Reading roads and routes that could change in 2024

In some places, lanes for all traffic are set to become bus lanes.

Also, a years-long push by taxi drivers to use a bus lane along a busy road heading out of the town could finally be granted.

Meanwhile, rule-breaking drivers who stop in yellow boxes are set to be punished in more locations.

Find out ways in which roads are set to change in Reading in 2024 below:

Oxford Road outbound 

A bus travels down Oxford Road in Reading. The council is hoping to establsh more bus lanes. Credit: James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Journeys for buses are set to be sped up as two new bus lanes are to be created in Oxford Road.

Changes would see the existing carriageway divided into space for all traffic and a bus lane being created between its junctions with Zinzan Street and George Street.

Further down the road, a new outbound bus lane will be established alongside the existing traffic lane, running between the bus stop opposite Tidmarsh Street and the stop prior to the Reading Retail Park.

The bus lanes will be established as part of the council's bus service improvement plan (BSIP), which it received more than £26 million in government funding for in April 2022.

London Road inbound 

The two inbound traffic lanes in London Road, Reading. Credit: Google Maps

The main route for drivers from Earley and Woodley and the A329(M) to get into Reading is set to change.

According to the plans of highways officers, the stretch of London Road between the Sutton Seeds roundabout and Cemetery Junction will go from two traffic lanes to one.

The scheme has been devised as part of the BSIP as well.

The lane closest to Palmer Park will become the bus lane, with buses then entering the long-established inbound King's Road bus lane.

King's Road outbound 

The Kings Road outbound bus lane in Reading and inset, Kamran Saddiq, the chairman of the Reading Private Hire Association. (Image: Google Maps / Kamran Saddiq) (Image: Google Maps / Kamran Saddiq)

Speaking of bus lanes, private hire taxi drivers could be allowed to use the King's Road bus lane heading eastbound.

Private hire drivers have been pushing to use the bus lane since before November 2022. 

The campaign in part led to the creation of the Reading Private Hire Association, which was set up to advocate for drivers.

An informal consultation on the change to the bus lane has been undertaken, with a report set to be presented with findings to the council's traffic management sub-committee.

A decision will be made on whether to grant private hire drivers access to the bus or not in January 2024.

More yellow box junctions 

The junction of Kings Road and Eldon Road in Reading. Credit: Reading Borough Council

Enforcement at more yellow box junctions is likely to go online in Reading in 2024.

This year, monitoring of the junctions began at six locations in the town.

These were:

• The junction of Kings Road and Eldon Road
• The junction of Queens Road and Sidmouth Street
• The junction of Oxford Road and Bedford Road
• The junction of Bath Road and Berkeley Avenue
• The junction of Bath Road and Burghfield Road
• The junction of Oxford Road and Grovelands Road

But there are still more places where enforcement can begin including at the infamous London Road junctions.

Junctions which the council intends to introduce enforcement are:

• Cemetery Junction
• The junction of London Road and Cholmeley Road
• The junction of London Road and Kendrick Road
• A33 at Matalan
• IDR A33 junction towards The Oracle (Southampton Street) slip road
• The junction of Church Road and Church Street in Caversham