PEDESTRIAN lights used by hundreds of school children to cross the busy A4 road have been repaired following a sixth former’s petition and many complaints.
Unfortunately the headaches are not over yet – it’s been discovered another repair job is needed in the area at a later date.
Long queues built up through Charvil and Twyford as Maidenhead-bound A4 traffic was diverted along Old Bath Road, Twyford High Street and Wargrave Road for four days last week during repair work.
The work was kept to 10am-3pm so peak hour traffic could use the A4. The engineers made sure the pedestrian crossing near the Park View Drive North junction was active during the morning and afternoon school runs.
Work to repair the power supply to the crossing signals and also damaged street lighting finished last Thursday.
A Wokingham Borough Council representative revealed on Monday that another repair in the same area is needed at a later date.
“Following a road traffic collision on August 25, a new power supply has been provided to reinstate lighting on the main A4 towards Maidenhead and Park View Drive North junction,” she said.
“Unfortunately, in the course of these works a further cable fault has been discovered which will be programmed for repair at a later date.
“The temporary power supply provided to the signals has also been replaced by a new permanent feed and all excavations have been permanently reinstated. No further road closures are planned for the time being.
“We would like to thank road users for their patience while this complex matter was resolved.”
There was uproar when Wokingham Borough Council referred to a 12 week delay to fix the crossing lights.
Villagers said hundreds of pupils at The Piggott School, Wargrave and Charvil Primary School used the pelican crossing.
The crossing and its temporary lights replacement had been failing on and off since near the end of August.
Sixth former at The Piggott, Sophie Mundy, 16, started a petition signed by more than 270 people to get the repair done quickly.
Sophie’s father, Charvil Parish Councillor Paul Mundy, said: “The fact that it is safe for people to cross is definitely the right result. Sophie was happy that the petition raised the profile of what she saw as a seriously critical issue.
“The council very much have the crossing high on their agenda now. They were saying it would take 12 weeks to repair and were not prepared to discuss it with me or anyone else.”
Last week some diverted drivers said they took 25 minutes to travel about a mile-and-half from the Wee Waif A4 roundabout to Twyford traffic lights. Other residents complained queueing traffic blocked their driveways. The eastbound A4 was closed between its junctions with Old Bath Road and Wargrave Road.
Victoria Hudson normally picks up her son Patrick, five, from The Colleton School, Twyford, by car. Last week she had to walk there and back from Charvil, with her baby in a sling and middle child in a push chair.
“I didn’t really have a choice as the traffic was so bad. It was quicker to walk and I didn’t know how long I would be stuck in the queue,” she said.
Wokingham Borough Council posts updates on: www.facebook.com/wokinghamroadworks and www.twitter.com/WBCTrafficAlert
