Slough’s Labour Council has a bad record on transport schemes: will the major reconstruction of Copthorne roundabout be any better?

"The Council's A355 (Tuns Lane) route enhancement involves plans to redesign the Copthorne roundabout and widen parts of the A355. The plans will be expensive and cause disruption for Cippenham residents," warns Cippenham Lib Dem campaigner Robert Plimmer.

"The key question is whether the promised eventual benefits of faster access between Junction 6 of the M4 and the Slough Trading Estate, central Slough and the M40 will be worth the expense and disruption. The record of Slough's Labour-run Council on traffic schemes is not good:

• The Labour council failed to listen to local residents about the chaos that would be caused by the new scheme in Station Rd, Burnham. Many residents have also expressed their anger since the scheme was introduced. The council's failure to listen is a repeat of Labour's ignoring objections to their traffic scheme in Chalvey;
• The Labour Council also wasted money by making such a mess of the Three Tuns scheme it had to be re-done at great cost;
• The Labour Council turned down Robert Plimmer's suggestions for improving traffic flow from estates off Cippenham Lane, eg out of Telford Drive & Weekes Drive."

So, as shown below Robert Plimmer went to the Copthorne roundabout to see what the Council's latest plans would mean for Cippenham residents.

Robert says: "The key elements of the Council's proposals are to widen parts of the A355, including between Junction 6 of the M4 and the Copthorne roundabout, and to re-construct the roundabout. It will become what is known as 'a signalised hamburger roundabout'. In proper English this means the A355 route will go straight through the middle of the roundabout, but if you are coming along Cippenham Lane you will have to go through a series of lights if, for example, you wish to get onto the A355 and get to Junction 6. There will also be bus priority measures.

The full details of the plans can be examined at: http://www.slough.gov.uk/parking-travel-and-roads/a355-tuns-lane-route-enhancement.aspx

However, when we went through them we could find comparatively little discussion of the potential impact on Cippenham residents coming out of Cippenham Lane. Nor was there much indication of the level of disruption that would be caused when the building work was going on. Various figures were provided for the costs, but some were about £5million, of which Slough Council would provide a small percentage."

If you have views about this scheme Robert Plimmer would be pleased to know what you think. Contact him on cippenhamlibdems@hotmail.co.uk

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