As part of my daily commute to the Reading station, I cycle in the Palmer Park, through the little car park at the corner of Wokingham Road and Palmer Park Avenue. I mean the one here, near the church:
It’s one of the most stressful parts of my commute, because in this little space, you can usually find:
- a lot of potholes
- pedestrians, sometimes running
- dogs, sometimes connected to the pedestrians with a leash
- cars parked haphazardly, sometimes moving in unexpected ways
- and not much light at night!
The combination of all these is quite dangerous, and I’ve seen a few near misses. More frequently, the cars are lined up so close to each other that I struggle to pass with my bike — and forget it if you have a cargo bike, a pram or a wheelchair.
The video below (and the picture above) give a good idea of the issue: you’ll see a car driving on the footpath, then deep puddles and finally a cluster of cars preventing access to the footpath.
Suggestions
The park should be a safe space for people. Allowing cars there is annoying, and dangerous. Here are a few ways we could improve it:
- Add more light! A few lampposts will make it easier to see the potholes and the people 💡
- Fix the potholes 🕳️
- Confine the cars. They should not be able to cross the footpaths at all. And I mean: physically, with fences, bollards, planters, etc. 🪴
- Actually, you know what? Ditch the cars completely! Maybe we can keep a couple of blue-badge spaces ♿♿ for easy access to the church, but otherwise cars are able to stay in the very nice, recently extended car park in the middle of the Palmer Park, just 30 seconds walk away.
Our children deserve a better, safer environment, whether they are in a pram, a wheelchair or just walking their dog.
If you agree, do join us on our next Kidical Mass ride!