To receive any petitions presented by Members on behalf of residents.

(Notice of the petition must be given to the Head of Governance not later than noon on the last working day prior to the meeting. A Member submitting a Petition may speak for no more than 2 minutes to summarise the contents of the Petition).

Councillor Tisi submitted the following petition:

We the undersigned petition the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to urgently upgrade the existing Zebra crossings on Maidenhead Road adjacent to the Parsonage Lane/Mill Lane mini roundabout to Toucan crossings; also to introduce traffic calming measures and reduce the speed limit.

Councillor Tisi commented that the video of Councillor Johnson in Mill Lane claiming to be listening to residents’ concerns about highways issues must have been confusing to Mr Gibbons, the petitioner.   He, like his neighbours and his ward councillors, Councillor Davies and Councillor Tisi, had been telling the council for years that the Mill Lane junction urgently needed upgrading. From his home in sight of the roundabout, Mr Gibbons had witnessed crumpled bumpers, a smashed bicycle and flashing ambulance lights all too often. At times, literally the entire M4 flowed through that junction, complete with thundering juggernauts and impatient motorists forced to detour through the residential areas.

Councillor Tisi asked what was there to protect cyclists against the onslaught? Fading white cycles on the cracked tarmac. Pedestrians took their chances on a zebra crossing, which was still poorly lit by broken Belisha beacons even after months of regular reporting by Mr Gibbons and herself.

The council knew this junction was a problem. They just had not done anything to properly sort it out. It was the third worst accident blackspot for cyclists in Berkshire. In 2018 RBWMM identified the need to replace the crossing with toucan lights as ‘high priority’ with a ‘high safety impact’ and even allocated £67,000 for improvements.

So far the considerable lobbying had achieved a new safety sign and assurances from highways officers and the lead Member that the junction would be reviewed, again. Councillor Tisi suggested the council should show residents that it was truly listening by getting Mill Lane done. Councillor Tisi requested that the lead Member write to Mr Gibbons with a plan for the review of the junction and an indication of timescale.

Councillor L. Jones submitted the following petition:

We the undersigned petition the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead to carry out an urgent review of road safety to inform improvements for children walking and cycling to Trevelyan Middle School; and install additional crossings on St Leonard’s Road and Bolton Road.

Councillor L. Jones explained that the petition had been brought about due to a lack of crossing points on significant junctions on St Leonards Road and an accident and several near misses. It underlined the concerns of parents who wanted their children to walk or cycle to school safely. Trevelyan School was located on the opposite side of St Leonard’s Road to the main residential area. The road had a 30mph limit and was a busy through route used by a variety of road users; most importantly up to 600 9-13-year-olds could walk or cycle to school.

A promised review in 2019 and again in 2020 appeared to become the victim of a priority list once the council started dealing with the Active Travel consultation. Cars came round from St Leonard’s to Bolton Road due to the wide junction causing pedestrians crossing to abruptly halt. A central refuge was suggested. There were also calls to upgrade the existing zebra crossing to a light controlled pelican crossing. Councillor Jones urged the council to investigate the options to provide a safe route to school for pupils from both directions and implement the findings as soon as possible.