Reading could get new cycle lanes on a major road in the town, with the council confirming it has bid for funding.

The council has applied for Government funding for segregated cycle lanes on Bath Road from Southcote Road to the IDR.

Councillor Paul Gittings, chair of the Cleaner Air and Safer Transport (CAST) Forum, revealed Reading Borough Council (RBC) had applied for funding for the Bath Road scheme at a meeting last night (Thursday, August 19).

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The funding would come from the third round of Department for Transport’s (DfT) Active Travel scheme.

In the first round of funding, the council received £221,240 and implemented nine emergency schemes in Reading to help with social distancing and encourage cycling and walking during lockdown last year.

One of the schemes – on Gosbrook Road and Westfield Road in Caversham – was scrapped just one week in after causing traffic chaos and infuriating local residents.

In the second round of funding, the council ambitiously bid for £4 million worth of schemes but was only been given funding of £1.18 million, the amount the government had initially suggested it would get.

With full funding, the council hoped to implement the following five schemes.

  • Southampton Street and Oracle Roundabout – segregated cycle lane
  • Bath Road/Castle Hill – segregated lane for cyclists to and from the town centre
  • Shinfield Road – segregated two-way cycle lane, linking to the phase one schemes on Redlands Road and Christchurch Road
  • London Road (borough boundary to Cemetery Junction) – inbound shared bus and cycle lane, plus shared bus and cycle route outside Royal Berks.
  • Forbury Road/Vastern Roundabout – Segregated two-way cycle lane by reallocating road space from general traffic on this section of the IDR.

However, the amount of funding received was only enough for one scheme.

The Shinfield Road scheme was chosen after receiving the most support and the least opposition in a public consultation that received around 1,000 responses, with a further consultation to follow in Autumn on the details of the scheme.

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However, the council was given a third opportunity to bid for funding and has submitted the Bath Road/Castle Hill scheme as the one it wants to take forward next, having been the second most popular.

While the Shinfield Road scheme has been criticised by Reading Cycle Campaign members, who say it is not a busy route for cyclists, the Bath Road/Castle Hill scheme is one of the routes favoured by the campaign.

Providing “mostly segregated” cycle lanes in each direction, including across the IDR junction, the Bath Road/Castle Hill scheme would be achieved by removing sections of the highway currently dedicated to general traffic. There would also be improvements to junctions and crossing facilities along the route.

The CAST Forum met last night, with several attendees slamming the council’s choice of the Shinfield Road scheme, suggesting other schemes would have had more impact.

Karen Roberts said she was “astounded” the scheme was chosen over others favoured by the Reading Cycle Campaign, while other criticised the lack of data-led decision-making.

Council officer Stephen Wise suggested the scheme was chosen partly because it received the least objections and the council wants to avoid a negative reaction which might then stifle further cycling schemes coming forward.

He said people in Reading overwhelmingly stated they wanted cycling facilities on Shinfield Road and said the lanes would provide useful access from south Reading to the university and hospital.

Another council officer, Lucy Prismall, said the scheme is likely to increase cycling on Shinfield Road by around a third.

However, the council does not know the number of cyclists who currently use the route, with forum members questioning how this could then be measured and suggesting more evidence should have been acquired before choosing the scheme.