 Crews have true grit as winter maintenance kicks off
From next week until the end of winter, our partners at Volker Highways will be on permanent standby to grit the borough's roads.
They'll get forecasts several times a day and head out on a run if it looks like it's likely to freeze over in the coming hours.
That's not just based on the day's temperature, but things like how long it's been cold and whether there's any surface water.
The team are geared up 24/7 for emergencies and their gritters can be fitted with ploughs to clear snow off the roads.
As part of this year's preparations, they've already checked that their ploughs still fit and stocked up on 1,500 tonnes of rock salt.
That's the weight of more than 100 double-decker buses, and it's kept in a huge barn at their depot in north Wokingham.
If you're stuck behind a gritter, remember - only overtake if it's safe to do so, give plenty of room and hang back to avoid damage from the salt spray.
 Making every run count when a big freeze hits
We can't grit every road in the borough so we have a list of priorities, starting with our primary network.
This covers 170 miles, or about 37 per cent of public roads (excluding the M4), between key destinations or those linking town centres to major routes.
If icy conditions are likely to last, we may treat the secondary network, which totals 60 miles and makes up another 13 per cent of our roads.
This comprises main routes leading to schools, bus routes, residential roads and hazardous rural routes.
We may then grit less crucial roads and we also put salt bins where they'll make the biggest difference and where there are people who can access them.
If it snows, we'll put down more grit - but we have to balance clearing the roads with our need to keep plenty in reserve.
If necessary, we'll only grit vital routes, like those people rely on to get food.
Finally, we shovel snow and ice from footways and other key areas. This is all set out in our winter highways maintenance plan, which we update annually.
There's still time for children to enter Volker's gritter naming contest, which closes to entries tomorrow (Friday 14 November) - see our previous edition of Moving Around the Borough for more details!
 Expect delays at junction as new road takes shape
There'll be disruption at the junction of Easthampstead Road and Heathlands Road, to the south of Wokingham, from Monday (17 November) until next May.
We're rearranging the junction, in partnership with Balfour Beatty, as part of the South Wokingham Distributor Road project.
For the first four weeks, there'll be three-way temporary lights on Easthampstead Road and at the Heathlands Road junction.
After that, there'll be road closures and temporary lights in various phases until the works are completed.
You can see the full programme in our latest South Wokingham newsletter - and be sure to sign up for regular updates as things move forward.
By the time these works finish, we hope to have built and opened a new link road from Easthampstead Road to Waterloo Road.
This will provide an alternative route when we close Easthampstead Road further to the north, between Star Lane and Heathlands Road, from next April.
Following last week's announcement on road closures for the Wokingham Winter Carnival, please note that Rose Street will only be closed at the junction with Broad Street - and Broad Street itself will also be closed. Temporary bus stops will also be in place during the event.
 Stock image (credit: Thames Water)
Prep work for sewer repairs progressing
Thames Water have begun excavating and draining water from the sewer trenches beneath a section of Evendons Lane in Wokingham.
They're working on the second trench out of four and finalising a detailed plan to deal with voids, or gaps, which have formed beneath the main road.
These were discovered over the summer and that section, between Evendons Close and Glendale Close, has been shut ever since then for safety reasons.
Earlier repair efforts failed when excavations collapsed, so Thames Water passed the work to a more specialist team.
There are bulletin boards on site, which are regularly updated so people living nearby can find out what's going on.
A diversion is in place but, unlike the previous closure of the lane in 2022, traffic remains two-way on the diversion route.
Works will continue until at least late December and we'll give an update on timeframes as soon as we can.
We've almost finished our annual roads and footways maintenance programme for 2025/6, aside from some postponed works. We'll keep you updated on our plans for next year, and the final dates for this year, when we have details.
 Building a better bus network with your help
We've been asking community groups how we could improve the bus services that we support - and we'll be launching a wider consultation early next year.
We subsidise about half our local routes from various sources, and most of these contracts are set to end in March 2027.
Before we re-tender them next summer, we want to get a better idea of how well they're meeting people's needs.
We've spoken with about 40 groups, as well as bus companies, to explore what's working and where we might want to improve things.
These include older people, young people, residents with disabilities, the LGBTQ community, commuters, carers and care workers, charities, and women and girls.
We've identified changes that we'd like to make, including more frequent buses and extended hours on some routes as well as new routes between key destinations.
However, these would depend on external funding, including additional support from the Government through our Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).
Once we've got a better idea of funding, we'll finalise the options and ask everyone what they think. Watch this space for more news.
In case you missed it, buses will be free in our borough on selected weekend dates in the run-up to Christmas! This applies to all single local trips starting in the borough, and is funded by the Government through our BSIP.
 More flexible advance parking offers available
We now offer a 100-day season ticket at seven of our car parks across the borough, not including the park and ride sites.
These allow you to pay for your 100 days upfront and use each one as and when you need it, at a discounted rate of £4.50 per day.
They're a useful alternative to our one, three, six and 12-month season tickets if you think you're going to park more irregularly.
You just use each day through your user account on our online platform, with no need to use the on-site machines or the RingGo app.
You also quickly enter your registration number each time, so it's flexible and you don't have to authorise anything or authenticate any documents in advance.
As well as avoiding wasted days, you can park beyond the maximum stay period.
Just sign into our parking platform, or create a free account if you don't already have one, and follow the instructions from there.
We took on civil enforcement powers for parking in 2017, replacing the old arrangement where the police enforced it. Our contract with enforcement firm NSL ends in September 2026 and we're considering the next steps.
 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.
Overnight closures on Shinfield Road roundabout in Shinfield, which were advertised for tonight, Friday and Saturday, have been postponed due to poor weather.
Finchampstead
Road closure - Wellingtonia Avenue
Monday 17 November, 9.30am to 3.30pm
The road will be closed from its junction with Lower Wokingham Road while BT work on telegraph poles.
Wokingham
Two-way lights - Barkham Road
Monday 17 to Friday 21 November, 8pm to 6am overnight
There'll be two-way lights overnight near the junction with Blandford Drive while Nexfibre carry out fibre optic works.
Road closure - Wiltshire Road
Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 November, 8pm to 6am
The road will be closed between Crutchley Road and Bishops Drive while we install a new anti-skid surface.
Woodley
Road closure - Spitfire Way
Thursday 20 November, 9.30am to 4pm
The road will be closed along its entire length while we carry out carriageway patching works.
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
-
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
|
