GOING, going, gone … temporary barriers installed in a Wokingham town centre street are to be removed this Sunday.
The barriers were placed into Rose Street to make it easier for pedestrians to socially distance while shopping.
But now the barriers blocking the blue badge bays are deemed superfluous and work to take them away will start in the afternoon.
The road will remain open throughout the works.
And Wokingham Borough Council says that the on-street blue badge and the short stay parking bays will be immediately reinstated with enforcement of the 30-minute maximum stay starting from 8am on Monday.
Those using blue badge bays must display their badge clearly, or risk being fined.
“Making sure our town centres are Covid-19 secure is incredibly important to the council,” said Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport at the council.
“We want to create a safe place for shoppers, with lots of space to maintain social distancing and to reduce the likelihood of a localised lockdown.
“It’s also important that we continue to monitor how the pedestrian spaces are working and make changes where things are no longer necessary.”
She said that the barriers were installed originally due to concerns from residents whose front doors open on to the pavement.
“The lack of space was making it difficult for them to access their properties while safely socially distancing from passers-by,” she said.
“The hope was that by creating more space on the south side, we could encourage people to move across and spread footfall more evenly.
“Ongoing monitoring of Rose Street has shown this isn’t happening and pedestrian numbers are lower than originally anticipated.
“As such, we’ve taken the decision to remove the barriers along Rose Street and reinstate the on-street parking bays and blue badge spaces which are so important to visitors popping into Wokingham.”
She promised: “We’ll continue to monitor the road to see if further intervention is required.”
