From new cycle paths to improvements at the exit from Braywick Park, the Royal Borough could get a national funding boost for local transport upgrades.

In December last year, the Government announced a multi-year grant for local authorities across the country to improve transport infrastructure.

In order to access £32million of capital funding from the Government, Windsor and Maidenhead council must submit a local transport delivery plan to the Department for Transport.

This will formally set out the transport initiatives the council wants to deliver with the grant funding.

The transport plan is set to go before a cabinet meeting on Thursday (July 16) for councillors’ stamp of approval.

If the Government also gives it the go-ahead, the capital funding will be split across four years, through to March 2030.

While capital grant funding can be invested in more long-term initiatives, the grant also has a revenue element to it for three years.

This is not new because the council has already been receiving revenue grants from the Government in previous years, a cabinet report said.

“However, this grant award does provide a welcome three years of further funding certainty,” it added.

Over the three years, the revenue funding includes £2.3million going towards bus services and £600,000 to support the roll out of EV charge points.

Under the capital grant, £21.9million will be awarded for maintaining and renewing existing roads while £2million could be invested into new or upgraded bus infrastructure.

The remaining capital funding pot, £8.1million, will be used on upgraded transport infrastructure, including schemes for walking, cycling or people moving on wheels such as mobility scooters or wheelchairs.

But at this stage, the proposals for what the money could be used for in future years are only a framework for early planning and can be changed.

For this year, the agreed allocation of the capital grant funding will be used on improvements including resurfacing and patching work, road safety, street lighting, footways and bus infrastructure.

In addition, the council also has £927,000 grant funding for local electric vehicle infrastructure to support the rollout of on-street EV charging.

In future years – from 2027/28 through to 2030 – papers due to go before cabinet set out recommended proposals for what the money could be used for.

A new school streets programme, better bus stops and bus punctuality as well as fixing potholes and resurfacing roads, are all potential plans.

Work to improve bridges and embankments across the borough is one of the many recommended ways the grant can be invested.

Other proposals look at a new cycle path from Kidwells Park to Norfolk Road – making sure cyclists don’t mix with traffic on the B4447 Cookham Road.

The single entry and exit point into Braywick Park from the 40mph Braywick Road has also been a subject of concern among residents.

A petition calling on the council to review the access into the park quickly gained support from campaigners – with more than 880 signatures so far.

Now, potential safety improvements at the park’s exit point onto the A308 are part of how the council could use some of the money, the cabinet papers said.
Another initiative looks at new paving and road surfaces between Queen Street and St Ives Road – focusing on wider footways in Maidenhead High Street.

Last year, a disability and inclusion forum had raised concerns about the ‘extremely dangerous’ and ‘diabolical’ pavements in Queen Street and Maidenhead High Street.

Over 2028/29 and 2029/30, some of the funding could go towards remodelling the junction of Winkfield Road, Imperial Road and Clewer Hill Road in Windsor.

“[This will] address a congestion hotspot, busy in particular with Legoland traffic in a tightly constrained location,” the papers said.

Proposals look at upgrading traffic signals and introducing formal crossing points at the junction of A4 Bath Road and All Saints Avenue in Boyn Hill.