Safer Streets Now!
On 20 April Kidical Mass Reading held a ride in collaboration with Safer Streets Now, an action group who want to see our streets made safe, ideally now.
We were delighted to have representation at the ride from Reading Cycle Campaign and three different political parties. Labour Cllr John Ennis, (who is the Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport) gave a candid speech at the rally after the ride.
He asserted that the Council is determined to make cycling in Reading easy and safe, and acknowledged that at the moment it often falls short of that goal. He placed the blame largely on the lack of funding available for active infrastructure, and certainly this is part of the story.
We were able to offer our thanks that he and his colleagues were able to reinstate the bike box on Lower Henley Road that was removed earlier this year. And we are also grateful to RCC for helping to put pressure on the Council about this. We use this on the school run if our seven-year-old son rides his own bike to school, and we are very glad about its return.
Cllr Dave McElroy of the Greens and Cllr James Moore of the Liberal Democrats also joined us, and they were brave enough to ride together on our tandem (after an initial test run twenty minutes before the ride).
Having the two of them on the tandem was a great metaphor for the kind of cross-party collaboration which we need to see at all levels of government if we want to see investment, action and change on cycling infrastructure – all of which will contribute to safer streets for our children.
Hilary Smart
