Plans for a brand new roundabout as part of a major housing development have been published.
The South Wokingham Strategic Development will deliver 2,500 new homes, two primary schools, shops and other community facilities between the border of Wokingham Borough and Bracknell Forest.
Many of the homes will be built over the railway line which runs between London Waterloo and Reading.
The scheme requires changes to be made to surrounding roads to cope with a future influx of cars, some of which fall into the Bracknell Forest borough.
Now, there are plans for a new roundabout on an existing t-junction between Waterloo Road, Old Wokingham Road and Peacock Lane, located close to the Oakwood Climbing Centre.
Both roads currently allow cars to travel up to 60 miles per hour.
Assessments into the number of cars that currently use the junction – as well as the number that could use it in a future – show the introduction of a roundabout would be suitable.
But it would involve the loss of 34 trees, one of which is subject to a tree preservation order.
Plans submitted to Bracknell Forest Council argue that the roundabout would have ‘extensive benefits’ to the public which outweighs the potential impact on the surrounding countryside.
Developers would mitigate the loss of trees by planting new ones as well as securing other ecological features, plans indicate.
Works to create the new South Wokingham Distributor Road will be starting on Monday, January 20, with main construction due to start in the spring.
It will create access for the new homes and minimise the impact of the increase in traffic on nearby residential roads.
The new road will run from the roundabout on Finchampstead Road to the new Roundabout on Waterloo Road. Additional improvements will also be made to the junction of Molly Millars Lane and Finchampstead Road.
From January 20, a section of Easthampstead Road between Waterloo Road and Healthlands Road will be closed for two weeks.
This is while construction workers Balfour Beatty create new site entrances from these two joining roads.
Other sections of Easthampstead Road will see lane closures and te introduction of temporary traffic lights.
Further road closures and diversions will be announced in the spring on Wokingham Borough Council’s website.
Plans for the new roundabout have been validated by Bracknell Forest Council and a decision is yet to be made.
