Arborfield Village Improvement Scheme
The news we have all been waiting for
Residents of Arborfield, old and new, will be aware that there have been plans for a Relief Road for Arborfield for many years; in fact, the first plans were drawn up in the 1930s. The agreement to provide a Relief Road was finally negotiated as part of the “Arborfield Green and surrounding area” development plans in 2009 and the route for the Relief Road was confirmed in 2013 which, as you will have seen, is now taking shape and due to open later this year.
The scheme is designed to take the majority of the traffic that currently passes through Arborfield Village to protect the historic buildings and landscapes and make it a safer and more environmentally friendly place to spend time in.
Although the Relief Road will take most of the traffic, there is a significant remainder that should be travelling on other, more suitable routes. We were therefore delighted when Wokingham Borough Council agreed to allocate a budget for further Arborfield village improvements in order to enhance the local environment and encourage the remaining traffic not to travel through the village.
In 2019, the residents of Arborfield and other interested parties were consulted on their priorities for changes and improvements and this was followed up with a workshop at the Village Hall which was very well attended and provided an excellent level of detail for the representatives from Wokingham Borough Council to take away and work into a scheme.
The finalised scheme has been designed to include the wishes of the original consultation together with a review by WBC and their Safety Audit Committee that has included a review of road speeds, signage and traffic modelling to ensure the scheme does not have any materially adverse effect on the surrounding roads or areas.
Hopefully you will appreciate that the work undertaken in preparing this finalised scheme will ensure Arborfield Village will no longer have to suffer the burden of fast moving, pass through and continuous HGV traffic and will, as a result, return Arborfield to a village environment that will be a safer, healthier and more pleasant place to live, go to school, work and spend time.
This scheme needs to be finalised by a second consultation before the Arborfield Cross Relief Road opens, then being delivered within the following two years. So, watch out for a consultation document dropping through your door shortly and please don’t waste this opportunity to provide your support for this scheme or have your say.
Arborfield Village Improvement Scheme Steering Group
The Parish Council would like to thank all the members of the Steering Group and other stakeholders who have worked tirelessly over the past year or so to put this together with Wokingham Borough Council and their contractor WSP. We hope you will support their work.
