Tag: Thatcham

Have Your Say on the LCWIP and Active Travel Schemes

Posted on by Secretary

West Berkshire Council has launched a series of consultations on their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) and various Active Travel Schemes.

These proposals set out ambitious plans to improve conditions for walking and cycling journeys across the district to help make these modes of transport the default choices for local journeys.

As such, we would encourage everyone to take a look and have their say to ensure that we get the schemes right first time and address any concerns / issues at the outset.

LCWIP

The LCWIP provides a new, strategic and long-term approach to developing cycling and walking improvements, in line with the government’s Gear Change Strategy.

The Council has worked in partnership with SPOKES and other local stakeholders to identify priorities for cycling and walking infrastructure.

This first version of the LCWIP focuses on routes in Newbury and Thatcham. Eastern area settlements, such as Calcot, Pangbourne, Purley-on-Thames and Theale, have already been covered in the Reading LCWIP , which was prepared jointly with Reading Borough Council and Wokingham Borough Council, and adopted in 2019.

The LCWIP focuses on the main urban areas, which have the highest existing demand, and greatest future potential for increasing cycling and walking trips. However, the intention is for it to be a live document that can be expanded to include new developments, and journeys in and between more rural settlements.

The LCWIP process has a particular emphasis on utility journeys, such as commuting to work, and accessing education, healthcare or shops, but it also identifies leisure corridors to be developed. These were informed by public feedback from previous council consultations, and stakeholder comments.

A4 Proposals

The LCWIP has identified the A4 as a key active travel route for east-west journeys. The long-term ambition is to improve the whole A4 corridor, but the intention is to do this in sections and the Council is currently consulting on proposals for two key sections.

Crown Mead, Thatcham:

  • Features kerb separated tracks on both sides of the A4.
  • Removes the staggered pedestrian crossing island, which is currently a pinch point for cyclists, and replaces it with a single stream crossing.
  • Installs raised entry treatments in side roads to slow down vehicles when turning.
  • Reconfigures the layout of the bus stops to separate the cycleway from the footway and carriageway.

Western Avenue, Newbury:

  • Reduces the width of the carriageway to provide space for segregated cycle tracks.
  • Provides separate routes for pedestrians and cyclists.
  • Widens the crossing islands to cater for dual usage.
  • Replaces the staggered crossing with a single stream crossing and remove the staggered crossing island.
  • Gives pedestrians and cyclists priority over side roads via raised road humps and parallel zebra and cycle crossings.

Active Streets

This has a number of components including:

Parking restrictions to improve active travel routes:

  • Kiln Road / Turnpike Road, Newbury
  • A343 Andover Road, Newbury
  • A4 London Road, Newbury
  • A4 Bath Road, Calcot
  • Lower Way, Thatcham
  • A4 Benham Hill, Thatcham

Lawrences Lane, Thatcham:

  • Closes the route to through traffic
  • Creates a quiet route for recreational access to the countryside

Deadman’s Lane, Theale:

  • Stops motor vehicle access
  • Creates a quiet route for recreational access to the countryside

Active Travel Heat Map:

  • Provides a tool for you to identify locations in your neighbourhood where you would like to create more accessible streets, including better public spaces, secure cycle parking and high quality environments suitable for cycling and walking.

Calcot School Streets:

  • Proposals for Royal Avenue and Curtis Road.
  • Restricts motor vehicle access Monday to Friday during school term-time only to coincide with school pick-up and drop-off times.
  • Creates pedestrian and cyclist zones around schools.

A4 Cycle Route (Phase 2) Consultation

Posted on by Secretary

West Berkshire Council is continuing to develop its plans for a cycle route along the A4 between Newbury and the district boundary at Calcot, which will form part of the new National Cycle Network Route 422. When complete, this will connect Newbury and Thatcham to Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and Ascot. The scheme has received funding through the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and will be one of the biggest cycling schemes in Berkshire since NCN Route 4 was created.

The scheme is being progressed in phases. The Council consulted on Phase 1 back in October last year and work has already started on the section between Newbury and Thatcham.

Phase 2 will continue the improvements through Thatcham. The proposals include:

  • 1.5m wide cycle lanes marked on the carriageway along the entire length of A4 on both sides
  • more dropped kerbs for better transitions between existing off-road facilities and on-carriageway lanes
  • parking amendments to prevent parked cars blocking the cycle lanes (alternative provision will be created for residents)
  • upgraded pedestrian and cycle crossing facilities
  • changes to traffic islands to remove ‘pinch points’ for cyclists
  • advance stop lines for cyclists at junctions with traffic signals

Further information with detailed drawings can be found on the Council’s website.

Please take the opportunity to review the proposals and have your say. We would be delighted if you could lend your support to this comprehensive set of improvements for local cyclists. You can send your comments or objections to this proposal to the Highways Project Team, no later than 13 May.

A4 Cycle Route (Phase 1) Consultation

Posted on by Secretary

West Berkshire Council is in the process of developing plans for a new cycle route along the A4 from Newbury all the way to the district boundary in Calcot. This will form part of the new National Cycle Network Route 422, which will link Newbury and Thatcham to Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and Ascot. The scheme has received funding through the Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership and will be one of the biggest cycling schemes in the county since NCN Route 4.

Given the length of the scheme, it will be rolled out in phases. The Council has just gone out to consultation on phase one. This will see improvements on London Road and Benham Hill, from the junction with Faraday Road right up to the Wye Vale Garden Centre roundabout.

The scheme will create safe space for cyclists on the road and will include the following changes:

  • cycle lanes on both sides of road where width allows
  • making better use of available road space by removing hatching and right turn lanes where it is appropriate to do so
  • removing traffic islands to get rid of ‘pinch points’ for cyclists
  • installing advanced stop lines at signalised junctions
  • new dropped kerbs to help cyclists get on and off the route

There will also be improvements to off-carriageway facilities. This recognises the fact that not all cyclists have the confidence to mix with traffic and there are areas where accessibility is currently restricted for those in wheelchairs, mobility scooters and with pushchairs.

The following improvements are proposed:

  • widening and resurfacing sections of pavement, and converting them to shared paths
  • giving cyclists priority across the entrance to the B&Q / Dunelm Mill retail park
  • removing unnecessary road signs, and relocating street furniture
  • creating wider pedestrian islands to improve crossing points for all users

It is also proposed to introduce new double yellow lines, in areas where there is a problem with cars parking and blocking footways. There will be separate consultations to follow for these restrictions as they require Traffic Regulation Orders.

You can send your comments or objections to this proposal to the Highways Project Team, no later than 22 October 2017.

Spokes Carry Out Local Cycling Audit

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St John's Roundabout

One of Spokes’ early achievements was a Cycling Map of Newbury and Thatcham, which was produced after a detailed audit of the local cycle network by Spokes members.  It was a great success and helped to get more people out on bikes.

West Berkshire Council has now asked if Spokes can carry out another audit of the urban cycle network in Newbury, Thatcham and Hungerford, while Reading Cycle Campaign are covering Theale and the Reading fringe. The audit will help to inform how the cycle network can be improved, including for the various new developments that are planned.

The audit has to be completed by 31 March 2016, so we have recruited volunteers from our membership to help us over the next couple of months. This team effort will be coordinated by our Highways Officer, Dr Tony Vickers.  We are focusing initially on ‘commuter routes’, identifying gaps that could be filled, junctions that could be improved, and anything else that would make life a little easier and safer for a cyclist.

If you would like to help with the audit, or if you have any ideas about how the local cycle route network could be improved, then please get in touch and let us know.  We would love to hear your ideas.

VMS is not the answer to safety problems

Posted on by Secretary

Think-Bike-MVIS.jpg

You may have come across this recent article in the local media, which suggest that West Berkshire Council are considering putting up Variable Message Signs on the A4 between Thatcham and Theale to encourage motorists to look out for cyclists. Spokes does not feel that variable message signs are the right solution, since they are simply an attempt to tackle the symptom rather than the cause of the problems experienced by cyclists along this busy main road.

There are several Spokes members who regularly cycle this stretch of the A4 and the consensus opinion is that the main problems relate to locations where central islands have been constructed. These have presumably been installed to reduce vehicle speeds and / or to prevent overtaking at key locations along the route.  However, they have been found to create significant problems for cyclists as motorists try to overtake at the islands. Our members have cited several near misses at these locations and we feel that the islands compromise the safety of cyclists.

The ideal solution would be to have a high quality, fully segregated cycle track alongside the A4. This would make it safe and pleasant for people to cycle between the various towns and villages along the A4. Failing that, the next best solution would be construction of cycle bypasses at the road narrowings, or to come up with a completely different design that does not place cyclists and motor vehicles into direct conflict.

We will seek to work with West Berkshire Council to come up with an effective solution and will raise this at the next Cycle Forum.