To ensure the strength of the power supply in the Wokingham area, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) will be replacing a small section of underground cable at Loddon Bridge Road and Wokingham Road.
To ensure the safety of residents, commuters and SSEN engineers during these works, a temporary traffic management system with road closures will be in place from the junction of Coppice Road to the junction of the A329 Wokingham Road.
- SSEN's teams will begin work on Friday 30 March and the project will be completed by Monday 16 April
- Teams will be on site every day (including weekends) and will be working between 8.00am - 4.30pm (Monday - Saturday) and 9.00am and 3.00pm on Sundays
- Pedestrian access will be maintained at all times, as SSEN will erect exclusion zones around their excavations for the safety of the public and employees working there
- Upon completion of the repair, SSEN will use a specialist team to reinstate the road to its natural state before the road re-opens
Letters detailing the information, as well as contact details for locally-based SSEN employees have been hand-delivered to residents and businesses in the immediate vicinity of the traffic management system, with communities outside of the area having information posted to them.
Last year, the distribution network operator carried out a duct installation programme in the region as part of a multi-phased £3 million project to build greater resilience to the local electricity supply. Ongoing maintenance and works identified a small section of underground cable in this area that SSEN wants to replace to ensure the strength of the power supply and to help minimise the risk of possible power cuts.
Project Manager Yu Qian explains further: "During recent works, SSEN has identified an integrity issue on part of the cable and as it wants to ensure that these new cables are in the best condition and operate at their optimum efficiency it is crucial that this issue is located and repaired."
"Works have already been carried out to locate the exact area of the issue, which lies in a short section of the route between the motorway/railway bridges at Loddon Bridge Road and Wokingham Road, and as a result will have to set traffic management and diversion systems in place to carry out these essential works during the first two weeks of April."
SSEN wants to reassure its customers that throughout these works it will do everything possible to minimise noise and disruption while building a stronger electricity network for Wokingham Borough.