 Above: REME parade through Wokingham town centre in 1978 (image: Wokingham Town Council)
Closures to celebrate borough's military links
There'll be road closures in Wokingham town centre on Sunday (26 October) for a parade honouring our borough's historic military connections.
The event, organised by Wokingham Town Council, recognises the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers' (REME) Freedom of Wokingham.
The regiment were based at the former Arborfield Garrison, which is now a thriving residential community as part of our long-term vision for the borough.
REME's links go back to 1904 and they were granted Freedom of Wokingham in 1978, as the photo shows - our thanks to the town council for sharing it!
There'll be rolling road closures and Denmark Street will be closed all day, so you should expect the town to be busier than usual and allow extra time to get through.
The parade runs from 11am to 12.15pm through Rose Street, Wiltshire Road, Peach Street and Market Place.
We'll be previewing more events and their impact on travel and parking in future newsletters. For now, just a quick heads-up on next Saturday's (1 November) Wokingham Fireworks, which includes a torchlit parade with rolling closures from the town centre to Cantley Park.
 Some closures nearing end as works wrap up
We're expecting Thames Water's repairs to a sewer on Plough Lane in Wokingham and SGN's gas main upgrades on Mole Road, Sindlesham, to finish this week.
The SGN works are ahead of schedule again despite unexpected obstacles, including aggression from a vocal minority of drivers.
Evendons Lane in Wokingham remains closed with a diversion, likely for the rest of the year, due to similar problems with underground weak points around a sewer.
Thames Water are providing us with weekly updates on their repair programme and we'll share any major news when we can.
There'll be a closure on Nine Mile Ride next week (see roadworks section below), where Power On and South East Water will be working together.
By coordinating their efforts, we’ve avoided the need for South East Water to come back later and close the road again, helping to minimise disruption.
We've scheduled a lot of works during the half-term holiday, which may affect more journeys in the short-term but will ensure less overall disruption on school runs.
We've postponed South East Water's planned works on Nine Mile Ride, between California Country Park and White House Lane. They were scheduled for Monday 24 to Friday 28 November, but are now deferred to the new year to avoid a clash with the Evendons Lane diversion.
 Above: a newly laid footway seal in Tangley Drive, Wokingham, as part of the latest programme
Footway works start with road resurfacing to follow
The final stages of our roads and footways maintenance programme for 2025/26 are progressing well, with local footway repairs now under way.
As we've previously reported, this involves laying a thin "slurry seal" which fills any cracks and improves grip underfoot.
It preserves and protects footways that have relatively minor flaws.
On top of that, we'll be carrying out the last of our full road resurfacing works during next week's half-term holidays, with closures on:
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Sutcliffe Avenue, Earley (Mon 27 Oct with lights on Wokingham Road)
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Bader Way, Woodley (Mon 27 Oct to Sat 1 Nov, 8pm to 6am overnight)
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Keephatch Road, Wokingham (Tuesday 28 October)
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Grazeley Green Road, Grazeley (Wednesday 29 October)
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Portway, Riseley (Thursday 30 October)
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Old Bath Road, Charvil (Thu 30 Oct to Sat 1 Nov, 7pm to 6am overnight)
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Crutchley Road, Wokingham (Thursday 30 October)
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Swallowfield Bypass (Fri 31 Oct to Sat 1 Nov, 8pm to 6am overnight)
We'll also be carrying out carriageway patching on:
Finally, a small number of surface dressing treatments (see video explainer) have been postponed until other essential roadworks finish in 2026.
Surface dressing is a cost-effective alternative to resurfacing which stops any faults becoming worse and can extend the road's life by up to 10 years.
You can check out our live listing of which roads have been treated this year, and which are still to come, on our website.
At the time of publishing (Thursday 23 October), a 1km section of the northbound nearside lane on the A33 Swallowfield bypass remains closed due to a crack along the carriageway. We're inspecting this to work out the next steps and will share an update as soon as we can.
