Drivers and passengers have been stuck in traffic for hours due to roadwork chaos in Reading in recent days.
A number of roadworks are causing long delays for drivers and passengers throughout the town.
One woman said that it took her one hour and 45 minutes to get from Tilehurst to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in an ambulance last night as her seven-year-old son had broken his ankle.
She said: “It’s crazy! The roads are utter madness and very poorly planned!”
Meanwhile, Reading Buses cancelled two sky blue 15a route buses due to roadworks today (Wednesday, September 20), and announced a two-and-a-half hour delay to its route 26 service from the town centre to Ikea Calcot due to roadworks and congestion at 8.16pm yesterday (Thursday, September 19).
Roadworks are conducted either by the council’s highways department for improvements or utilities companies.
READ MORE: Warning as road in Reading set to close for 28 days
These companies are responsible for gas, electricity and internet networks, with all these roadworks requiring approval from the council’s highways department.
The junction of Bath Road and Berkeley Avenue has been closed so that SGN can conduct maintenance and upgrade works.
Last week, a spokesperson for the council expressed sympathy to drivers for the inconvenience the SGN roadworks has caused, and explained why they are being conducted.
The spokesperson said: “We understand the inconvenience the SGN works are causing residents.
“Utility companies such as SGN have legal rights to carry out work to their apparatus and equipment within the highway.”
The spokesperson added that a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) was issued to SGN to allow the works to take place.
The council would not allow the work to take place during the Reading Festival week at the end of August as the closure would have been too disruptive to festival goers and regular commuters.
SGN has given no visible acknowledgement of the inconvenience experienced by commuters on its Twitter and Facebook channels.
The closure of the junction of Bath Road and Berkeley Avenue will continue until Friday, September 29.
The long delays have led Casey Byrne, a Conservative campaigner in Reading, to write to John Ennis (Labour, Southcote), the lead councillor for transport, to explain the council’s decision to approve the works, and called on the council to plan works better in the future to limit disruption for drivers and passengers.
Elsewhere, Stephen Graham, a member of The Liberal Party, shared a photo of an extensive traffic queue along Oxford Road as drivers tried to leave town.
Drivers have also been held up in King’s Road between its meeting with Queens Road and junction with Eldon Road, where two lanes have been closed.
The lane closure is in place until tomorrow (Thursday, September 21) so that Thames Water can conduct maintenance works.
The rightmost lane in the stretch of road is regularly prone to flooding.
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