Closure of Turnpike road, Don;t dig there etc. Options

[lordtup]

Does anyone know why the Turnpike road is closed by the hospital ?
When I asked at the reception I received a roll of the eyes and told it could be closed for 3 weeks.

Or is it another case of utilising some road closed signs .

[Cognosco]

Does anyone know why the Turnpike road is closed by the hospital ?
When I asked at the reception I received a roll of the eyes and told it could be closed for 3 weeks.

Or is it another case of utilising some road closed signs .

Carrying out the refilling of pot holes. They have been patching it up for months now. Every few days one of the Irish companies would come along and shovel in a bit of tarmac - pat it flat with the back of a shovel - off they go. The amount of traffic and especially the black buses turning in and out of the hospital and it would be straight back out again. I saw a motorcyclist come off one afternoon and of course only minor injuries at the Community hospital so off to Royal Berks he went. Yes the potholes were refilled - again - but the very next day it was potholed again. As I say been like it for months now but lets hope that three weeks of work will cure the problem but knowing how projects are run in West Berkshire I won't be holding my breath.

Apparently the cues of vehicles trying to gain access to the A4 from the bottom of Fir Tree lane now can take anything up to 45 minutes?
What with the traffic lights at the Hambridge road junction with Hambridge Lane, especially at peak times, it is gridlocked.
Traffic is backing up to the other side of Thatcham at peak times in the morning.

But as you know we need more houses but no chance of more infrastructure so as they say it will obviously only get worse!

[On the edge]

The road junction at the hospital entrance was very bad indeed and did need urgent attention. Response I had when I asked WBC about the closure and projected time was that as the junction was heavily used and both sides needed substantial re building, it made sense to do a 'back to foundation job. They've also added provision for some electricity cable works that are likely for later in the year - so when that happens, further disruption will be minimised. You'll see from previous posts I'm no fan of WBC, but have to say in this case, although its inconvenient; the work is urgently needed and they've looked ahead.

The traffic issue isn't helped by the Hambridge Road roundabout works. Ironically, again, its infrastructure changes going in ahead of the developments. I suppose we are just not used to forward planning!

[Hugh Saskin]

[quote name='Cognosco' date='Jan 26 2013, 06:51 PM' post='77200']
I saw a motorcyclist come off one afternoon and of course only minor injuries at the Community hospital so off to Royal Berks he went.]

Fascinating - presumably, if you were a witness, you saw it all so can you be more exact as to the date and time etc, please? How do you know they went to the Royal Berks - don't a lot of people with serious injuries also go to the North Hampshire instead? Amazing they (or their next of kin) don't seem to have complained to the local media about it - would have thought it would have been a really newsworthy item, even made local TV ?

[James_Trinder]

How do you know they went to the Royal Berks - don't a lot of people with serious injuries also go to the North Hampshire instead?

Not when the incident occurs that side of Newbury, they don't.

[Exhausted]

.....Amazing they (or their next of kin) don't seem to have complained to the local media about it - would have thought it would have been a really newsworthy item, even made local TV ?

perhaps the rider wasn't badly injured and they are not a complainer. It seems today that people are "gutted" when anything isn't quite to their liking.

I'm gonna ring the media, my sovereign flat's gone mouldy, I'm gutted and the're not doing anything about it.

[NWNREADER]

The road junction at the hospital entrance was very bad indeed and did need urgent attention. Response I had when I asked WBC about the closure and projected time was that as the junction was heavily used and both sides needed substantial re building, it made sense to do a 'back to foundation job. They've also added provision for some electricity cable works that are likely for later in the year - so when that happens, further disruption will be minimised. You'll see from previous posts I'm no fan of WBC, but have to say in this case, although its inconvenient; the work is urgently needed and they've looked ahead.

Odd, that, as when I raised the issue around 2005 I was told the junction was built in full compliance and any problem was caused by drivers.....

[motormad]

I managed to get my stupidly low car up and down it without issue so people in Peugeots must have had no problems.

[On the edge]

Odd, that, as when I raised the issue around 2005 I was told the junction was built in full compliance and any problem was caused by drivers.....

I'm sure it was. However, we are 8 years on and look at the weather. Has your car had no repairs in that 8 years?

