I have read a copy of the following petition ane been asked to help:
Berkshire CC installed our roundabouts instead of traffic signals in 1980 for sound technical and safety reasons, but Reading BC vandalised them against the new professional consensus. TRL said that ‘the accident record did not justify the removal of the roundabouts’ and also that ‘the new scheme encourages all road users to behave dangerously’. So we now have a polluted and unsafe environment, loss of trade locally, long-term maintenance costs and fuel inefficiency. The planned developments in WBC will add to the congestion that RBC has forced on us. Representatives of local businesses & Residents Associations demanded at the 20 April 2012 community meeting that Councillors rectify their error, act in the public interest and implement the Low-Cost option, i.e.: reinstate both our roundabouts, re-widen the carriageway & install safe pedestrian-controlled crossings. We fully endorse this demand and sign accordingly.
It is a good example of unpopular public spending. I have been to see the installation a few times and agree that it has made the traffic situation worse, with long queues, more pollution and more frustrated drivers at busy times of day. I am taking it up with the Council for my constituents adversely affected by it.