The Wokingham Northern distributor road

I attended the Council consultation about this road today, held at Cantley House Hotel.For all interested there is an on line version on Wokingham Borough’s website (Search NWDR) and printed versions available from the Borough offices.

I stressed the need for more road capacity soon to deal with the chronic congestion problems, as well as the need to look after safety and control noise close to homes.

I pointed out that the Council is in discussion with the government about a strategic local road network with my encouragement. They have identified the A329 as well as the A329 M and the A 3290 as potential strategic highways eligible to apply for more government money for expansion and improvement.

I suggested they should decide if they wish to make the new Winnersh bypass and the Northern Distributor Road the new pinciple through road or if the A329 is to retain this status, as this will impact on the nature and design of the road. It seems likely cyclists for example will often prefer the A329 as it is the shorter through route with slower vehicle traffic than the new road.

There needs to be careful consideration to the seperation of pedestrians and cyclists from vehicles to reduce accidents, and maximum road width to allow for large vehicles. Junctions should be roubdabouts, not light sets. The flood defences need to be good as the route chosen goes through areas prone to flooding. The engineering needs to ensure there are no adverse knock on effects of flooding to nearby properties.