California Crossing Confuses
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Whilst no one condones bad behaviour towards construction staff, it is clear that the work on the California road junction did arouse considerable ire!
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A physical assault took place on Wednesday morning (14 February) when a driver intentionally hit a road worker using their vehicle, before fleeing the scene. The car’s registration number has been submitted to police for investigation.
The workers are equipped with body cameras to capture any incidents and supply to police for prosecution.
Before moving on, the above picture shows yellow railings installed in an attempt to “control” pedestrians at the pre-improved junction.
But how has it gone down after the improvements?
But the unveiling was received poorly by many residents – with hundreds expressing concern over road safety.
Some commented that it ‘looked like a playground’, while other said it would confuse drivers and was an ‘accident waiting to happen’.
Addressing these concerns, Wokingham Borough councillor Paul Fishwick, executive member for active travel, transport and highways said: “All roads can be described as ‘accidents waiting to happen’, because accidents happen on all roads.
Mr Fishwick’s response seems a tad on the cynical side.
The original junction was two linked mini roundabouts with very faded road painting. The new junction is …
… very strange! The mini roundabouts have been replaced with coloured leaves on a black background and no blob round about which to drive roundabout.
The areas designated for crossing pedestrians, once with yellow railings …
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… now have “walkways” with white leaves.
They don’t look much like pedestrian cossings …
… because they aren’t pedestrian crossings; they have no legal status whatsoever. Combine this with the free-for-all replacement for the mini roundabouts and it is no wonder that the locals are uneasy.
However, since residents became aware of the changes many have expressed their extreme outrage saying that the new markings pose a dangerous and confusing threat to drivers.
The service 125, on its way to Wokingham, approaches from bottom right, turns across the field of small coloured leaves, and exits top right. The service 3 to Reading approaches from top right and leaves via top left having (possibly) negotiated the botttom side of the island in the middle.
It looks like several accidents waiting to happen.
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Thanks to correspondent Andrew, we can spot a third California, this time in Ipswich
The locality is served by Ipswich Buses’ route 5 and associated services.
How many more California’s are there?
Next First Bus (maxi) blog : Weds 9th Oct