Reading roads could go down to 20mph to stop speeding

Northcourt Avenue is a residential road in the university area of the town running down towards Whitley.

There is currently a 30mph speed limit in place along the road, which could be reduced to 20mph if a project by Reading Borough Council goes ahead.

The same speed reduction would also apply to Wellington Avenue, which connects Northcourt Avenue to Shinfield Road.

It comes as neighbours have raised concerns for years about speeding on Northcourt Avenue, with reports of drivers reaching 50mph.

Councillor Paul Woodward (Labour, Church), who represents the area, said: "It can get pretty silly.

"There have been lots of incidents where we were getting people going as fast as 50mph.

"I think 20mph is plenty, to calm everything down on the road."

Cllr Woodward added that the request was made with a 'collaborative' approach between neighbours, Northcourt Avenue Residents Association and the council.

The proposed scheme to make Northcourt Avenue and Wellington Avenue in the university area of Reading 20mph. (Image: Reading Borough Council)

The reduction was discussed and approved as a project for traffic management measures at the council's traffic management sub-committee meeting back in March 2022.

Since then, the council's highways team has devised a project to make the two avenues 20mph that will cost £200,000 in total, in funds that were allocated during the 2022 meeting.

Now, the councillors are being asked to approve a statutory consultation that must be conducted before the project is implemented.

A decision on whether to go ahead with the consultation will be discussed at the traffic management sub-committee meeting on September 11.