The Inner Distribution Road or IDR is a mostly

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

that encircles the

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Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

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. It forms part of the A329 that runs from

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

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Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

History

The Inner Distribution Road was proposed as a radical solution to the regular build up of traffic in the town centre, and the air and noise pollution that accompanied it. It opened in 1969, after much controversy because the route necessitated the destruction of several central Reading neighbourhoods. Due to unforeseen financial problems it remained incomplete until 1989.

Future

Reading Borough Council Reading Borough Council is the local authority for the Borough of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. Berkshire is purely a ceremonia ...

drew up plans in 2006 for the Inner Distribution Road to become an anti-clockwise

one-way traffic One-way traffic (or uni-directional traffic) is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction. One-way streets typical ...

route to help the traffic keep moving. In 2006 local radio station

Reading 107 107 JACK fm Berkshire was an Independent Local Radio station in the English town of Reading. The station was based at studios in the Madejski Stadium, home of Reading F.C. and London Irish. The station's transmitter is located on the Tilehurst ...

conducted a survey asking if the road should become a one-way system, over 90% of people thought that there should be a public enquiry before any proposed changes go ahead. Plans were put on hold in 2010. Development plans created in 2003 to build a deck over the Inner Distribution Road to enable the expansion of

Chatham Place Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswi ...

were partially completed in 2009. Speaking at an event to mark the completion of the Chatham Place redevelopment in February 2016, Tony Page, Deputy Leader of the Council, said "Part of our vision for this area is to one day cover over the IDR to shield off all of the noise; it is an aspiration that we intend to work on in the future."

References

Roads in Berkshire Geography of Reading, Berkshire Transport in Reading, Berkshire {{Berkshire-geo-stub