Page 1004 - Reading Mercury

The north and west sides of Market Place will be one-way, while a short stretch on
the east side will be two-way to permit the gyration of buses and other traffic. A short
length of Rose Street will be two-way, but traffic can enter only at Broad Street and
leave by the narrow section into Wiltshire Road. Milton Road will be closed to all
traffic except buses at its junction with Rectory Road. Beyond the closed portion, two-
way traffic will apply.
There will be restrictions on waiting in the vicinity of each junction on the one-way
circuit, for example, day parking in the Town Hall area will go.
Some bus stops are to be re-sited. Three in Market Place are to go, but there will be a
new one by the wine shop in Market Place and one outside Montague House in Broad
Street.
The need to safeguard pedestrians is to be carefully studied and a report will be
submitted to the Highways Committee with a view to putting in additional crossings.
Mr. C.D. Evans, of the county surveyor’s department said that careful consideration
has been given to all objections to the scheme. Those concerning the use of Rose
Street by buses had not been upheld by the county Highways Committee. By using
Rose Street buses would be able to get out of the town in an easterly direction and the
introduction of a gyratory around the Town Hall would enable public service and
delivery vehicles to turn. It was necessary to allow buses to emerge from Milton Road
at its junction with Rectory Road but otherwise a very short section would cease to
exist for the motorist.
The new scheme would provide a street passage through the town for all concerned.
It was being introduced to reduce the traffic chaos in Wokingham and this was
considered to be the best possible scheme until major road works were carried out.
The county council remained of an open mind. This was an experimental scheme
which might have to be amended.

th
Thur 26 September
Retail price maintenance on cigarettes ended which was good news for
supermarkets but bad news for small retailers.

rd
Thur 3 Oct
TOWN’S ONE -WAY ‘TURNING PRIVATE ROADS INTO PICCADILLY
CIRCUS’
Wokingham’s new one-way experimental traffic scheme has raised a storm of
protest from householders in Langborough Road, Murdoch Road, Crescent Road and
Howard Road, and one has described it as becoming like Piccadilly Circus.
With there being no entry to Denmark Street at its junction with Langborough Road,
traffic using this road to get to the town centre and London Road via Easthampstead
has more than trebled since the introduction of the scheme on Sunday night.
Langborough Road has been described as a “narrow two-way race track with a death
trap at its junction with Howard Road.”
Deep concern is being expressed at the danger to pedestrians at Howard Road. For
old people and for children crossing from Luckley Path to the recreation ground the
Langborough/ Murdoch Road junction presents a risk to life and limb, residents claim.
Leading an action committee representing residents in Murdoch Road is General
D.A.K. Redman, of Caerleon. An emergency meeting of this committee has been
called for tomorrow (Friday) when members’ views on the changed circumstances
will be obtained. Immediate action by General Redman has been a request to the
police to impose a traffic speed check.

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