Following completion of the building work on Newbury's new cinema, West Berkshire Council have announced that the current road closure for Eastbound traffic will remain in force for a further 3 months. The road was due to reopen this weekend.
This means that the road will not be fully re-opened until the end of September at the earliest.
The scheme being undertaken by West Berks Council will include:
Renewing kerbs, footway paving and carriageway surface around the cinema development in Cheap Street and Market Street and extend the new footway paving up to Market Place. Construct a new taxi lay-by in Market Street. Remove the existing pedestrian crossing at the bus station and re-locate it near the Market Street cinema entrance. The existing Cheap Street pedestrian crossing is to be widened and the carriageway will be raised at both crossing locations.
The works will be undertaken using lane closures and occasional temporary traffic signals. Traffic in Cheap Street will continue to be restricted to one-way from the Bear Lane junction. Carriageway surfacing will be undertaken with a night time only road closure between 7pm and 4am, re-opened each morning for a period of 2 weeks. Traffic management will be co-ordinated with the current cinema development works and local shop owners as work proceeds.
For full details of the enhancement work, please refer to the following website:
It isn't three months longer. Theinitial closeure was for the cladding. This new closure is for roadworks. They have just merged thats all. Better to do this than remove the closure then put it back again in a week or so.
Forgive me for being a little presumptuous on this, but shouldn’t the Kennet Centre be liable to pay for the reinstatement? It is after all their contractors who have destroyed the road surface and the pavements in this area.
If the rules and regulations had been properly enforced, the original closure should have been concluded including all reinstatement work by this weekend.
I can see the Northbrook Street closure going the same way. The sewer work will be completed by September. The closure will then be continued for another 3 months while the council reinstates the road at taxpayer’s expense.
It isn't three months longer. Theinitial closeure was for the cladding. This new closure is for roadworks. They have just merged thats all. Better to do this than remove the closure then put it back again in a week or so.
I am staggered that the closure of this part of the town is treated in such a cavalier manner. This whole fiasco has caused continuous traffic problems in the Andover Rd, Bartholomew Street, St John's Road and the A339 down as far as the Sainsbury roundabout. This has been a badly mismanaged project both by the development company who may have built a large steel cinema but at considerable cost to the town and by WBC for allowing it to happen and to continue onwards for another several months. I mainly blame WBC as in their glory bound planning, have more or less given the developer carte blanche to do what they like. Why some of this work could not have gone ahead at the same time as the cladding beats me. In actual fact, the closure to fit the cladding was a lie. Most of the time the road was closed, it was so that the developer had somewhere to put its materials and plant. Let's hope that the pain we have suffered and the financial penalties will make the gain worthwhile. Somehow, I doubt it
That's the problem, the apparent lies from the people with the interest in getting this thing built. By the way, even though what was there before wasn't exactly a picture postcard scene, I think it looks like a great big ugly out of place carbuncle.
I dont think that the closure has caused to many problems.
I use this route many times each day and have encountered long delays only on the odd occasion.
The delays that occur are normally on the Sainsbury junction and these will continue to happen, even when the construction in Cheap St etc are complete.
I dont think that the closure has caused to many problems.
I use this route many times each day and have encountered long delays only on the odd occasion.
The delays that occur are normally on the Sainsbury junction and these will continue to happen, even when the construction in Cheap St etc are complete.
Well, I beg to differ. St John's Road is much worse than it ever was and cars queue all the way down it at specific times of the day. That didn't used to happen. As far as the Sainsbury roundabout is concerned the volume approaching down the 339 northbound is much increased and the flow patterns are subsequently now all to cock. If there had been some thought by WBC then the lights would have been changed so that the 339 traffic has a longer run. Before the cinema closure, there was always a bleed of traffic coming from the town which balanced somewhat the northbound traffic flow. There are more cars coming out of Station Rd than ever before as cars from Bart Street cut through, making yet another delay as the 339 traffic allows them to filter in.
it is two separate projects. One claddif the cinema, the other roadworks.
There is only ONE road closure and that has been extended by three months. Might be for different reasons, but there is still only one closure. Are you expecting the Kennet Centre to reopen the road tonight, for West Berkshire to come along and close it again on Monday morning?
Following completion of the building work on Newbury's new cinema, West Berkshire Council have announced that the current road closure for Eastbound traffic will remain in force for a further 3 months.
There is only ONE road closure and that has been extended by three months. Might be for different reasons, but there is still only one closure. Are you expecting the Kennet Centre to reopen the road tonight, for West Berkshire to come along and close it again on Monday morning?
exactly foxy. what I said in the first place. Not read the entire thread have we.
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