Controversial A4 bus lane slammed as changes are planned

A controversial bus lane heading into Reading has been slammed as changes to attempt to improve journeys have been discussed.

The London Road bus lane, established in August 2024, which runs from Liverpool Road in East Reading to Cemetery Junction, has been controversial ever since plans emerged.

While the Labour administration at Reading Borough Council has argued it is important to speed up bus journeys and improve air quality, opponents have argued it has failed in these objectives.

Now planning has begun for improvements both within Reading and at the Earley side of the Sutton Seeds Roundabout in Wokingham Borough.

These changes involve shortening the bus lane in Reading by 30 metres to create a dedicated right turn into Liverpool Road, and creating bus lane sections on the A4 and the roundabout.

The project was recently discussed at Reading council’s traffic management sub-committee.

Councillor Rob White, the Green leader of the opposition, who lives near the bus lane, took the opportunity to blast the Labour administration for causing traffic queues.

He said: “We want to see good bus lanes which speed up buses.

“When this first came up, I said we supported all of the bus lanes apart from the one we’re discussing.

“We could see, along with residents who responded to the consultation and much of the modelling that was done, that it was going to cause problems for everyone.

“We said it needed to go back to the drawing board; we didn’t say scrap the scheme, we didn’t say kick it out, we said back to the drawing board.

“As we predicted, the queues of traffic increased massively, I think they doubled, causing congestion, the buses got caught up in it, so the scheme slowed everyone down.

“The bus journey times got longer, and the timetabling was out the window; it was very unpredictable, and pollution got worse.

“Amongst this, the Labour government put the price of buses up, which disappointingly put people off using the bus.”

However, cllr White (Green, Park) did acknowledge that bus use had increased after weekend services were introduced at the Winnersh Triangle and Thames Valley park and ride sites.

But he also theorised drivers are “rat-running” through Palmer Park Avenue to speed up their journeys.

Cllr Paul Gittings (Labour, Coley) argued the bus lane was aimed at improving public transport use, following the failed East Reading Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) scheme.

Mentioning the MRT, he said: “Personally, I think that would have been a very, very good thing.

“It was fully funded, Reading would not have had to pay a thing.

“Unfortunately, due to the opposition of cllr White and others, who kicked up a tremendous furore about a public transport scheme, it was also scuppered by Wokingham councillors on their planning committee.

“So this is the alternative.”

The London Road bus lane was described as second best by Tony Page in May 2024, who previously served as deputy leader of the council.

Councillors noted that Wokingham council has begun an informal consultation into the extension of the bus lane within its boundary, which ends on Sunday, March 29.

You can take part using the Wokingham council website.

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