News

Two weeks of roadworks on Black Boy roundabout expected to cause major delays

By Hugh Fort
October 01, 2012

Drivers are warned of long delays around a roundabout in Shinfield due to a two-week resuracing programme starting today.

Wokingham Borough Council says the work at the Black Boy roundabout will cause major delays and the authority is advising people to avoid the area.

The work will begin at 8pm tonight, where the resurfacing will be carried out.

During the day, the council's contractors will be working on the anti-skid surfacing on the roundabout.

Throughout the work, the traffic lights around the roundabout will work as normal, but only one lane will be open at any time during the programme.

The council hopes the work will involve the resurfacing of the roundabout and its main approaches to create easier management of the traffic.

For more information call the council on (0118) 974 6000.

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Most recent user comments 13 of 13

Why, if only one lane open is on the roundabout with the rest coned off, can they not work 24/7 and get the works done in half the time?

Daisychain
03/10/2012 at 13:52

Shall we have a guess how much work will be done at the weekend when people aren't trying to get to work on time?

Roger Rabbit, Lower Earley
02/10/2012 at 17:20

Totally agree with all the comments on here. The planning has been abysmal. The queue on the A327 this morning was right back to The Bull roundabout at Arborfield and the old A33 northbound was almost as bad. I too didn't think that the road surface was too bad, there are a lot worse roads in Wokingham Borough, but then I'm not an engineer and there may be a really good reason why they are doing this.

Daisychain
02/10/2012 at 15:27

There is so much chaos because even though the resurfacing is being done at night the lane Closures are left on during the day, so basically they could carry on the surfacing during the day....would love to know why this isn't being done in half term at the end of month or summer hols...not a happy resident!

The Wise Old Man
02/10/2012 at 15:22

If the roadworks are only being undertaken between 2000 hours and 0600 hours, why is this causing so much chaos in the morning rush hour after 0800?

Also, don't see why there is a need for urgent repairs (see http://www.wokingham.gov.uk/transport/roads/road-works/shinfieldroadworks/ ) when the current anti skid surface, etc was only put down in 2005 after a fatal accident as the new roundabout was completed. The surface doesn't seem to have gone to an awful state requiring urgent fixing and massive disruption.

Fed up, Lower Earley
02/10/2012 at 14:40

Who on earth is the complete idiot who gave the green light for all these major roadworks to be done at the same time? Would it not have been more practical to do all this in the summer holidays? Surely not?

Whoever you are, thanks a lot for making me late for work and late home every day. Another fantastic balls up.

Hugh J, Reading
02/10/2012 at 12:05

Morning of day 2 and 45 minutes to get from Asda to the roundabout this morning. 1.3 mph. Well done WDC! Well done contractors! Does anyone know the cost of the original and recent Blackboy roadworks?

Roger Rabbit, Lower Earley
02/10/2012 at 10:38

Nice jams in the entire surrounding area this morning. Al the way back to the old Courage brewery site snarling up the entire M4 junction 11 as well.

Congratulations to WBc on their superb planning for this, you almost put even pants on fire page to shame.

whitespirit
02/10/2012 at 08:48

As a nearby resident of Shinfield Park, it was amazed that the council let me know with a letter on Friday evening of the works that start today ( good forward planning and customer care Not! )the fact the signs put out on the roundabout stating surfacing between 20:00 to 06:00 hours yet mention nothing about the lane closures during the day.. Anyway as one of Wokingham's busiest roundabouts...why on earth is it beating carried out now as surely this should have been carried out in school holidays!!! Ive seen the large digital information signs that must have gone out late Friday or early Saturday...they say seek alternative route!?!?!perhaps I need a helicopter to get to and from my house! I predict total gridlock tomorrow morning with just the one lane on this roundabout and would love to hear the reason think it do important these works are carried out now rather than the school holidays.....I'm really not sure the council have got a clue and will certainly realise what a mistake they have made on Tuesday morning at about 8 am...

The Wise Old Man
01/10/2012 at 23:26

WBC have not helped themselves here. They have big warning signs about delays, but the work is being done overnight (2000-0600) if you wait long enough for the correct screen.

Also, why does the Black Boy roundabout need this work doing? It is fairly new in terms of the infrastructure around Wokingham, is only a 40mph limit and does not seem to be too bad a road surface compared to some of the roads around here.

Fed up, Lower Earley
01/10/2012 at 11:35

We've asked the council for some more details on the timescales etc, once we've got some more information we'll put it online.

Lucy Thorne, getwokingham and getbracknell web editor, Wokingham
01/10/2012 at 10:59

I really am surprised that a spell check isn't used before publishing articles to the website!

It is great to finally see the expected timescales though - Wokingham have put out signs saying that the roadworks are taking place from today, but miss out a crucial piece of information - when the expected end date is. Not including the end date makes most of the signs as useless as the ones on the motorway!

Smiffy, Reading
01/10/2012 at 10:45

Following on from the success of the Shinfield Road lights, they're changing the Black Boy roundabout into a crossroads with traffic lights and narrowing the approach roads.