Traffic surveys lead to traffic queues

Traffic ground to a halt on Tuesday and Wednesday morning as busy routes in the town were reduced to one lane while West Berkshire Council surveyed motorists on their commute.
On Tuesday traffic slowed to a crawl at the Burger King and Vodafone roundabouts on the A339. Then on Wednesday morning another survery was held by the Shell garage in Speen and tailbacks stretched to Floral Way in Thatcham from the Hambridge Road A4 junction adding about 15 minutes to the morning rat run.
A spokesman for West Berkshire Council, Keith Ulyatt, said: “To plan for future traffic and transport, it is essential to have a clear understanding of traffic volumes and driver journeys. The only way to gather this crucial information is through the surveys being carried out, which - with the help of the police - is what is going on.
“We thank drivers for their co-operation. Ultimately the exercise will help all road users. Obviously it would not have made sense to forewarn drivers since we need to capture regular, unchanged, driver patterns.”
Mr Ulyatt added that the surveys were not related to any particular development works, instead being a general traffic management survey trying to get an understanding of traffic in and out of Newbury and Thatcham.