Distress at gridlock caused by Kings Road and Boundary Road closures in Newbury this week

Residents and businesses have spoken of their anger and frustration as roadworks continue to cause gridlock in the centre of Newbury this week.

Traffic was at a standstill around the town centre throughout Monday and on Tuesday evening as six weeks of road closures around Kings Road and Boundary Road began.

And police were forced to close Mill Lane on Monday afternoon just so they could avoid the traffic chaos and get their emergency vehicles in and out of the police station quickly.

The roads, which are shut to allow highway and drainage improvements associated with the Sterling Cables development to be carried out, are not expected to reopen until September 25, which is causing distress among local residents who have reported being stuck for hours while trying to pick their children up from holiday camps.

And businesses in Bone Lane have said trade is suffering already too.

Daimien Brown, who lives in Gould Close, spoke of his worries of picking his five-year-old daughter up from summer camp after he moved “just 10 feet in an hour” earlier this week, was forced to abandon his car and call his wife back from work early to reach their little girl in time.

Mr Brown, a keyworker who suffers from a heart and lung condition so said walking long distances was difficult, described the situation as a “total and utter nightmare”.

He added: “People are getting upset and angry.

“If this is going to go on until September 25 we are in fear of how we will get [our daughter] to school in the mornings.

“They did this before and it’s like they haven’t learned from previous mistakes.

“In these times, when people are stressing out about rising bills, you don’t want to be sat in traffic using petrol. It’s adding more mental anguish to people in already high stress times.”

He said his emails to West Berkshire Council have so far gone unanswered.

Richard Myers, who works on Bone Lane, said he was forced to return to his office and wait for two hours for the traffic to ease on Monday and Tuesday.

“The cars just weren’t moving; people were walking around,” he said. “I saw people just abandoning their cars on grass verges.

“It’s very bad planning. I don’t know why they had to close the whole crossroads at once.

“It isn’t good for anyone, they will have to do something.”

One Thatcham resident, who works in Newbury, described it as “pure hell”, adding that his usual 12 minute journey took 50 minutes this week.

“This is outrageous,” he said. “We need to know as residents of Newbury and Thatcham, what the district council plan to do to ease this torture.

“This is only summer holiday traffic; it’s about to get 100 times worse.”

West Berkshire councillor, Phil Barnett (Lib Dem, Newbury Greenham) said he had been in contact with the council’s highways team and had asked for daily updates on the situation.

“I am totally unhappy with the way it’s being managed and it’s having a drastic effect on local residents and businesses,” he added. “We just cannot accept it; it’s not good enough.”

Sarah Slater, who also works along Bone Lane, said her company had already noticed a drop in customers.

“We had to walk home on Monday night as we couldn’t even get out of the driveways,” she said. “And Tuesday night was exactly the same.

“We have drivers here who have to think about childcare. It took one staff member nearly two hours to get home to Beenham to get her children.”

She also voiced concerns that the emergency services would be unable to reach them.

A spokesperson for West Berkshire Council said that more signs had been put up to give advance warning to drivers since Monday’s chaos.

They added: “Signage has been out to say the road is closed but it seems that drivers have not paid attention to this.

“The road will be closed for seven weeks and drivers need to use the A4 and the A339.

“The Boundary Road/Hambridge Road crossroads is closed in all directions.

“Because so many drivers got it wrong we’ve made changes and added more signage way back on the A4 to stop people turning into Hambridge Road in the first place and also to clarify which roads are actually closed.”