Councillors welcome 'crash black spot' road changes

The decision to change the layout of a busy town road after a number of serious crashes has been welcomed by councillors.

Kings Road is one of the main outbound routes in Reading, sending drivers from the town centre to Cemetery Junction and the A4 London Road.

The road is a known crash black spot, with three resulting in injuries reported at the start of the year.

The situation has been highlighted by Eleaonora Galli, whose son was seriously hurt when he was hit by a taxi driver while he was crossing the road in May 2021.

Reading Borough Council's highways team has devised a scheme it hopes will make the route safer.

It will allow more space for drivers and other road users to turn prior to the entrance of Reading College and the junctions with Kingsgate Street and Rupert Street.

The proposal will be subject to a statutory consultation, which members of the council's traffic management sub-committee agreed at a meeting on 10 September.

Labour councillor Richard Davies said: "Turning off Kings Road outbound into Rupert Street and into the Orts Road estate can be like taking your life into your hands, and pulling out again.

"There are two lanes, there are buses, there are cyclists, and there's the main carriageway, which is moving quite quickly usually to join, and it can be quite challenging to do so."

Labour's John Ennis, lead councillor for transport, said: "Due to the number and severity of accidents along that area, officers are bound to meet with the police and other stakeholders and partners to investigate the situation.

"This is a really good, timely piece of work."

A suggestion of a 20mph speed limit along the route was rebuffed in favour of the extra space to turn, and the installation of four new signs.

Rob White, leader of the Greens on the council, said between 2010 and 2020 there had been five recorded fatal crashes in the stretch between Kingsgate Street and Cemetery Junction.

One of those was Harsh Dharmendra, who died aged 12 after being hit by driver Aadil Asghar in February 2012.

He described the "whole stretch" as "horrendous" and said his party and residents had been "banging our heads against a brick wall for some time", but thanked Mr Ennis for the action taken.

He also suggested more measures such as targeted 20mph speed limits and stopping right turns out of Kingsgate Street entirely.