A BACKLASH of angry objections has met plans for a new bus lane that will be established in Reading as part of a major project to speed up journeys.

Work is due to begin soon on creating a new bus lane on the busy Reading road, which involves turning the leftmost lane in London Road into a bus lane.

The change will apply to London Road between its junctions with Liverpool Road and Cemetery Junction.

The project has divided opinion on Facebook. While there are major concerns about traffic congestion, some neighbours have welcomed the change.

Sean Vincent said: "More idiotic plans from a stupid council. Long queues means more pollution.

"And the struggling shops in the town will have less customers because of it. Customers will go to other places to shop."

One commenter raised fears that Reading Borough Council aims to introduce a congestion charge following the move. Darren Teg said:  "Bottlenecking the traffic to increase congestion thus forcing in a congestion charge they've been desperately trying put in place."

There are no clear indications that the council wants to introduce a congestion charge according to the Reading Transport Strategy 2040. However, the council does aim to investigate road-user charging for through traffic with no destination in Reading to manage demand and reduce levels of congestion.

The leading concern for drivers is the intensification of traffic as drivers head towards the town centre from Woodley and Earley.

Tony Martin said: "On a road that's already a nightmare!! great planning guys!

"I had a ride on a double-decker last week - I was bounced around like we were on a wooden wheeled horseless carriage!"

Reading Borough Council has argued that the longer-term results of implementing the bus lanes will benefit Reading residents, contributing to the aim of achieving net zero carbon by 2030.

Yet a traffic modelling summary reported to the council stated that traffic flows would need to be reduced by approximately 260 vehicles (18 per cent) during the morning peak and 220 vehicles (19 per cent) in the day peak to mitigate the impacts of introducing the bus lane.

Stuart Rawlins said: "Not that I disagree with bus lanes (I totally agree where they are sensible and needed), but I do wonder what dubious calculations they did to come up with this, especially noting the acknowledgment of longer traffic queues." 

Meanwhile, John Ennis (Labour, Southcote) lead councillor for climate strategy and transport was praised for encouraging the use of Reading Buses services and taking steps to giving buses priority.

Gary Huntley said: "Hats off to councillor Ennis. A bus lane is badly needed in that part of London Road.

"The more people we encourage to use public transport the better for our environment. These proposals go some way to ensuring Reading Buses provides a reliable service. Keep it up."

Agreeing, Kerrie Thornhill said: "Every single person on a bus is saving space on roads, leaving more for cars. Would you prefer they all drive? Motorists benefit from strong transportation systems."

Work to establish the lane will take place between 7pm to 1am in London Road in both directions on August 12, 13 & 14 before the new bus lane formally comes into effect on Thursday, August 15.