Overnight Road Maintenance at Junction 11 and A33 to begin

A busy route into Reading is to receive a treatment to preserve the good condition of the surface and extend the length of its working life.

Junction 11 of the M4 and the section of the A33 to Island Road, will be treated with a preservation material and where necessary new road markings will be laid using a low carbon application method. It will be the first time this preservation process has been used in the borough.

Lane closures will be in force at Junction 11 between 8pm and 6am each night for four nights from Tuesday 5 September for a thin solution called Rhinophalt to be applied to the road. It covers and penetrates the existing asphalt  surface layer restoring and extending the life of the surface.

The same treatment will be used along the A33 during the night-time work. The route will be closed in sections in one direction at a time, between 7pm and 6am the following morning from Tuesday 5 September. Diversions will be place.

The Council’s Highways and Drainage team has already carried out extensive pre-patching and ironwork repairs in preparation for this work.

Long-lasting road markings will then be applied, where necessary, using a cold applied method which has a lower carbon footprint compared to traditional methods.

The work has been made possible through the Council’s capital fund for Residential Roads which has already spent £9m over the past three years (2020/2023). A further £8m investment is planned over the next five years 2023/2028. National Highways has provided £250,000 this financial year for the route it deems strategically important.

John Ennis, Lead Councillor for Climate Strategy and Transport, said: “We are making use of cost-effective innovations and modern techniques to keep the road surface of this busy arterial route in good condition for longer.

“While this is a significant amount of work and there will inevitably be some disruption, it is being carried out through the night to keep disruption to a minimum.

“We are committed to improving the overall condition of the highway network.”

The work will be carried out by Velocity Ltd who are applying the Rhinophalt, Kiely Bros. Ltd who will be laying the road markings, and Meon Ltd who are providing the MMA road marking paints.