Lib Dems Call for Ongoing Road Safety Issues to be Addressed Instead of Council's Active Travel Plans

Liberal Democrats in Windsor have called on the council to address longstanding requests to improve road safety at key locations to encourage walking and cycling in preference to the "Active Travel Plans" produced by the Conservative Council following top down rules imposed by the Conservative Government.

"Our impression from correspondence received from residents is that they are overwhelmingly not in favour of the proposed Low Traffic Neighbourhods (LTNs).

Were they to be implemented, we feel that the schemes would see additional traffic along Maidenhead Road, Dedworth Road/Clarence Road, Clewer Hill Road and Imperial Road.

The Clewer Hill/Winkfield Road and the Winkfield Road/Imperial Road/St Leonard's Road traffic lights are not up to the job of dealing with current levels of traffic and pedestrians and problems are continually being reported there. These junctions need upgrading in order for them to cope with existing volumes of traffic before any increase in traffic should be contemplated." says Clewer East Lib Dem, Cllr Amy Tisi.

Instead of the Council's plans, the Lib Dems have renewed calls for more focussed improvements to the pedestrian and cyclist experience, which have actually been asked for by residents. These include:

• Finally delivering the Toucan crossing at the Mill Lane / Parsonage Lane / Maidenhead Road junction which the council had initially promised would be installed in 2018-19.
• A Toucan crossing controlled by MOVA smart traffic lights at the Parsonage Lane / Hatch Lane / Dedworth Road junction.
• A second pedestrian crossing on St Leonards Road linking the shops frequented by children after school to Bulkeley Avenue.
• A 20 mile per hour zone in Bulkeley Avenue / Springfield Road area.

Liberal Democrat councillors in Windsor have repeatedly pointed out to the council the importance of the Bulkeley Avenue / Springfield Road area as a well used thoroughfare for children and parents communting on foot and bicycle travelling to Windsor Boy's School, Windsor Girl's School Trevelyan, Oakfield First School, The Lawns Nursery School and other slightly more distant schools, such as Clewer Green First School, St Edward's First & Middle Schools.

The routes through this area avoid the busy main roads surrounding this area - A308 Goslar Way towards Staines, B3022 St Leonard's Road to wards Ascot & Lego and B3173 Imperial Road which links Ascot and the M4 - and include the newly established "Quieter Cycle Route" from the Dedworth Road to the town centre.

As a result of our surveyof residents in Springfield Road and Bulkeley Avenue the local Lib Dems have suggested to the council repeatedly over the past year that the area bounded by the A308, B3022 and B3173 should become a 20 zone.

"Liberal Democrats in Windsor are frustrated that the council has produced proposals residents don't want, whilst ignoring the measures that residents have asked for to make travelling on foot and by bicycle safe, particularly for children commuting independently to school.

Among the things residents in Windsor have told us they want are three crossings including two in very close proximity to schools. We are told that the rules governing this Covid Active Travel money are very strict, however a crossing has been provided for Boyne Hill School in Maidenhead in Tranche 2 of the government's Active Travel funding," says Cllr Karen Davies,Lib Dem, Clewer East.

Disappointingly the consultation documents suggest that the schemes were chosen by the Council's privatised technical service using computer programs and very little local knowledge. In the worst example of this dysfunctional approach, two school streets have been suggested for Trevelyan Middle School, neither of which are usually used by pupils going to school!

• Windsor Lib Dem's response to the Active travel plans, including school streets and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) can be downloaded by clicking here.
• Liberal Democrat Councillors Karen Davies and Amy Tisi's response to the plans can be downloaded by clicking here.