I suppose the other alternative would have been to wait for 18 months or so until the electricity people were ready with their cable. In the meantime, we'd have been filling the holes every other month and listening to the twittering of the ambulance / bus drivers about the state of the road 'doin' my back in' .

[NWNREADER]

I'm sure it was. However, we are 8 years on and look at the weather. Has your car had no repairs in that 8 years?

I suppose the other alternative would have been to wait for 18 months or so until the electricity people were ready with their cable. In the meantime, we'd have been filling the holes every other month and listening to the twittering of the ambulance / bus drivers about the state of the road 'doin' my back in' .

I am not talking about the state of repair, I am talking about the design that would/has caused the problems now being put right - and at considerably higher expense.......

[On the edge]

I am not talking about the state of repair, I am talking about the design that would/has caused the problems now being put right - and at considerably higher expense.......

The utility will pay for anything that is needed to support its needs as they do generally. In 2005, they clearly hadn't made it known that their network would need to be reinforced. Arguably short sighted planning, but then again back then most of us thought Woolworths was a High Street fixture.

On the wider issue of the physical construct of the road - little changed since Telford or McAdam. I suspect the Highways Engineer wasn't anticipating the level of traffic on that road. After all the hospital wasn't billed as much more than a cottage hospital with even less facilities than the existing provision. That was the bigger fib, sold simply to enable development of strategic green land. Back then, there were no stories about fluffy bunnies and no local politicians lived nearby!

[NWNREADER]

The junction sweeps are too tight. Anything over transit size turning in or out (left) either drags the surface due to differential lag or tyre scrub, or runs over the kerb. They also (on exit) intrude into the eastbound traffic flow, encouraging cutting of the corner. It was always a bus route, and the larger vehicles delivering to the hospital were known. The kerbs and verge were never intended to be driven over, causing the damage to the services below.
Everything totally foreseeable at the time of design. The length of a bus and the sweep it requires have not changed as best I know.

[On the edge]

The junction sweeps are too tight. Anything over transit size turning in or out (left) either drags the surface due to differential lag or tyre scrub, or runs over the kerb. They also (on exit) intrude into the eastbound traffic flow, encouraging cutting of the corner. It was always a bus route, and the larger vehicles delivering to the hospital were known. The kerbs and verge were never intended to be driven over, causing the damage to the services below.
Everything totally foreseeable at the time of design. The length of a bus and the sweep it requires have not changed as best I know.

The more sensible site access would have been from the A4, where a decent junction with Lower Way could have been constructed. People who had purchased houses adjacent to this long standing arterial road were for some unexplained reason surprised and upset about that. So we live with the mess. Today's issue with services at the Turnpike 'back entrance' isn't simply damage, its the apparent need to install a high voltage network cable.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and potentially this could have been foreseen, but again, the biggest planning failure was to build the hospital on this site in the first place. As this land had previously been designated green, hardly surprising the planners had to do a rush job.

[GMR]

I had to go for a blood test this morning and had to enter via the A4.

[Exhausted]

I had to go for a blood test this morning and had to enter via the A4.

Not much of a diversion from Turnpike though.

[Penelope]

Not much of a diversion from Turnpike though.

But Turnpikes closed.

[Exhausted]

But Turnpikes closed.

No, it's the road that's closed. Turnpike or Clay Hill by its new posh name is the housing estate

[dannyboy]

I had to go for a blood test this morning and had to enter via the A4.

Would have been quicker for you to walk wouldn't it?

[JeffG]

I had to go for a blood test this morning and had to enter via the A4.

That's not so much of a problem for people coming from Newbury, in fact it's the normal way in. It's the return journey that's inconvenient if you can't use the north exit, as you then have to drive right up to and around the roundabout to join the westbound A4, instead of going down Pear Tree Lane. I am often ferrying people to and from the hospital, so will be glad when the road is open again.

[dannyboy]

That's not so much of a problem for people coming from Newbury, in fact it's the normal way in. It's the return journey that's inconvenient if you can't use the north exit, as you then have to drive right up to and around the roundabout to join the westbound A4, instead of going down Pear Tree Lane. I am often ferrying people to and from the hospital, so will be glad when the road is open again.

Fir Tree Lane.......sorry, couldn't resist..................