A new pedestrian crossing is coming to help pupils to get to and from school in Lower Earley.
Rushey Way is the main road in Lower Earley, which hundreds of people drive, cycle and walk along each day.
Hawkedon Primary School, which has approximately 600 pupils, is located off Rushey Way, and Loddon Primary School, which has around 530 pupils, is also nearby.
But there are few crossing opportunities for pedestrians, particularly for pupils and families who want to walk to school.
Pedestrians have to use traffic islands at intervals to cross.
A dedicated pedestrian crossing is set to be installed in Rushey Way in the next 12 months.
This was revealed in an answer to a question by Michael Firmager about safe crossings at a full meeting of Wokingham Borough Council.
The question comes after a girl was injured during an incident in February.
Child returns home after suffering serious injuries in Reading crash
Mr Firmager said: “Many children cross Rushey Way in Lower Earley to go to and from Hawkedon and Loddon Schools.
“This stretch of road does have fast-moving traffic, and during the rush hour, there are traffic jams.
“To help protect and increase road safety of children, their parents and other adults, who escort them across Rushey Way, the installation of a crossing would make these journeys safer.
“There is a small and narrow traffic island on that part of Rushey Way that does offer very limited sanctuary, but it is still extremely dangerous.
“What is the executive member going to do?”
Councillor Adrian Betteridge, executive member for highways, said: “We have an established process for reporting and assessing such concerns via our online Road Safety Concern report form, where users are asked to review the list of existing reports before reporting a new concern.
“The list of issues, and indeed the main road safety webpage, both state that in response to concerns raised by members of the public and local schools in this area we are already intending to install a crossing on Rushey Way near to Hawkedon Road, close to Hawkedon Primary School.
“This would also serve people walking to Loddon Primary School from that direction, and there are two crossing islands further in that direction along Rushey Way.
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“The design for this crossing has been completed, and we intend to install this in the 2026/27 financial year.”
Mr Firmager replied that he was “very surprised and happy” with the answer, and went on to ask whether any drivers have been caught exceeding a temporary 20mph speed limit.
Cllr Betteridge (Liberal Democrats, Barkham and Arborfield) answered that the council's method for measuring speed limits does not allow us to determine speeds when temporary advisory limits are active.
The exchange took place at the full council meeting on Thursday, March 26.
Mr Firmager is a Conservative candidate for the Hawkedon ward on the borough council, and currently serves as a Woodley town councillor for Warren ward.
Following the crash on February 26, Matthew Haylett, 33, from Reading, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of a crash, alongside four other driving offences.
Mark Wilczek, 45, from Reading, was charged with possessing a class A drug and failing to co-operate with preliminary tests.
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