Business

The roadworks in Denmark Street are having a major impact on business, say traders
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Roadworks traffic chaos make shops "no-go zone"

By Laura Herbert
February 20, 2013

Chaos continues for drivers after another of the town centre’s main roads has been partially shut, prompting shoppers to stay away.

Less than a week after Broad Street closed for seven weeks of water main replacement works, part of Denmark Street has been blocked off to help the traffic flow.

But traders suggested the area has become a no-go zone since the section of Denmark Street which becomes two-way was closed to motorists, making it a one-way street, last Wednesday.

The closure, which is likely to remain in place until the Broad Street works are completed, means drivers wanting to access Wokingham Library, Denmark Street car park, The Duke’s Head pub and Langborough Road must follow a diversion.

Traders at the market reported a drop in sales following the Broad Street closure and fear further losses as shoppers are diverted around town to other car parks.

ShedKraft owner Kathy Osborne, market spokeswoman, said: “The town is not even half full with shoppers. Trade was average last week but there is no trade here at all. My trade is 70 per cent down.

“There was not a single customer at a single stall at 1pm on Friday, which is amazing. It would normally be heaving. I spoke to a couple from Finchampstead who queued from the Gowrings garage and it took them nearly one hour to get into town and find a parking space.”

Adrian Taylor, landlord of The Duke’s Head in Denmark Street, added: “The closure is affecting us, our lunches are down as people just aren’t popping in.

“I’ve heard of it taking people two hours to get around town.”

Broad Street is closed as part of South East Water’s £2 million project to replace 7.1km of water mains.

Matt Davey, Wokingham Borough Council’s head of technical services, said: “The changes to the traffic flow in Denmark Street, that has led to reduced delays for bus services running through the town, are likely to remain until works in Broad Street have been completed, however, the situation is being monitored daily.”

James Smith, South East Water delivery manager, added: “Following the changes to the flow of traffic in Denmark Street additional signs have been placed in Finchampstead Road directing road users who require access to Wokingham Library, Denmark Street car park, The Dukes Head pub and Langborough Road/Murdoch Road to follow the diversion. Signs have also been placed in Shute End, Rectory Road and Peach Street.

“I would like to apologise for the disruption our work may be causing and reassure the community our contractors are working as hard as they can to try and complete this section of work as quickly as possible.”

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Most recent user comments 15 of 15

@mavdo , you clearly have no clue as to what is under the ground in our streets ,the reason they will be in the middle of the road is due to there being no room anywhere else ;-)

diggerman
04/03/2013 at 20:57

@WR - so basically, they can do what they want by saying that it is for reasons of Health and Safety. Well that's pretty much what I said with an extra step added in, fair enough. I believe they can dig up a road if there is a major pipe burst without prior permission, as you would expect, and I am of the opinion they could go down this route unchallenged for any works if they so wish. However it works, I'm basically saying they have too much power.

I don't think the council can insist on them doing the roadworks in any specific way AFAIK. 24/7 would double the cost to the water company (it may almost halve the time, but triple the wages or more), and they'd have trouble convincing local residents that 10 weeks of drilling and digging at 3am is an "emergency", which I suppose could ultimately be challenged in court.

mavdo, Wokingham
21/02/2013 at 08:49

mavdo, Wokingham

Not exactly correct, if a utility company wish to close a road for maintenance they have justify their case to get permission from the council. In this case according to the council spokeperson that I spoke to it is justified for health & safety reasons. health & safety seems to be the catch all excuse in modern Britain. I see no reason why one lane of Broad street could not have been maintained for one way traffic so as to ease the problem. If this for some reason is impracticable then the council should insist on the work being continued 24/7 until it is possible to open a lane.

William Richards
20/02/2013 at 20:17

@William Richards - the council has little to no say in what the water company does, unfortunately. So they can bend any which way they like, but the water company will dig up the roads anyway. All the water company needs to do is say it is an emergency, and there is no test to verify that, or a process to dispute it, and they're allowed to dig up the roads anyway.

Utility companies do this all the time to dig up roads whenever and however they like. They are also supposed to talk to each other to ensure that essential works can be combined where possible. That clearly never happens either.

