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A detailed look at final vision for new road
Our partners at Balfour Beatty are now setting up on site to build the final sections of the South Wokingham Distributor Road, with main works set to start this spring.
The finished road will serve the 1,800 or so new homes that will be built to the south of the railway line, as part of our long-term plan to meet everyone's needs.
William Heelas Way, the first section, was opened in 2015 and serves the homes at Montague Park, also part of the South Wokingham major development.
This was followed in 2022 by Eastern Gateway, which extends William Heelas Way to Waterloo Road via a bridge over the railway and new roundabout.
Still to come is the Central Section, which will run from the Waterloo Road roundabout to the roundabout near Tesco on Finchampstead Road.
We're also going to improve the junction of Molly Millars Lane and Finchampstead Road (Western Gateway) as part of this project.
We'll be taking a closer look at the plans for new housing in this area, as well as supporting infrastructure, in a future edition of this newsletter.
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Central Section: the key points
The Central Section will run from the Tesco roundabout on Finchampstead Road to the new roundabout on Finchampstead Road.
It will have a single carriageway in each direction with a 30mph speed limit, a shared footway and cycleway along its length and wide verges planted with trees.
Pedestrians and cyclists will have priority at junctions, and there'll be street lighting and pedestrian crossings with island refuges at regular intervals.
There will be extensive planting and landscaping along the new road to ensure there are more habitats for wildlife than before it was built.
As with earlier sections, the road is being funded by developers as part of their legal agreements linked to planning permission for new housing.
The work is being forward funded by Homes England, the Government's housing and regeneration agency, to be repaid by developer contributions.
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A close-up look at the western end of Central Section
The road includes a new bridge over the Emm Brook, along with drainage measures to offset any increased risk of flooding like drainage channels and ponds.
Some footpaths will be permanently realigned, but there'll still be good access to the surrounding area using public rights of way.
A new access road to Tesco will be built, with access to the car park from a new roundabout, while the old access road will be pedestrianised and landscaped.
Once new housing is being built, one of several new nature parks for South Wokingham will be built to the south of the road, near the Emm Brook bridge.
This is to be provided by the developers at a later stage, rather than as part of the South Wokingham Distributor Road project.
All businesses along the route, including Tesco and businesses on Molly Millars Lane, will remain open and accessible throughout the works.
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A close-up look at the eastern end of Central Section
Where Central Section crosses Easthampstead Road, to the south of the level crossing near Star Lane, the road layout will change.
A section of Easthampstead Road to the south of the new road will be permanently closed off, forming a cul-de-sac for new housing which will still be accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
A new three-way signalised junction will continue to allow access to and from the northern half of Easthampstead Road, except that only buses will be allowed to turn left onto Easthampstead Road from the eastbound Central Section.
All through traffic on Easthampstead Road will instead use a new link road, which rejoins it further to the south near Heathlands Road.
This is necessary to allow safe access to the new homes that are coming later. A four-way junction would need to be much bigger to operate safely, and would then be too close to other junctions in the area.
Balfour Beatty will be excavating a drainage pond to the west of Heathlands Road, with an accompanying nature park to be completed by housing developers.
 Click to enlarge the image above
Western Gateway: the key points
We're also going to provide a bigger roundabout at the junction of Finchampstead Road and Molly Millars Lane.
This will accommodate increased traffic flows, while new footways, cycleways and crossings will make the area safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
Measures include a 3m wide footway and cycleway along the northern edge of Molly Millars Lane, which is currently a verge with no path, and a new toucan crossing at the northern exit onto Finchampstead Road.
Improvements to the railway bridge were considered while planning the works, but could not be taken forward for logistical and financial reasons.
However, the new roundabout will significantly improve traffic flows by itself, regardless of whether any additional works are carried out later.
This would be subject to agreement with Network Rail, who own the bridge and are responsible for maintaining it, and there are currently no plans to do so.
As part of this project, we're also proposing improvements to the junction of Peacock Lane and Waterloo Road. We'll be sharing more on this once Bracknell Forest Council has decided our planning application.
 Above: the junction of Molly Millars Lane and Finchampstead Road (Western Gateway) which is going to be improved
What's happening next, and when am I affected?
We're just finalising our works programme, and we'll be publishing a more detailed list of expected key dates in the next few weeks.
We aren't expecting significant disruption on the roads until mid-summer 2025, when there'll be closures and diversions at the Molly Millars Lane roundabout.
These are likely to run until early 2026, with only one arm of the roundabout closing at a time instead of all at once.
A section of Easthampstead Road, from just north of the level crossing to Heathlands Road, is also set to close this winter and reopen in 2026.
We know this will cause disruption, for which we can only apologise, and we'll do everything we can to minimise any inconvenience.
This includes giving you updates through this newsletter as early as possible, including any unexpected changes to our works schedule.
We'll be updating our South Wokingham Distributor Road webpages soon, and we'll always share the latest in this newsletter so please watch this space.
You can also track all current and upcoming disruption on our live map.
However, if you have an urgent question or issue to report surrounding this project, please email Balfour Beatty or call them on 0800 121 4444.
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