We’re carrying out essential gas network upgrades in the Church Road area of Earley, Reading. This work will ensure a continued safe and reliable supply of gas is delivered to nearby homes and businesses for many years to come. Our trusted contractor, I&G Contractors, will be working on this project on our behalf.
Work will start on Monday 3 June and will be completed in different phases, with some of the work being carried out during the school summer holiday. As this work will take longer than the six-week school holidays, we are starting the work early to ensure that the traffic management will be removed by the start of the new school year.
Update: 2 September 2024
The temporary B3350 Church Road closure has been extended due to unforeseen engineering challenges. While initial plans suggested the high-voltage cables ran in a straight line beneath the road, excavations revealed that the cables zigzag across the site. This unexpected layout has made open-cut excavation more difficult. Accurate identification of the cables is crucial to ensure the safety of engineers and prevent any damage. This now means the road will remain closed for approximately six weeks.
- Eastcourt Avenue junction will reopen by Wednesday 4 September.
- Work between Eastcourt Avenue and Palmerstone Road is expected to take approximately two weeks to complete.
- Following this, the section between Palmerstone Road and Woodlands Avenue will be closed for approximately four weeks. After this period, the road will reopen and temporary traffic lights will be installed between Woodlands Avenue and Pitts Lane.
Access will be maintained for residents where possible the signed diversion route may need to be followed:
A329 Wokingham Road, A3290 Loddon Bridge and The Bader Way Interchange, Bader Way, Miles Way, Spitfire Way, Headley Road, Loddon Bridge Road, Crockhamwell Road, and Woodlands Avenue.
Woodlands Avenue
Half of our engineering team will start work in Woodlands Avenue on Monday 3 June for approximately four weeks. To safely complete this work, we'll need to ask motorists to ‘give and take’ past our worksite and install temporary multi-way traffic lights at the junction of the Orangery.
We will need to return later to make a connection on the road leading to the university, but we will notify residents about this work nearer the time.
Anderson Avenue
The remaining half of our engineering team will start in Anderson Avenue on Monday 3 June. We will be asking road users to ‘give and take’ past our worksite to allow traffic to flow safely.
Church Road
We will be working in Church Road from Monday 1 July for approximately nine weeks. To safely complete this section of our work, we'll need to temporarily close Church Road in sections.
We'll start working between the junctions of Mays Close and Eastcourt Avenue, moving along the road from Eastcourt Avenue to Woodlands Avenue.
Once we have worked past Woodlands Avenue, we will install temporary traffic lights to allow road users to safely pass our work site up to the junction of Culver Lane. We also have a small section of work in Oldfield Close.
Access will be maintained for residents and businesses and a signed diversion will be in place when the road is closed.
Fairview Avenue and Eastcourt Avenue
Providing our work is able to progress as planned, we will replace the pipes in Fairview Avenue and Eastcourt Avenue once we've completed our work in Church Road. However, it may need to return to complete work in these roads at a later date.
We'll contact residents after our work in Church Road has been completed to confirm if work in these roads will be going ahead.
Virtual drop-in session
We're holding a virtual drop-in session for our Church Road, Earley project on Wednesday 3 July, 5pm to 6pm - you can access it here.