Wokingham borough road schemes awarded £9.2m in funding

More than half of the money awarded will go towards the Eastern Gateway project, which is part of the South Wokingham Distributor Road (SWDR).

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This means William Heelas Way will join Waterloo Road to the south of the railway line and the Eastern Gateway section of the SWDR will include a new road bridge over the Reading-Waterloo line.

Once complete, the SWDR will join the London Road to Finchampstead Road.

Funding for the Eastern Gateway scheme, which is expected to cost £20 million in total, comes from business rates income which can be spent on improving the borough’s infrastructure and developer contributions.

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Councillor Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport at Wokingham Borough Council, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this funding from the Local Growth Fund and the Business Rates Retention Pilot.

“We have a comprehensive programme of infrastructure improvements across the borough, which will benefit existing and new residents.

“I am very pleased to see this come together and receive support from our partners at the LEP and central Government.”

Another £4.2 million will go towards the Barkham Bridge project, which will replace the single carriageway section of Barkham Road.

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This money will also come from a business rates funding pot, with the total cost of the scheme set to reach £7.5 million.

Pre-construction work for the projects has been underway for some time and construction is expected to begin on both these key projects in the coming months.