A new bus lane along the busy London Road has been described as a ‘second best’ option to ease traffic in Reading after the failure of an ambitious project for a dedicated speedy bus route elsewhere.
Councillor Tony Page (Labour, Abbey) has retired after 51 years of service, with many of those being in charge of transport policy.
One of the most controversial projects over the past seven years was a proposal to establish a road between Thames Valley Park in Earley and Napier Road.
Called the East Reading Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) scheme, the road would have been exclusively for the use of buses, cyclists and pedestrians, with the aim of speeding up travel to and from the town centre. It would have linked up with the Thames Valley Park and Ride.
While the project was approved by Reading Borough Council, it was refused by Wokingham Borough Council, as it would have required a bridge over the Kennet Mouth which falls under the neighbouring council’s jurisdiction.
The scheme was opposed by the Save Our Ancient Riverside campaign, which argued the MRT would destroy the nature of the riverside.
In an interview, cllr Page said his ‘single biggest failure’ was failing to engage with Oxfordshire and South Oxfordshire councils to address transport issues north of the borough.
However, the East Reading MRT was also a big blow to the council’s plans, with it spending £823,861 on the failed scheme and losing £19 million in funding for the project.
READ MORE: Reading West station gets £3m boost after failed East Reading MRT scheme is withdrawn
Cllr Page said: “The East Reading MRT would have delivered the stepwise improvement in public transport and air quality, and what we are now grappling with in terms of the bus lanes along that stretch of London Road is a poor second best, but it is a second best nonetheless that we have to take forward.
“And we made it clear when the MRT did not succeed that the status quo wasn’t going to be acceptable, so what we’ve come forward within the bus service improvement plan is really second best to what would have been MRT.”
Cllr Page argued that his biggest failure was being unable to convince South Oxfordshire District and Oxfordshire County councils to work with Reading Borough on a cross-Thames travel strategy, which would have included a third bridge linking Thames Valley Park in Earley with Caversham.
READ MORE: Veteran councillor on failure of third Thames bridge dreams and blasts neighbours
He explained: “If the East Reading MRT would have been delivered, which it would have been by now on the original plans, that would have further underlined the potential for the benefits of a crossing across the Thames to the north of the river.
“The East Reading MRT was not unrelated to our proposals for a third river crossing.”
While a revised project was submitted in Autumn 2018, Reading Borough Council accepted defeat in January 2019 by withdrawing that plan.
The Labour administration is now taking forward one of the design options devised for the East Reading MRT which is the inbound bus lane running in London Road between the Sutton Seeds roundabout and Cemetery Junction.
This project involves taking away a traffic lane for drivers on that route and turning it into a bus lane.
Work to make the change was meant to take place this month but has been delayed to be implemented alongside a resurfacing project, according to cllr Rob White (Green, Park).
Other options for the MRT which were not taken forward included a park and rail service utilising the Reading to Waterloo line or a ferry utilising the Thames.
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