More on parking in Tilehurst

Well the experimental ban is now in force and the first reports of contraventions are filtering through. I had to laugh at the first report though, it was of the council’s own vans parking on grass verges in Tilehurst. Clearly the council has yet to get the message round to its own staff.

However, the camera van has been seen around Tilehurst and letters should soon be sent out to people who have parked inconsiderately. The council has rightly opted to just write letters to offenders first and only if they don’t take the hint will subsequent offences be punished with a fine.

There is still a lot of concern about parents parking when dropping off children for school in the mornings and when collecting them in the afternoons. Parents’ parking is a real problem for all our local schools, despite yellow lines and 20mph limits, they still park on street corners, across driveways and on the pavement. Clearly there is not room for every parent to park their car close to the school gate at 3:00 in the afternoon but that is no excuse for the inconsiderate parking of quite a few parents.

Here comes the ban

Tomorrow, Tuesday 7 May, the experimental ban of pavement and verge parking comes in to force along a number of roads in Tilehurst. Our local surveys suggest that 2/3 of residents in Tilehurst support the ban. It is designed to counter two local problems; firstly the uncaring drivers who park on pavements rather than the actual road which then blocks the footpath and forces mums with buggies, mobility scooters and anyone else to walk out in to the road. Secondly, the ban will stop drivers using grass verges as parking bays and destroying the verges, leaving behind a rutted muddy patch where grass used to grow.

Since the new signs went up a number of residents have contacted me with worries about getting disabled partners or parents from the front door to a car some distance away on the road. I can understand the problem but common sense suggests that in such cases it may be necessary to ‘block’ the footway for a few minutes to let disabled passengers in to, or out of, a car.

The ban will force more drivers to park in the roads rather than on pavements and verges. One possible result of this is a drop in speeds of cars as they manoeuvre around parked vehicles rather than put their foot down on an open section of road.

Pothole, more potholes and yet more potholes

8 July 2012 Walnut Way
January and February seem to be the prime months for potholes appearing in our roads. Many of them appear after a winter cold snap freezes water in the tarmac. As water turns to ice it expands in volume and cracks the road surface. Now our roads have never been very good but the current state is worse than I can ever remember. Despite government grants to help pay the costs of effects of bad waether on our roads the council is still struggling to cope. I have certainly received numerous reports of new potholes from Tilehurst residents over the last two months.

Curently the council only orders repairs if a pothole is more than 2″ deep as they try to ensure that the worst potholes are filled in whilst not blowing all the cash on minor holes. The upshot of this policy is that we have numerous potholes that cause bumps to cars travelling over them (and are downright dangerous for cyclists and motorcyclists) and the overall look of our roads is shabby.

The answer would be to spend more on proper fixes and road resurfacing but this is not afforable in the current economic climate. Do keep reporting any new potholes, the council will repair the larger ones. In the meantime the only advice I can give is to drive carefully, and give up on low-slung sports cars.

Experimental Ban on Verge & Pavement Parking

As my fellow Tilehurst Ward councillors will know the issue of motorists parking their cars and vans on grass verges and pavements has annoyed quite a number of local residents. After a summer of dillydallying the council is now consulting on introducing a ban for a trial period on the following roads in Tilehurst and Kentwood Wards:

• Westwood Road (whole length)
• School Road (whole length)
• Recreation Road (between car park entrance and School Road)
• Church End Lane (whole length)
• Lower Elmstone Drive (whole length)
• Brooksby Road (between Juniper Way and Overdown Road)
• Park Lane (whole length)
• Mayfair (whole length)
• The Meadway (between Church End Lane and Mayfair)
• Overdown Road (between Kentwood Hill and Brooksby Road)
• Norcot Road (between Church End Lane and School Road)
• Oak Tree Road (whole length)

The arguments for a ban are summed up as follows:

* uncaring motorists park vehicles so that they block footpaths and force mums with buggies and older folk on mobility scooters out into the carriageway.
* parking on grass verges destroys the verges and, especially when it has been raining, it turns them into unsightly mud patches and makes the whole neighbourhood appear run down.
* if all vehicles parked in the orad where they are supposed to park, they would also act to slow down traffic speeds as they narrow the road for passing traffic.

