A report informing the the Sub-Committee of the work officers have undertaken alongside officers at Wokingham Borough Council to develop proposals for the continued improvement to the A4 London Road corridor and Sutton Seeds Roundabout and the informal consultation, launched by Wokingham, into these proposals.

The Sub-Committee received a report informing them of the work officers had undertaken alongside officers at Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) to develop proposals for the continued improvement to the A4 London Road corridor and Sutton Seeds Roundabout and the informal consultation, that had been launched by Wokingham, into these proposals.  Concept Design Drawings for the A4 London Road and Sutton Seeds Roundabout Improvement Scheme were attached to the report at Appendix 1.

The report explained that, following the implementation of the new bus lane on London Road between Liverpool Road and Cemetery Junction, the Council and WBC had jointly commissioned WSP Engineering Consultants to design a number of options that could deliver further improvements to this corridor.  These designs had now been subject to traffic modelling to assess the impact with a view to recommending a proposed option. 

The London Road bus lane had been introduced in August 2024 and had seen the implementation of a new westbound lane between Liverpool Road and Amity Road, near Cemetery Junction.  This bus land had been created through the reallocation of lane 1, which had previously been a general traffic lane towards Reading.  The bus lane required all general traffic travelling towards Reading, from both the A4 and A3290, to merge into a single lane (lane 2) shortly after Liverpool Road.  The bus lane could be used by licensed hackney carriages, motorcycles and bicycles.  The bus lane was used by a number of routes including park and ride services to the town centre as well as to the hospital and university, local services from Woodley, and longer distance routes from Twyford, Maidenhead and High Wycombe.  The bus lane was also used by the RailAir buses from Heathrow Airport.

The report explained that officers working with colleagues at WBC and WSP had held a series of site meetings and workshops where a number of options had been developed for this corridor on the approach to the new bus lane.  These had included amendments to the bus lane, general vehicle lanes and traffic signals both through the London Road and at the junction of the Sutton Seeds Roundabout.  Traffic surveys had been carried out in June 2025 with further validation surveys in November 2025.  This data had been used to model the impact of the options to assist with options appraisals.  Of the proposed options, a number had been discounted due to the impact on general traffic movements with no substantial benefit for bus journeys.  Safety concerns had also been cited for vehicles queuing on the A3290 with some of the options.  The option assessment had led to a preferred option which had provided benefits for both general vehicles and bus trips through the corridor without increasing the safety issues forecast with previous options. 

The option proposed was to provide a new bus lane on the A4 London Road eastern approach to the Sutton Seeds Roundabout and closing the bus gate from the services road.  A new bus lane would be installed through the roundabout using vacant highway space and not removing capacity for general traffic.  Within Reading the proposals involved shortening the bus lane by approximately 30 metres and introducing a dedicated right-hand turn lane for vehicles turning into Liverpool Road. 

The option involved works both in Wokingham Borough and Reading and were set out in the report and provided benefits to journey times for both general motor vehicles and bus services as well as enabling a more consistent journey times.  Modelling had shown that this option performed better than current baseline conditions, improvements had also been shown for bus journeys and if the full scheme was implemented over nine minutes of journey time saving had been identified for buses during the morning peak hour.  For general traffic there would be the equivalent of a total of six hours and forty-five minutes worth of journey time saving during the morning peak hour for traffic heading into Reading.  This option would also benefit motorists using Liverpool Road to access areas of New Town as they would now have dedicated lane access as well as more space when exiting Liverpool Road towards Reading.

The report explained that in order to meet the conditions of the funding award for the delivery of the scheme, as well as meeting the requirements to proceed with consultations prior to the pre-election period, WBC had commenced a five week informal consultation commencing on 23 February 2026.  Officers had briefed the Leader of the Council, the Lead Councillor and Chair of the Sub-Committee prior to the consultation and delegated authority had been exercised to support the consultation and had been detailed in an Officer Decision Notice that had been published on the Council’s website on 12 February 2026.

In order to proceed with the changes proposed within the Borough a statutory consultation would be required subject to the outcome of the informal consultation and should Wokingham decide to proceed with the overall scheme. 

The Sub-Committee discussed the report and Councillor Ennis thanked officers for the outstanding joint work that had been carried out between the two authorities on the proposals and the dedication on all sides to active travel.

Resolved –

(1)           That the report be noted;

(2)           That, subject to the outcome of the informal consultation, and should Wokingham Borough Council proceed with the scheme:

(a)           The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services in consultation with the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services be granted authority to undertake the statutory consultation for the proposed amendments to the existing Traffic Regulation Order relating to the London Road Bus Lane;

(b)           The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services in consultation with the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services, the Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport and the Chair of the Traffic Management Sub-Committee be granted authority to make minor amendments to the agreed proposals if required prior to implementation;

(c)           The scheme be considered as approved and the Assistant Director of Legal and Democratic Services be authorised to make the amendments to the Traffic Regulation Order, subject to no objections being received;

(d)           Any objections received during the statutory consultation period, be submitted to a future meeting for consideration and decision regarding scheme implementation.