A329(M)

For detailed information about this topic, see Roads.org.uk Motorway Database and Pathetic Motorways

Heading towards Reading

The A329(M) runs between west Bracknell, east Wokingham and the suburbs of Reading, and is the only constructed section of the proposed M31. It was the last dual carriageway motorway in England to have sections with no central crash barrier; these were added in 2010.

The A329(M) is unusual (but not unique) as a local-authority maintained motorway. The highway authority owning and maintaining the motorway is Wokingham Borough Council.

The original northern end of the A329(M) was on the A4 on the eastern edge of Reading town centre. The northern roundabout was then grade-separated in the 1980s pending construction of a northern relief road which has never been built; as such the motorway ended on an unclassified road in the Thames Valley park business estate for many years.

In the late 1990s the northernmost few hundred yards of the A329(M) had its hard shoulder converted to a bus lane. As a result it was deemed inappropriate to remain a motorway (despite bus lanes already existing on the then-M63) and so the entire section north of Winnersh Triangle was downgraded to become the A3290. The hard shoulders have been hatched out but the road is still motorway standard for all other intents and purposes.

The Loddon Bridge Interchange was reconfigured several times since its original opening: to add a junction to the Bader Way route to Woodley to the north; to shift the northbound on and off slips further to the east closer to Winnersh Triangle station, and to accommodate Park and Ride buses, which had access to a dedicated slip road for some years.

It meets the M4 at the Winnersh Interchange, a free-flow interchange. The interchange is owned and maintained by National Highways who have altered lane designations in attempts to reduce congestion in and around the interchange.

The southern end of the A329(M) is at a junction with the A329 and B3408 between Bracknell and Wokingham at the Coppid Beech Roundabout. Originally the motorway ended at the roundabout but in the 1980s or 1990s a flyover was added.

The first section of the motorway to be build and opened has space in the central reservation to add a third lane in each direction, because it was built to D3M profile as part of the proposed M31. This stretch runs from the A4 Sutton Seeds Roundabout junction to the A321 bridge, which was a temporary terminus just south of the M4.

Opening Dates

For detailed information about this section, see Roads.org.uk Motorway Database: A329(M) Timeline

Links

• CBRD
• Pathetic Motorways

Roads UK

• Highways and Byways Route Guide

legislation.gov.uk

• The County Council of the Royal County of Berkshire A329(M) Special Road Variation Scheme 1996 Confirmation Instrument 1997

• The County Council of the Royal County of Berkshire A329(M) Relief Road Special Road Variation Scheme 1987 Confirmation Instrument 1988