The arguments against any ban are:
* if I park my vehicle on the road it is going to be hit by passing traffic which already goes too fast.
keeping cars off the road makes it safer for motorists who then do not have to weave in and out around parked cars.
* The grass verge is outside my house so what do I care if the neighbours don’t like it, i’t my own business not theirs.

The good news is that this consultation exercise lasts through to the end of November and residents who live along the chosen roads can all have their say. None of us have any idea what the majority of reisdents want so it will be good to see what results come out of this consultation. If there is majority support for the ban then the council will introduce it as an experiment as it will be the first of its kind in Reading.

Road maintenance

The Council’s Traffic Management Advisory Panel (TMAP) meets tonight to approve the highway maintenance programme for the coming year 2012-13. Tilehurst residents will be pleased to know that it includes resurfacing Westwood Glen and also a section of Norcot Road that leads uphill into the junction with Pottery Road.

If money holds out then the council will also resurface Meadway bewteen New Lane Hill and St Michaels Road as well as the bit of Tilehurst Road by Honey End Lane that was strangely missed out last year.

The council also proposes to carry out minor repairs to Armour Road (something that we pointed out needed doing some time ago).

The footpaths along Beverley Road leading up from Westwood Road will also be resurfaced.

This is all part of a £2m annual plan to maintain Reading’s roads, a sum that really only allows the council to tackle the worst stretches of roads and footpaths.

Rail fares up again

Today rail fares are going up (by much more than inflation) as they always do at this time of year. Rail travel in the UK is some 30% more expensive than in neighbouring continental Europe, a legacy of decades of under investment by both Labour and Tory governments. We still travel to London on slam door trains which you have to open from the outside after lowering the door window. Our railway infrastructure is shabby as well as expensive. You try finding a seat on a train from Reading to Paddington between 7:00 and 9:00 on a weekday morning.

In 1997 the new Labour government had the choice of halting privatisation (one of the last acts of the previous Tory administration) or letting it run. It chose the latter and allowed a botched process to carve up the old British Rail empire and make millions for private investors at the expense of the travelling public.

Fifteen years on and with subsidies reducing every year, the train operators are still charging the highest fares in Europe and raising them every year. Yes we can finally see signs of improvement beginning to take shape at Reading station and in three or four years time we may actually see more trains, newer trains and a system that can cope with the numbers of passengers that use it. The sad fact is that it is passengers who will be paying for it all through increased fares.

I have been a regular commuter to London from Reading for many years and yes the timekeeping has improved over those years but we still travelling on trains that were old when I started commuting, most are more than 30 years old today, and rush hour travel is anything but comfortable when you are standing in the aisle for 30 minutes.

I look forward the new Reading station and electric trains on the First Great Western and I also realise that the country’s economic situation precludes any major increase in fare subsidy just now but if we are ever to travel at reasonable costs to get to and from work and get more people out of their cars, then future governments will have to produce more subsidies if trains are going to take the strain.

Tilehurst Triangle – improvements for pedestrians

Last Wednesday I attended a meeting of Tilehurst Globe which discussed improvements for School Road and the area around The Triangle. The meeting was addresed by Simon Beasley, the Traffic Manager at Reading BC. Afterwards we came up with the following proposals which were agreed unanimously.

Tilehurst Globe

TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT: TILEHURST TRIANGLE

Tilehurst Globe welcomes the initiative to enhance pedestrian safety and improve the environment at Tilehurst Triangle. The Triangle is the shopping hub of Tilehurst Village and in addition to shops it also contains schools, the public library, banks, dentists and cafes. There is a history of traffic accidents with pedestrians in the Triangle and a petition has recently been presented by parents at Park Lane School asking for better pedestrian facilities.

Two other petitions have been presented to TMAP over recent years concerning the lack of a safe crossing over Westwood Road as it enters the Triangle.

