ROADWORKS in west Reading have seen gridlock on the town’s roads, and the council says the delays are unavoidable.
The A4 Bath Road and Oxford Road both have ongoing works taking place.
SGN is upgrading the gas network and will be on the Bath Road and Berkeley Avenue until the end of the month.
The firm is also working on the A4 Bath Road at the Savacentre junction, with lane closures in place until December 4.
Network Rail is continuing its work to revamp Reading West station including the building of a new ticket office, with these works due to end on October 21.
All of which means Reading’s already busy roads have been even busier, with delays of up to 40 minutes on buses and residents sharing their road rage tales on social media. Many of them have asked why the council can’t take a proactive approach in planning works to minimise disruption.
A spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said: “We understand the inconvenience the SGN works are causing residents. Whilst we always attempt to minimise issues caused by streetworks, sometimes disruption is unavoidable and out of our hands.
“On this occasion, utility companies such as SGN have legal rights to carry out work to their apparatus and equipment within the highway. While the Council tries to work with them to minimise disruption to the travelling public, it is ultimately the legal responsibility of the undertaker to risk assess, design, install and maintain their temporary traffic management.
“Where works are positioned on a major strategic road, such as at this location, disruption is inevitable.”
The council says it was warned of SGN’s plans to replace the gas main on Bath Road earlier in the summer, but the request for a permit to carry out the works wasn’t received in time for the summer holidays, while the works would not have been allowed during Reading Festival week.
This meant that the firm couldn’t start work until September.
“We are aware that in particular central and west Reading have been impacted so far,” the spokesperson continued.
“This has been magnified by road traffic incidents and other works which we hope will have less impact over the remaining scheduled three weeks of the work.”
But there is a glimmer of hope for weary residents stuck in the jams: “A signed diversion is in place, and we have asked SGN to work extended hours to speed up these works and to adjust temporary lights during peak hours to improve traffic flow as far as possible in this location.
“SGN’s work is to replace 100 metres of what is categorised as high-risk gas main in order for local residents and businesses to continue to be able to access gas supplies in the local area.”
