At last night’s Cabinet meeting, a very important item was discussed, one for which the people of Rodbourne and motorists in Swindon will be particularly interested in.

Congestion around the Outlet Centre on weekends and when the Steam Museum holds popular events has, it’s fair to say, made things difficult for people who live in the Rodbourne area.

But I am pleased to say that big strides are now being made to address the issues, with some solutions having been implemented already.

Since the subject was passionately brought before the Full Council back in April, we have created two new lanes on Kemble Drive to allow traffic to move more easily.

Adding a new lane for through traffic and one for those wishing to access the North Car Park at the Designer Outlet has meant that there is greater capacity for vehicles on busy Kemble Drive, which will hopefully reduce the blocking through Bruce Street Bridges and, consequently, reduce delays on Great Western Way.

This arrangement will be closely monitored by our Highways team to ensure that it can work as a viable solution in the long term.

We are also looking into removing the Church Place bus gate at weekends to allow traffic to access the car park on Bristol Street, while meetings with the Outlet Centre are also taking place to see if we can increase car parking capacity and alleviate some of the queuing traffic in the area.

Also under consideration is a plan to make Rodbourne Road ‘northbound only’ on days when there are special events at the Designer Outlet or Steam.

We anticipate trialling this at a future date to see if this would be an effective solution and we will update you when we have further details.

I would like to reassure people living in Rodbourne that we are listening to their concerns and we are working with local ward councillors to find solutions to the congestion issues.

We are extremely fortunate to have such a successful Outlet Centre that attracts visitors from all over the region, but we know that this cannot be to the detriment of local people.

This Sunday, runners will take to the streets for the Swindon Half Marathon.

The area around the Outlet Centre is part of the route and residents will likely find it difficult to get around. But this year’s race will start earlier than last year’s, meaning that delays should be kept to a minimum.

I would like to wish everyone taking part in the race the best of luck and to remind people to check the organiser’s website for further details about road closures on Sunday morning – www.newswindonhalf.co.uk