Work begins on almost £3 million of road improvements

Work will begin shortly on 130 road improvements to be carried out this year by West Berkshire Council as part of a new three year plan.

A new programme of projects for 2011 until 2014 has now been approved by the Council which will see many roads around the district resurfaced.

Added to this, a snow damage repair scheme has been developed following the freezing conditions experienced during the winter. Some of this work will be funded using a £913,000 grant from Central Government.

A range of different surface treatments will be used depending on the type and location of each road being resurfaced. Wherever possible, roads in residential areas will be resurfaced using noise reducing materials. Every effort will also be made to recycle existing materials in support of the Council’s Cleaner and Greener initiative.

David Betts, West Berkshire Executive Councillor for Highways and Transport said: “With a road network of more than 1200km it is essential that we have a clear plan to ensure maintenance is carried out in order of priority. I am very pleased that we have such a comprehensive new programme and it will be great to get started.”

Is there a sweepstake on the first post to moan about the roadworks?

As long as Brummel Road and Elizabeth Avenue are priority then there is no problem

Quoted from brian newman

As long as Brummel Road and Elizabeth Avenue are priority then there is no problem

I spoke to the council in March about Brummel Road and they suggested it was to be done in June, along with Kersey and some of the other roads in that area.

Quoted from brian newman

As long as Brummel Road and Elizabeth Avenue are priority then there is no problem

Essex Street is in a horrendous state as well and hass been for quite a number of years.

Quoted from user23.3

Is there a sweepstake on the first post to moan about the roadworks?

Au contraire. I can only deduce that all this has made Cllr Betts very busy. Why else wouldn't he have used this opportunity to reiterate that £1m of the £3m was allocated by the Department of Transport 5 months ago to tackle the mess from the winter.

Our Man in Faraday tells me that they need to get the s106 backlog spent too, in particular as the Localism Bill (due to become law this summer) has a clause allowing councils to pool s106 contributions for big pet projects, so either way, there's not going to be as much for routine road maintenance in the future.

I was puzzled by the Lib Dems whinging that nearly all this is being spent in Tory areas, when the third biggest item is the £240,000 traffic lights at Boundary Road Bridge.

Quoted from Muddler

Au contraire. I can only deduce that all this has made Cllr Betts very busy. Why else wouldn't he have used this opportunity to reiterate that £1m of the £3m was allocated by the Department of Transport 5 months ago to tackle the mess from the winter.

Our Man in Faraday tells me that they need to get the s106 backlog spent too, in particular as the Localism Bill (due to become law this summer) has a clause allowing councils to pool s106 contributions for big pet projects, so either way, there's not going to be as much for routine road maintenance in the future.

I was puzzled by the Lib Dems whinging that nearly all this is being spent in Tory areas, when the third biggest item is the £240,000 traffic lights at Boundary Road Bridge.

My only argument was that Betts announcing this in an election campaign in the way he did was a breach of purdah. I don't care who the elected members are in the wards that are getting the funding, money should be allocated on need and besides the odd exception, the roads in most need are getting the work. What the Lib Dems have to remember is that they slashed spending on roads when in power and the Tories also failed to spend the money the roads required to make up for the ever worsening state of the roads.

Quoted from Muddler

I was puzzled by the Lib Dems whinging that nearly all this is being spent in Tory areas, when the third biggest item is the £240,000 traffic lights at Boundary Road Bridge.

I can't quite see why this item was passed recently. The bridge is a bit of an irritation sometimes and particularly when driver's force their 'right of way' southbound and end up fronting cars that have already started crossing. I suspect that the locals don't understand that yellow cross hatching means 'Don't enter unless your exit is clear'. Apart from that, traffic lights at £240k are a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

There was a plan at one stage to make Boundary Road a cul de sac at the bridge when and if the Sterling Estate included a through road.. Has that been reworked with the proposed racecourse estste and is that why they are now considering this expensive installation. If it is, then perhaps a suitable S106 can be diverted from the library, who seem to get their noses in the trough at every opportunity, to the road improvements around the development area.

Quoted from brian

I can't quite see why this item was passed recently. The bridge is a bit of an irritation sometimes and particularly when driver's force their 'right of way' southbound and end up fronting cars that have already started crossing.

I understand that the council couldn't agree terms with the late Mr Ainsworth for a bit of land to make the road two way!

£3 million.......how many day care centres would that pay for?

Quoted from Greenham Common

I understand that the council couldn't agree terms with the late Mr Ainsworth for a bit of land to make the road two way!

If we are talking about the railway bridge across Boundary Road then buying a bit of land from Sammy would serve no purpose as the bridge has been made single lane to accomodate a footpath and also to assist with the weight restrictions. The bridge was repaired and some work done to remove some of the rusted plates a few years ago but it is now over 100 years old and in a very poor state. What would be a good solution would be to replace the bridge with a larger two way bridge and grab a bit of land from Nelson Investments in return for approving his development plans, put a roundabout on the Boundary Road/Kings Rd junction, then when the Sterling Estate road is put through, make Kings Road a cul de sac and our problems are solved. Couple of nice tower blocks to liven up the area a bit instead of the Newbury eyesore and there you go.

Quoted from 78

£3 million.......how many day care centres would that pay for?

A few, however if you asked your average person in the street whether they'd like better roads or more care homes I bet may would say the former.

In effect that's what the last Local Election was about, one party offering more care homes the other better roads.

Quoted from user23.3

In effect that's what the last Local Election was about, one party offering more care homes the other better roads.

It was about getting their feet under the council table rather than promises that they are unlikely to keep.

Quoted from user23.3

In effect that's what the last Local Election was about, one party offering more care homes the other better roads.

I think you put too much weight in the reasons people vote.  I have yet the hear one person say they voted on the content of the manifestos.

Quoted from richard.garvie

I spoke to the council in March about Brummel Road and they suggested it was to be done in June, along with Kersey and some of the other roads in that area.

I notice that we are now in July and they still havent done anything with Brummel Road.