READING Borough Council has announced that King’s Road will see a partial closure as of Monday, February 20.
The road will be closed between Duke Street and Abbey Square while essential repair works are being carried out to underground tunnels.
Works are required to take place on the Holy Brook underground tunnel, which allows the brook to pass under Reading’s roads.
The four-week closure of King’s Road between Duke Street and Abbey Square will mean certain traffic conditions will be in place.
Inbound vehicles may access King Street, Minster Street ,and Gun Street via Forbury Road, Blagrave Street, Valpy Street, The Forbury, Market Place, and High Street.
Existing bus lane restrictions on these roads will be suspended during this time.
Outbound vehicles may access King Street via Minster Street and Gun Street, with existing restrictions suspended during the King’s Road closure.
Abbey Square is already closed to traffic via King’s Road until June 13, with the one-way system suspended to allow access via Abbey Street.
Works on the tunnels will see £230,000 of investment by the council safeguarding future traffic movement, and is the fourth and final part of strengthening under King’s Road.
The council says that the works will be a necessity to help the route cope with greater volumes of traffic, especially as the heavier electric cars become more prevalent.
Of Holy Brook’s nearly 10km stretch, around 600 metres is culverted, only showing intermittently as it passes through the town centre.
It flows under a number of Reading’s central buildings, including one of the entrances to the Oracle shopping centre, from which the “Holy Brook” mall gets its name.
Councillor Tony Page, Reading Borough Council’s lead member for Climate Strategy & Transport, said: “This next phase brings to a close a series of complex but essential repairs to ensure we are able to futureproof the King’s Road area of Reading against increases in traffic.
“Around £650,000 will have been spent by the end of the project in the summer to ensure there is sufficient capacity in the structure to carry traffic above for decades to come.”
