Sadly a few days before writing this report, I heard the news of a pedestrian death caused by a car on the A329 road in the Woosehill area. This is the second death of this kind in less than six months on this stretch of road. Clearly something is going wrong, and improvements need to be made to protect vulnerable road users. My thoughts go out to the families of the people involved in these awful tragedies.
LCWIP made public
The long-awaited Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) was finally agreed on Tuesday 21 March.
It can be viewed via the my journey website at https://www.myjourneywokingham.com/cycling/local-cycling-and-walking-infrastructure-plan-lcwip/
It seems to be a promising vision and WoBC should be commended on their ambition and the work that has gone into updating this; however this is just the start and there needs to be evidence of implementation and change over the coming years.
Speed limit reduction on the old Forest Road
In another positive step the speed limit on the old Forest Road in Wokingham has been reduced from 40mph to 30mph due to safety concerns. As a residential road it would be nice to see this reduced even further to 20mph given the safety improvements this is proven to bring; however this decision is definitely a step in the right direction.
Reducing speed limits on many roads across the Borough is a quick win for residents as well as pedestrians, cyclists and even motorists. Speed reductions have been proven to reduce pollution, improve road safety for all users with negligible impact on traffic flow.
WoBC need to look at reducing the speed limits for many other roads in the borough as this would be a cheap, effective and easy way to improve almost all aspects of our road related issues, in particular improving safety for the most vulnerable road users.
Tan House Bridge
So far there has been no update, although the last information that came out of WoBC was that Network Rail had relaxed their deadline for rebuilding the bridge. This is positive as the rush to get a bridge designed and built quickly was one of the driving forces behind pushing through a stepped bridge.
Hopefully given more time WoBC and Network Rail can together design and agree on a genuinely inclusive bridge that will use ramps with a gradient suitable for all users from healthy hikers through to children on balance bikes and those with mobility issues.
Once any information comes through from WoBC/Network Rail it will be on these pages.
Wokingham Bikeathon/Kidical Mass (KM) Bike Ride
The Wokingham Bikeathon takes place on Sunday 11 June in Cantley Park. There will be a variety of bike related events taking place in Cantley and several rides starting and finishing in the park.
After several successful KM rides in Wokingham, we were due to host a KM event in May. However, as this fell on the King’s coronation weekend, it was felt best to skip that one and put all the effort into the summer rides.
So I’m pleased to announce that KM Reading and Wokingham are organising a short (2-3 mile) ride which will be suitable for all cyclists, especially those too young or not confident or able to take part in the longer Bikeathon rides. (With the spirit of all KM rides, despite the name, the rides are open to riders of all ages and abilities, and the more the merrier!) This will be starting and finishing at the bike event.
The last few Wokingham KM events have been great fun and we have been gradually building up the numbers and hope more people will continue to come along with friends and family to take part in a celebration of cycling (and a show of support for cycling in the Borough!).
That’s all for now, look forward to seeing you all at Cantley for the BIkeathon/KM ride on 11 June.
Alex Cran
WoBC Campaigner for RCC