Boundary Road won't be two way for at least 18 months

Won't be wide enough to accomodate two way traffic until council widens northern carriageway

THE good news is that the new bridge at Boundary Road, Newbury, will be able to accommodate two-way traffic. The bad news is that this won’t happen for at least another 18 months.

The busy through-road will be closed for 12 months from January 2016 to January 2017 so that Network Rail can replace the single-lane railway bridge with a two-lane bridge, ahead of electrification.

However, the second lane won’t be operational until the northern side of the bridge is widened, which will be done as part of the development of the adjacent Sterling Cables site.

The news will come as a blow to motorists, who had hoped to have some reward for a years’ worth of expected disruption and delays.

Once completed, it will operate as a single lane bridge with traffic lights – and will remain that way until the necessary widening work is completed.

A spokesman for West Berkshire Council, Martin Dunscombe, said: “The bridge replacement work is due to conclude at the end of next year, with the necessary work to widen the approach complete by summer 2017.

“For around six months the road will remain as it is now – open to single-lane traffic, but controlled by traffic lights.

“The widening work will be completed as part of works at the Sterling Cables site at a significant reduction to the public purse.

“If the council was to do the work independently of that development it would cause additional disruption and would cost the taxpayer around six times as much as it’s currently expected to cost.”

Newbury motorists have been warned to expect a year of “traffic hell” when the road is closed – but last week the district council reiterated that there was “no magic solution” to the problem.

Network Rail said the £2.5m replacement of the Boundary Road railway bridge was one of the most complex of all its projects owing to the number of utility services associated with it.

The road was closed for three months from July to October so services could be diverted away from the bridge – and it will take Network Rail another three months once it is built to divert them back.

On Monday, Network Rail held a meeting at The Old London Apprentice Pub to answer questions about the project.

However, fewer than 100 people turned up and the company was heavily criticised for choosing to hold the meeting from 3pm to 6pm, when many of those affected were at work.

In response, Network Rail’s communications manager, Matt-hew Thompson, said: “We usually hold these events between 3pm and 7pm and 2pm and 6pm.

“There weren’t any suitable locations close to Boundary Road that were available for the meeting, apart from the pub.

“We have a strict alcohol policy, so decided to restrict the meeting to 6pm rather than 7pm.”

Network Rail said that while the majority of the bridge works would take place during daytime, occasionally it would have to carry out work on Saturday nights from midnight until 6am.

It said that it would notify nearby residents of this in advance.

A temporary pedestrian footbridge will be in place throughout the bridge closure and all footpaths in the area will remain open.

A new temporary footpath will be in place across Boundary Road to allow pedestrians to access the footbridge.