The objectives of the changes are to:

1. Improve pedestrian safety.
2. Improve the environment for shoppers and traders.

Our proposals are as follows:

1. 20 mph zone from Park Lane School to the Norcot Road lights, including approximately 100 metres of Westwood Road, Corwen Rd and St Michaels Rd. The 20mph zone to be marked by road surface changes as well as signage.
2. New pedestrian crossing outside Jo-Jos Hairdressers.
3. Replace the current Pelican crossing at the chemist with a pedestrian crossing further north (towards the Norcot Road traffic lights) to better serve the pedestrian desire lines.
4. Railings at Dunstall Close and School Road up to the replacement pedestrian crossing above (to prevent illegal parking blocking School Road).
5. New pedestrian crossing 20 metres down Westwood Road from School Road.
6. New pedestrian crossing outside the Laurels/Public Library.
7. Mitigating measures against speeding through traffic in Westwood Road, Chapel Hill, Oak Tree Road and Overdown, including stopping pavement/verge parking and removing parking restrictions.

These proposals will help reduce traffic speed in the 20 mph zone along the stretch of School Road that includes the shops and schools. The impact of the new pedestrian crossings will be to slow drivers who would otherwise be tempted to put their foot on the pedal. By increasing the number of formal crossings and placing them at the desire lines, pedestrians will be encouraged to use safe crossings rather than attempting to cross the road in opposition to traffic and the pedestrian crossings will also address the needs of parents who have to make the journey between The Laurels and Park Lane Schools. The chief benefit of these changes is to improve pedestrian safety, but the reduction in speeds and the ease of road crossing will enhance the shopping experience. In addition, traffic delays will be reduced through replacing the Pelican by a pedestrian crossing, which require shorter traffic stops.

A key benefit for the schools will be the safer route between the two schools necessitating only one crossing (by JoJo’s).

These Triangle Proposals will impact a number of other roads, including Westwood, Oak Tree, Chapel Hill and Overdown Road, as through traffic may increase as some vehicles divert down these roads in order to avoid the Triangle. The measures of stopping pavement/verge parking and removing parking restrictions already proposed at TMAP will produce informal chicanes, and tend to control speeding. Mandatory chicanes and changes of road surface at specific danger points should be implemented in the future if there is negative impact of the changes in these roads or others in the area.

Potential Problems

In addition to many benefits that these proposals may bring it is fair to point out that the presence of so many zebra crossings over School Road may actually cause blockages of traffic along School Road and that by eliminating pavement parking along Westwood Road we may be causing problems for buses where cars are parked on both sides of the road.

Also, if the Triangle is seen as problematic for through traffic then drivers may well look for alternative routes (Oak Tree and Westwood roads for example) so these need to be considered.

Gratwicke Road school run

We hear a lot of comments locally and at surgery about the top of Gratwicke Road being blocked every morning as mums drop their kids off to school by the junction with Corwen Road. Well the council have proposed a double yellow line along the inside of the bend in Gratwicke Road from the Corwen Road junction to the first houses. Just along one side and with no loading allowed during the school drop-off and pick-up times.

I spent this evening talking to some of the local residents and most appear to be in favour although they worry about pushing the parking problem further down Gratwicke Road. However the proposal makes sense to just about everybody as a way of keeping the junction clear, maintaining visibility round the bend and keeping Gratwicke Road free for passing traffic.

This will take some time to work its way through council procedures but it does look like an improvement that locals are generally happy with.

There also remains the question of enforcement and whether the council has the means to enforce any new restrictions when it struggles to maintain compliance with existing parking restrictions.

Tight Squeeze on Norcot Hill

Last week I wrote to Tony Page, the Lead Ciouncillor for Transport asking what he was doing about the width restriction on Norcot Road in Tilehurst.

It has been widely reported in the press that the supposed 6′ 6″ gap on the downhill side was in fact only 6′ 4″ wide. Not a huge difference but enough to force hundereds of van drivers to avoid the width restriction by using the adjacent bus lane. THis was never a problem until the council installed a traffic camera to police the bus lane and within weeks hundreds of drivers have been fined for avoiding the width restriction which was actually narrower than it should be.

This is all just another example of the council now actually preying on motorists in order to boost the council’s own finances as my colleague Warren Swaine has already made clear here

Unsurprisingly Cllr Page has been in no hurry to respond and the number of fines just keeps going up and the coun cil cannot even get its width measurements put right.