Reading – enhancements on Bath Road; additional bus lanes on Oxford Road

North Reading – improved access to Christchurch Bridge; walking and cycling enhancements in Caversham and on Caversham Bridge

South Reading – measures on Shinfield Road; A33 public transport scheme

Town centre – Enhancements to walking and cycling routes to, from and through the town centre alongside improving the quality of the town centre’s public spaces.

RBC says these are just a selection of the proposals it could bring forward in the future.

The plans will be voted on at tonight's virtual Policy Committee, which you can watch online here from 6.30pm.