 Creative kids could win prize for naming gritter
With winter just around the corner, pupils at schools across the borough are now invited to come up with new names for five of our gritters.
These hard-working vehicles, driven by our partners at Volker Highways, spread salt and grit to stop ice forming on the roads and keep everyone safe.
We're looking for fun, creative and catchy names - think puns, wintery wordplay or anything that makes people smile.
The winning name will be displayed on one of Volker's fleet and the winner will get to sit inside the cab, meet the team and learn more about it.
They'll also win a visit for their school, so classmates can see it up close too.
To enter, just contact Volker with the suggested name along with the student's name, age and school, and a short explanation of how they came up with the idea.
Entries must be submitted before Friday 14 November - and you can also print off and complete this optional entry sheet with a fun colouring challenge!
We'll be gearing up for our gritting and snow clearance programme soon, as part of a wider programme to keep our roads safe and winter-ready. We'll look at that in more detail in a future newsletter.
 New restrictions to stop hazardous parking
We're planning to restrict parking at various locations around the borough to help make our roads safer.
This is in response to local concerns about drivers parking at junctions and bends, as well as inconsiderate parking at school pick-up and drop-off times.
The restrictions would stop parked cars from blocking people's views or creating hazards for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
We're proposing double (no waiting at any time) and single (no waiting at specified times) yellow lines, limited waiting bays, disabled parking bays and no loading zones, some with restricted parking.
Different measures are proposed in Arborfield, Earley, Finchampstead, Shinfield, Spencers Wood, Twyford, Wargrave, Winnersh, Wokingham and Woodley.
You can view the full details and share your thoughts on our Engage Wokingham Borough page before Monday 10 November.
We have civil parking enforcement powers, so we can act on offences where there are formal restrictions in place. However, for things like dangerous or inconsiderate parking, you need to contact police on the non-emergency 101 number and they'll deal with it on a case-by-case basis.
 Upcoming roadworks
We think these works will be the most disruptive, but you can see a list of all upcoming works in your area or browse our interactive map.
Finchampstead
Road closure - Nine Mile Ride
Monday 27 to Friday 31 October
Last week, we incorrectly reported that these works were postponed. In fact, we've postponed works that were due to take place on Nine Mile Road next month (see article above). Our apologies for the error and any confusion caused.
There'll be a closure from Heath Ride to Bank Side while Power On install new cabling and South East Water install a water main.
Spencers Wood
Multi-way lights - Hyde End Road
Friday 31 October to Friday 7 November
There'll be lights between Croft Road and Grovelands Road for Nexfibre to carry out fibre optic works.
Wargrave
Road closure - School Hill
Monday 27 to Friday 31 October
There'll be a closure between Silverdale Road and Wyatt Close while Thames Water install a new water connection.
Winnersh
Road closure - King Street Lane
Monday 27 October to Tuesday 4 November
There'll be a closure between Hatch Farm Way junction and Churchill Drive (northbound only) while Thames Water install a water connection.
Wokingham
Two-way lights - Reading Road
Tuesday 28 to Friday 31 October
There'll be lights north of Emmbrook Road while South East Water fix a leaking pipe.
Keeping up to date
- For planned and emergency roadworks, follow us on Facebook
- To find out about roadworks near you, visit our interactive map
- For active and sustainable travel, visit My Journey Wokingham
- Visit our major new roads page for plans and updates
- Find out more about resurfacing and repairs including potholes
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Report any issues with roads and streets online - including street lights, problems with traffic lights, potholes, damaged street furniture, problems with road markings and removal of dead animals.
- Find out more about parking and permits including car park locations and costs, resident permits, park and ride services and appealing a parking fine
- Our transport and travel page includes applying for a senior citizen's or disabled person's bus and train pass, as well as public transport information
- The blue parking badges page has information on applying for, using, replacing and returning your blue badge
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