New bus lanes approved despite opposition

One of the new bus lanes will be on Oxford Road

Six new bus lanes will be created in a town despite a debate about the added traffic they could cause.

The plans for Reading were approved by the borough council's traffic management committee at a meeting on Thursday night.

Opposition councillors said the lanes would make traffic worse and were not supported by local residents.

But lead councillor for climate strategy and transport John Ennis said the scheme would encourage people to change their journey habits, improve air quality, and help the council meet its net zero emissions targets.

Bus lanes are now set to be created on two stretches of London Road, two stretches of Oxford Road, and stretches on Bath Road and Southampton Street.

Mr Ennis said it was "an excellent project", with independent councillor Sarah Hacker saying she had to clean her windows that are "thick with grime" as a result of air pollution in the city.

It is proposed to make one of the existing traffic lanes on London Road into a bus lane

The most controversial change is turning one of two inbound traffic lanes in London Road, between Liverpool Road and Cemetery Junction, into a bus lane.

Green councillor Rob White claimed the change would increase the morning traffic queue by 176 cars and the evening queue by 107 cars.

He said the Greens supported "five out of the six bus lanes" but asked for a decision on London Road to be deferred.

But the plans for all six lanes were approved on Thursday.

The two inbound lanes on London Road

The project has gone ahead after the council received £26.3m from the government to improve the bus network in 2022.

Reading Borough Council said the bus lanes would be constructed between February 2024 and March 2025.