Driving us all mad - what's the solution?

Newsdesk • Published 29 Oct 2009 10:00 3 Comments

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DRIVING in Reading has been a dream this week - short queues instead of major gridlock, whizzing past green lights, into work early.

Traffic is always better at half-term, so is it too much imagine that the future of transport in the town could be rosy, not smoggy?

No more sitting in jams, fuming in the fumes; but rather a leisurely glide across a new Thames bridge, to a shiny and efficient park and ride site or straight into the congestion-free town centre.

Is it a pipe dream?

Reading always had its work cut out convincing the Government to hand over £300m and convincing townspeople - especially those who work here but live further afield - that the money is worth the risk of future congestion charging.

It just got more difficult, now that Cambridgeshire has submitted a rival bid to the Transport Innovation Fund. Its bid too pushes congestion charging far into the future, emphasising many worthy road and rail projects that need funding now. But there is only so much money to go around - and who knows how much will be left once the real Whitehall cuts start?

Some hope David Cameron gets in and sticks by a pledge made in better financial times to de-link the Fund and congestion charging, meaning Reading gets the money but without the c-charge sting in the tail. Great news for us - but what's the Government's incentive to dole out so much cash willy-nilly? It may be too much to hope for, once his party starts having to cut spending, not splurge out.

People cannot make a decision until the council comes out and tells us exactly what they are proposing to do - good, bad and congestion charging. The documents leaked to the Chronicle give us a good idea and are clear about the centrality of road user pricing to the bid, as the Government has always desired but as councillors with pounds signs in their eyes want to downplay.

Who is telling the truth?

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Unregistered User
Oct 29, 15:14
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You've hit the nail on the head - the people cannot make a decision until the council comes out and tells us exactly what they are proposing. Experience of the Council would suggest that it is only when we get to the implementation stage that we are told not just of the plans, but that they held their usual consultation detailed on the back of a cigarette packet.

It does not take an economics' genius to point out that none of their plans fit the reality of the situation in the town no matter how hard they spin it.

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oldman
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Dec 16, 08:40
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When you consider that Reading BC spent a lot of money on an independent traffic survey that asked the public for opinions and came up with a list of items that needed looking into, some of which could have been instigated within weeks it shows how much they care about it

NOT – as they have done J*** S*** about any of it apart from put extra ‘stupid' lights / junctions in!!

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Barry
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Dec 21, 13:07
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The solution is to move somewhere else! RBC are stark raving mad and incompetent. They c*ck everything up wherever they get a chance.

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