I don't doubt these works are essential. But I don't think the water company have done it very well. They've not correctly considered the impact on traffic, going instead with an "its painful but can't be avoided" approach; they've created multiple water main bursts around the town that they've also had to fix; and they are putting pipes in the middle of the road, when putting them to one side or under the pavements would mean that if it went wrong in the future, they'd be much easier to dig up and fix again without having to close yet more roads. Its all very well sticking some empty pipes 5' under the road, but if the work they've done is as shoddy as I think the planning has turned out to be, we're going to have some serious problems when it all goes "live".

mavdo, Wokingham
20/02/2013 at 14:04

I agree with Hats of Doom, these road works should be 7 days per week to get things sorted ASAP. I wandered down Broad Street last Saturday morning, workmen were nowhere to be seen and if I am honest nor were many shoppers! This could be the death knell for some traders which is very bad news for the look and feel of town centre.

Artful Dodger, Wokingham
20/02/2013 at 14:04

The council seems to be bending over backwards to give the water company everything that it has asked for. broad street as it's name sugests is a broad street, sufficiently broad enough to allow at least one way traffic to use it during these works.

William Richards
20/02/2013 at 13:51

Was I gloating? No. Was I commenting on how nice the place was without cars? Yes. Simple as. I'll spend money in local shops based on quality, price, availability, service - not always because they are local. Don't expect my £ just because I'm local. I would like to see traders win, hence my suggestion of closing the road for a market. Wokingham needs to sell itself on something unique. Providing facilities for non-car transport, and a pleasant environment in which to shop would encourage me to part with my £.

Beef Cake Argh!
20/02/2013 at 13:48

BCA - no-one likes a smug comment when businesses are suffering.

Spend money in local shops rather than gloat

well, well, well
20/02/2013 at 13:24

These road closed signs were being ignored before as drivers simply moved them and drove through. The workers then added more cones to really make sure cars had to make a massive effort to drive up this road past the Dukes Head. It seems to have detered most, but not all.

I drove down there the other day behind a police car. The roads were not particularly busy at this time. A car came up the closed road and across the roundabout in front of the police car. It must have gone around the road closed signs, around the 10 yards of cones, and continued up the road. It was ignored by the police car. So if these signs are not being enforced, what is the point? It just makes the few drivers who are determined to ignore these signs drive even more dangerously than they did previously. Enforce it!

Perhaps the road that has been closed was not closed through the official channels, and therefore isn't actually closed at all, despite the signs and cones. If that's the case, it is the fault of the water company for not considering the full impact on closing Broad Street because the traffic is a complete nightmare at times.

mavdo, Wokingham
20/02/2013 at 12:44

The partial closure of Denmark Street is not helping the situation. All traffic heading towards town now has to go via Station Road. During a busy time, I observed that traffic coming down Denmark Street was being held up by traffic queueing from the Duke's Head roundabout to the one at Wellington Street, which was already jammed by stationary traffic coming from the Tesco roundabout. Traffic on Langborough Road, heading towards Denmark Street was surprisingly light. On these bases, traffic needing to get from Wellington Street towards the east of the town should be allowed normal access to Langborough Road, rather than having to queue for a not-inconsiderable time in the diversion to the west of the town. I doesn't need people like me, who trained as a traffic egineer, to realise that what is currently happening is unacceptable.

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
20/02/2013 at 12:24

It will presumably get even more interesting in the future when they close Shute End for the next stage of the job.

PoneRana, Wokingham
20/02/2013 at 12:13

Considering how much adverse impact it is having, its hardly as if they are burning the candle at both ends to get it finished. The workmen seem to knock off fairly early and there seems to be little activity at the weekend...

HatsOfDoom
20/02/2013 at 11:55

If they queued from Gowrings they must have been in the queue for ages, has been Inchscape for last few years- nightmare journey :-) Joking aside, getting to swimming lesson last night was a pig as train comes into station, traffic backs up past cricket pitch development, traffic coming through town (down Denmark Street) wants to turn right towards Station, blocked, log jam, cars can't come up towards town from direction of Tesco's. Not going to last for long but will unfortunately be poor for a number of weeks- you have to avoid town, bad news for shop keepers.

Wobbly Bob
20/02/2013 at 11:09

Beef Cake Argh! I agree with your comment, only issue is that we are talking about Wokingham and I don't think that they know about any mode of travel other than the car!

Smiffy, Reading
20/02/2013 at 10:13

Cycled into the town centre to bank some money on Monday and loved it. The lack of cars in Broad Street was a breath of fresh air. Perhaps an idea to close Broad Street every Sunday in the Summer and run a market. More needs to be done however to promote travel other than by car.