Council urged to mitigate traffic avoiding Slough bus gate

In order to protect Colnbrook residents, Slough Borough Council (SBC) is planning to introduce restrictions on Poyle Road to stop large HGVs coming from accessing the A4 via the residential route.

HGVs often use that link to access the Poyle Trading Estate and could soon use it for mineral extraction sites. The intended effect will be for all traffic to travel to the roundabout at the Horton end of Poyle Road and to then access the M25 or A3113 directly.

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The bus-gate idea has been circulating for six years but could soon be made into a reality after Summerleaze, one of the developers at the mineral extraction sites near Poyle Road, submitted a scheme for new access to the site with the bus gate included.

The proposed bus gate would restrict HGVs going through Poyle Road

Horton Parish Council (HPC) has written to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) urging them to add traffic calming measures to protect the village as well as Datchet and Wraysbury, believing the bus gate will have a “catastrophic outcome” and could cause the villages to become a “rat run”.

SBC said this is the best way to protect Colnbrook residents from HGVs and doesn’t believe it will have a “detrimental” impact on the villages.

In an email to the Royal Borough, deputy chair of HPC, Cllr Janet Crame, wrote: “It is essential that urgent action is taken to provide a traffic solution for Horton to stop such vehicles from travelling through Horton Village. We already have substantial excess traffic every time the M25 is busy and plans for roadworks on the M25 will only make this much worse.”

More photos of congested traffic through Horton

An RBWM spokesperson said they are liaising with SBC to explore their latest plans and share HPC’s concerns. They also meet routinely with National Highways and neighbouring highways authorities to discuss issues which could have cross-border implications.

But Cllr Crame said they haven’t heard much from RBWM as they are “having a problem” in getting relevant information from the neighbouring authority. She accused the Royal Borough of “putting their head in the sand and hoping it will go away”.

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She said: “Our borough council needs to protect us”. Cllr Crame suggested speed tables or weight limits or other measures to deter passing traffic and prevent HGVs from going through the villages.

An RBWM spokesperson added: “Vehicular movements are, of course, an important consideration in planning mineral extraction and waste management activities.”