Letter: Engineers, please improve traffic lights
Published 4 Nov 2010 12:30
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On Sunday my son was due to play a football match at Palmer Park, and the manager asked all the boys to be there for 1.15pm to warm up for a 2pm kick-off.
I suggested that we leave home (Tilehurst Triangle) at 12.45pm and my son promptly asked me why I wanted to leave so early as it would take nowhere near 30 minutes to get there on a Sunday afternoon.
All went well as we travelled along Tilehurst Road, down Castle Street and joined the IDR to go past the Oracle to Kings Road, Cemetery Junction and ultimately Palmer Park.
We promptly ground to a halt on the flyover next to The Oracle and crawled along in a tailback that just went from one set of red lights to another - Duke Street, Queens Road car park entrance, Sidmouth Street, Sapphire Plaza and the Prudential.
Once past the Pru, the road was clear, but our eventual journey time, on a Sunday lunchtime, was 45 minutes to cover a distance of approximately six miles at an average speed of 8mph.
Dare I suggest that the borough highway engineers look at the traffic light phasing to try to get the flow moving more freely through the five sets of lights that seem to be the sole cause of the tailback?
No rush, but I have just checked the fixtures for next Sunday and my son has another away match again at, yes, you’ve guessed it, Palmer Park. Time to start planning an alternative route!
Richard Brown
Tyle Road, Tilehurst
* This letter wins the writer £10 of flowers from Just Flowers and Reading
This letter appeared in Reading Chronicle 04 Nov 10
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