M4 weekend closures
Low traffic neighbourhoods plan was ‘too vast’
LANGLEY/SLOUGH: The M4 will be closed in both directions over the weekend of February 1922 between Junctions 4b (M25 interchange) and 5 (Langley).
The closure – to facilitate smart motorway works – will start tonight (Friday) and the motorway will reopen by 6am on Monday, February 22.
Highways England is encouraging drivers to plan ahead and use signed diversions, which will direct traffic away from the affected stretch of motorway.
The M4 will be also be closed in both directions over the weekend of 5-8 March between Junctions 5 (Langley) and 6 (Slough). The closure will start after 8pm Friday, March 5 and the motorway will reopen by 6am on Monday, March 8.
Visit www.highwaysengland.co.uk for the latest information on roadworks.
The Royal Borough is to abandon a controversial proposal to have two low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) in West Windsor.
The LTN scheme proposed stopping cars from driving down a number of key roads in Dedworth and Clewer including Gallys Road and Smiths Lane.
The aim was to reduce the number of cars on the road and encourage more walking and cycling, funded by a £335,000 grant secured from the Government’s Active Travel Fund.
A total of 2,221 responses were received to a consultation on the LTNs, with about 90 per cent opposed to the proposals.
Councillor Gerry Clark, cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, said: “I am delighted that residents in their thousands have engaged with the latest infrastructure consultation.
“The consultation has done its job and we have listened. It is clear from the results that residents are against the (Maidenhead) bus gate and the low traffic neighbourhood proposals and therefore these schemes will not be progressed.
“All responses will be analysed and we will consider some of the genuinely innovative alternative suggestions that have been put forward.”
Cllr Clark added: “When designing these schemes, we prioritise what will support residents’ lives; what will support new house building; what will help meet our commitments to tackling climate change, and what will help support our local economy recovery post-COVID.”
Clewer and Dedworth West councillor Jon Davey (West Windsor Residents’ Association), who raised concerns about the proposals when they first came to light, said the scrapping of the LTN proposal was ‘fantastic news.’
“The scheme was too vast – we would change too many things at once and it wouldn’t be fair on residents,” he said.
“The original concept was small, then within a couple of weeks it had gone from a couple of streets to the whole of West Windsor. It would have impacted residents’ lives in such a drastic way.”
Cllr Davey highlighted that restricting car usage would be problematic for elderly or less mobile people, for whom even a short walk can be a struggle.
He added that some roads, such as Kentons Lane, do need to change, as the increase in the number of cars ‘zooming around the bend’ is causing accidents – but the bigger roads such as Gallys Road and Smiths Lane are not problematic.
“Cllr Clark did say if a majority of people didn’t want the proposal to go ahead, it wouldn’t, and he has been as good as his word,” said Cllr Davey.
The consultation also asked for feedback on school streets near local schools in Ascot, Maidenhead and Windsor.
Several school street schemes were not supported, including those for Trevelyan Middle School in Windsor and South Ascot Village Primary School.