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Leaf-design junction is safe, council insists

Daisy Stephens
BBC News
BBC An aerial photo of two roundabouts, with rainbow leaves painted on the tarmac. At each of the the three exists for each roundabout there's a band of white leaves painted across the road. BBC
California Cross roundabout has been the subject of controversy since its redesign in 2024

A number of recommendations from a safety audit into a controversial junction have been rejected by a council.

Residents raised concerns about California Cross in Finchampstead, Berkshire, where painted leaf designs were used in place of standard roundabout markings and pedestrian crossings.

Documents showed a road safety audit in January made a number of recommendations to make the junction clearer, including adding central islands to the mini roundabouts.

But designers said they rejected some of the recommendations because there was evidence the junction was "operating as intended", although the council added it would continue to monitor it.

A photo taken from the pavement showing one of the roundabouts, with the white leaf crossing on the right and the rainbow leaf roundabout on the left. It's a sunny day and the sky is blue.
One of the recommendations involved adding "look both ways" to crossing points

Wokingham Borough Council commissioned consulting firm WSP to undertake a Stage 3 Road Safety Audit into the junction, which was completed in September 2024.

The audit made a number of recommendations, including adding "look both ways" markings to the crossing points, adding central islands and arrow markings to the roundabouts.

It also suggested adding hatching on to the approach to existing islands to reduce the risk of collisions.

The design team said the markings at the pedestrian crossings could "give the false impression that drivers have priority over pedestrians".

Hatching leading up to the existing islands "could detract from the scheme approach", designers said, noting the existing arrow on the bollard "should suffice".

Other recommendations, including discussing moving signage for the nearby petrol station and trimming vegetation to improve visibility, were accepted.

Cars driving across one of the rainbow leaf roundabouts.
Adding hatching to existing traffic islands was also suggested

The council's executive member for highways, Martin Alder, said there was evidence the design of California Cross had slowed motorists down.

"We set out to create a pleasant, safe environment with a stronger sense of place, while slowing traffic down and making drivers more aware of pedestrians," he said.

"All the evidence shows that we are achieving that."

The council added it had installed cameras in October to monitor how people used the junction, and that it would finish reviewing the footage by the end of February.

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