Safety concerns over new junction and link road plans in Newbury
A new link road connecting Hectors Way and Kings Road through the new Sterling Estate development has taken a step forward, but safety concerns have been raised over changes to a junction.
The plans – part of the new 167-apartment Sterling housing development – will see a new mini-roundabout created at the entrance to the site in Kings Road, with the stretch of road between the roundabout and the junction to Boundary Road turned into a two-way street.
There will then be another mini-roundabout at the south end of the link road, with the left exit turning into the new housing development and the right exit running parallel with the railway.
It will then meet the existing roundabout on Hectors Way, near Newbury Sainsbury’s.
At the Boundary Road and Kings Road junction, the exit from the north side of Boundary Road will be narrowed to just one lane to protect parking, and the zebra crossing on Hambridge Road will remain.
Two uncontrolled pedestrian crossings will also remain at the junction.
However, the plans at the junction have been criticised by Brian Withers, who worked at Sterling Garages while it was still on the site.
Mr Withers criticised the lack of road safety for pedestrians, calling for traffic lights to be implemented at the junction between Boundary Road and Hambridge Road.
He said the pedestrian crossings proposed were “accidents waiting to happen due to car and lorry drivers having to concentrate their efforts on going across what will be a very busy road junction”.
He continued: “With the completion of the work there will be heavy goods lorries going across the junction east and west and traffic coming out of the northern part of Boundary Road to go both east and west.
“Potentially with the widening of the Boundary Road rail bridge to two way traffic, a substantial amount of traffic will be coming down that section of Boundary Road to go left to town and Sainsbury’s.
“Both of these crossings are marked as uncontrolled. This in my opinion is unacceptable and is the reason for my strong objection.”
Ben Budd, director of developer Nelson Group, refuted concerns over safety.
He said: “Traffic modelling and safety standards are an intrinsic part of our discussions with West Berkshire Council and have informed the iterations of the design, as the safety of current and future residents is paramount.”
