BROAD STREET in Wokingham will not now re-open until at least March. It had been due to be opened before Christmas but a series of complications has caused delays which a borough councillor says will be “bitterly disappointing” news for residents.
Cllr David Lee made the remarks as the borough and town councils revealed the challenges it was facing to ensure the Market Place improvement works are completed safely and intact for years to come.
As a result, the re-closure of Denmark Street will be delayed and the current traffic management arrangements on Langborough Road will need to remain in situ until the switch over can take place.
Broad Street had originally been due to reopen before Christmas, but this was then delayed to the end of January. However, contractors Balfour Beatty discovered a number of previously unknown issues underground that need to be repaired and rectified.
To help explain the problems, Wokingham Borough Council has released a YouTube video which is at the top of this report.
Among the issues discovered are:
- Previously unrecorded water and gas main pipes that needed repair
- Old roads and pavements that have been buried and needed to be removed
- Layers of pipework dating back generations that have interwoven to form a tangled mess
- Old brick culvert where the new road will go that needed to be removed
Senior managers at both Wokingham Borough Council and Balfour Beatty are working together to do everything possible to minimise the delay to the works. The council said that in order to finish Market Place to the highest possible standard for years to come, it cannot ignore these problems.
The council added that progress is still being made on the main area of the Market Place and this will continue in tandem with the work on the Broad Street side. Information about this impact will be released as soon as possible.
Wokingham Borough Council executive member for strategic planning and highways Cllr David Lee said: “Balfour Beatty has uncovered an underground spaghetti junction of pipes and, to be frank, generations of poorly laid pipework and other major problems. All these need to sorted out before we can put down the high-quality stonework that is going to make Wokingham town centre look so great.
“This has been frustrating and we completely understand that drivers and residents are going to be bitterly disappointed by the delays, but we are fixing generations’ worth of underground issues in what is an old town centre and need to take the time to get this right.
“We are working with our contractors Balfour Beatty at the highest level to get the issues resolved as quickly as possible.”
And town mayor, Cllr Peter Lucey, was looking forward to the new Market Place that is slowly emerging.
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Cllr Lucey is also chair of the Market Place Working Party.
He said: “While the delay is deeply annoying, we understand that the underlying utilities need to be renewed. Yet from our office windows we can already see our new Market Place layout emerging.
“We appreciate the current difficulties but our Market Place is being transformed into an attractive, configurable space with stylish York stone paving and beautiful trees in proper tree pits.
“A central space designed for us all that can be used for café tables, market stalls and a multitude of other community uses.”
Work planned for next week includes:
Market Place
- Install Feeder Pillar base
- Install Feeder Pillar 1 cabinet
- Electrical connections FP1
- Commence joint bay outside Co-Op (within existing boundary)
- Continue with Tree pits (3 in number)
- Commence removal of lower Denmark Street Kerbs
Broad Street
- Install granite kerbs to raised platform (Costa)
- Cold Milling to concrete cap in Broad Street
- Continue with Granite Kerbs and Setts to Loading Bays
- Relocation of Temp Pedestrian Bridge at Costa
- Commence second raised platform
- Commence granite sett edge lines to Broad Street
Rose Street Junction
- Prepare road formation (HSBC)
- Connection of down pipes (Greggs)
- Complete foul and storm water manholes
- Install new granite kerbs to HSBC alignment
- Prepare pavement formation (Clarkes)
