A 329 M

I held a meeting today at Wokingham Council offices with representatives of Highways England and the Borough. I asked them to find a solution quickly to the problems created on the A 329 M by HE’s recent project to restrict through capacity on the motorway.

After long exchanges, Highways England’s consultants agreed that traffic had not flowed in the ways predicted by their models. They are now working on short term improvements to the motorway to help deal with congestion, and longer term capacity issues  which will  become more severe as more homes are completed, and more business locates at Winnersh Triangle.

6 Comments

  1. Chris
    July 23, 2016

    Your efforts are much appreciated, Mr Redwood.

  2. Peter
    July 23, 2016

    Excellent news. Clearly poorly designed scheme and significantly reduces capacity between Reading and Bracknell. Greatly looking forward to improvements.

  3. Pauline Jorgensen
    July 23, 2016

    Comment from a local resident when I reposted the news on Facebook

    Excellent, please keep the pressure on.
    Especially as the road from the A3290 to the station is hoping to speed up journeys, and more buses are a possibility when.that is completed

  4. alan jutson
    July 23, 2016

    John, thanks for keeping on top of this, please keep up the pressure.

    I really do not see why they needed a model, surely common sense should tell anyone that if you reduce road lane capacity by 50% then it will cause a slow down in traffic with long tailbacks at busy times.

    Reply The very point I have constantly made to them

  5. 30mileJourney2hourdi
    July 25, 2016

    It would take just one overnight closure to remove the hatching lines, this road is now a joke with traffic all the way back to bracknell in evening from 4.30 onward. drivers who insist on driving at 60 mph as if there is a speed restriction then get caught out by faster joining traffic on their inside meaning they stay in the outer lane for the rest of the motorway as they have not the wit to accelerate or indicate and join the left hand land. this along with those who now are using the M329 only lane and then slowing to hedge their bets as they do the last minute dive to the m4 off ramp. the only reason there is not a high number of pile ups is the fact the average speed on the road is so low that even the stupidest driving display can be avoided. Why the money was not spent on upgrading the road to 3 lanes before extra houses are built all the way along. the new houses at Jennets farm could have been just as well served from the existing junction without the need for the new roundabout junction which again just creates traffic.

  6. MikeP
    July 25, 2016

    Dear John, thank you for pursuing this issue that all of us face when using the A329(M) to Reading. In a similar vein, I wonder if you have seen or made any representations over the one-way system around Wokingham station, particularly as regards traffic frequently backing up along the whole length of Wellington Road while Station Road is traffic free and may even be blocked by the level crossing being closed. The phasing seems to be completely “unintelligent”. And today I faced the ludicrous situation of being held for a couple of minutes at the lights at Coppid Beech roundabout, trying to join the A329(M) in the light traffic of mid-afternoon but had to wait for just 3 or 4 vehicles to cross in front of me while again traffic backed up behind. Is it really too much to ask for drivers to be able to work this all out themselves without any lights except in “peak hours” as used elsewhere in the country. I know from your Oxford University debate contribution that you’re no fan of traffic lights and these two examples seem to fit the bill of far too much ‘control’ and not enough ‘freedom and commonsense’.

    reply The Council does not agree. I have often talked to them about traffic lights get cause congestion.

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