A driver in Reading has continued to voice his frustration over what he calls a ‘senseless’ temporary cycle lane – raising fears it restricts crucial access to emergency services.
The northbound lane in Sidmouth Street has been closed off since the end of July 2020 to create a dedicated cycle lane to encourage cycling and social distancing.
Although the closure of the lane to motor vehicles was introduced as a temporary measure, the closure remains a years and nine months on.
The cycle lane allows cyclists to go up and down Sidmouth Street, but the measure has been criticised by Raymond Tapken, who’s argued the cycle lane is unnecessary and could hamper emergency services.
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His complaint was raised in April, with Reading Borough Council responding by stating 76 cyclists used the lanes in 12 hours according to video surveilance.
Mr Tapken said: “If there’s 76 cyclists over 12 hours that’s just on six plus cyclists an hour, perhaps three going up and three going down!!
“How can that be justified over the inconvenience caused by this lane closure?
“And how would an ambulance, fire engine or police car approach if there was an incident on that side of the street?”
Mr Tapken also claims to have seen a council bin lorry going down the cycle lane from London Road to collect bins laid out on Sidmouth Street on Wednesday, May 4.
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He’s repeated a call for the closure to vehicles to be removed, echoing a petition from last year which was signed by 248 people.
In reply, a council spokesperson said: “We are ultimately working to increase in active travel across the borough, to reduce local car journeys, improve air quality and public health and work towards our net zero carbon target by 2030.
“As one of the main routes from the town centre to the London Road area, we consider Sidmouth Street an appropriate choice for encouraging active travel.
“Alongside a number of schemes we are introducing, including the Shinfield Road cycling and pedestrian improvements and proposed improvements along the Bath Road, we hope to make it easier for people to make the choice to travel by cycle and encourage a behaviour change.
“It is also important to note, any move to make this cycle lane permanent would require a full, legal public consultation process, providing local people with the opportunity to have their say on whether to continue with it.
“If continued, subject to funding, we would also propose improving the links between Sidmouth Street and the wider cycle network. This will, we hope, eventually encourage more people to use the cycle lane.
“The emergency service providers are all ‘statutory consultees’ and as such, would have received copies of all temporary closure notices and would have been contacted when this scheme was first proposed. We are not aware of any negative feedback from any emergency service provider in relation to this temporary scheme to date.
“We have reiterated to our waste vehicle drivers not to enter this lane in the future.”
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