Council Announces Next Phase of Road Improvement Programme

RESIDENTS are set to see yet more road improvements around Reading, with the next phase of resurfacing on major roads around the borough beginning soon.

From Monday 12 August until Wednesday 21 August, sections of three main roads will be resurfaced. That work will then pause until after the Reading Festival when a second phase of improvements will see a further ten major roads improved from the beginning of September. This is the beginning of a two-year programme which will see 76 sections of major roads around Reading improved for residents.

The £4.5m major roads programme forms part of a further £8m Reading Borough Council investment that will also see a substantial number of residential roads improved over five years, with around 100 more residential roads set to be resurfaced later this year.

The Council’s commitment to improving highways – including a now completed £9m investment which saw over 700 residential roads resurfaced over three years – has already shown impressive results. 80% of Reading’s residential roads are now classed as being in “good” condition, up from 35% before the improvement programme commenced in 2019.

The sections of road being improved will see closures to ensure work can be carried out quickly and safely, and a temporary ‘no waiting at any time traffic order’ will be in place to prevent parking on the road while the works are being undertaken. Residents and businesses directly affected will see advance notices put out alerting them to the work, along with on-street closure notices and resident letters being posted through doors. Residents will need to follow the signed diversions but will be provided with access on an individual basis when it is safe to do so throughout the process, and bus diversions will be in place.

The resurfacing work on London Road is being coordinated with work to install a new inbound bus lane between Liverpool Road and Amity Road junctions, creating faster and even more reliable journeys for people travelling into town by bus. By synchronising these two pieces of work the Council is minimising the disruption to residents, especially as all work is being performed under three nighttime closures (7pm-1am) in both directions so as not to affect daytime traffic in and out of Reading. A locally signed diversion will be in place via the A3290, Winnersh Triangle junction and Wokingham Road.  

Karen Rowland, Lead Councillor for Environmental Services and Community Safety, said:

“Our record on road surfacing improvements in recent years has been excellent with a completed £9m investment over three years now followed by the current £8m programme over five years.

We know our roads are so important to residents – as our feedback has confirmed to us. Therefore we’re doing all we can to keep the momentum going to ensure all road users see the benefits of our commitment to providing transport routes that can get you to where you’re going as efficiently as possible.

After this major roads programme we’ll be returning back to work on improving more residential roads, to add to the hundreds we’ve already resurfaced.”

The list of roads to be improved during the first phase of the major roads improvement programme is as follows: