Reading Station improvements

[whole diary]

[Gordon the Blue Engine]

Fine, I wasn't sure whether you just had a fleeting glance as you passed etc.

[ChrisB]

I'm putting this here as it's connected with the works....

From Get Reading

Cow Lane road scheme could be delayed for an extra year as dispute heads to tribunal
 
The transformation of the bottleneck at Cow Lane bridges could be held up for a year by one landowner holding out for more cash.

Reading Borough Council is now preparing to pursue its compulsory purchase order through a public inquiry run by the Lands Tribunal if it cannot resolve the disagreement with the landowner over the level of compensation in the next few weeks.

There were four objections to the compulsory purchase order process from landowners in the vicinity of the two bridges, but three of have now been resolved by negotiation.

Only one remains, but Reading Borough Council is not naming the company holding out for a higher compensation sum.

If the landowner is shown to be making an unreasonable claim, the Lands Tribunal could order the company to pay costs.

The borough council and Network Rail also face a costly process which could go on as far as the High Court.

The Lands Tribunal is unlikely to hear the case before next year with a decision no earlier than next June.

The traffic management sub-committee is due to hear a report about the delay to the works, part of the Reading Station ^895 million redevelopment scheme, at its meeting tomorrow.

Deputy leader of the council Councillor Tony Page described the present state of negotiations as ^delicate^, one of the reasons why the company in question was not being named.

He stressed the stumbling block would only delay and not prevent the widening of the road under the two bridges.

He said the road widening scheme ^ which should have been fully opened by next spring ^ had been ^decoupled^ from the reconstruction of the second Cow Lane bridge because of the glitch over the final parcel of land.

Cllr Page told the Reading Post: ^We are talking about a very small, but obviously significant strip of land. The date for holding an inquiry is not in our gift, it is in the hands of the Lands Tribunal.^

He went on: ^Three of the four objections will be resolved, but one outstanding objection is proving more intractable.

^Although there is an offer of compensation on the table, this company is not accepting the figure under offer.^

A report to the committee says: ^Negotiations with the objectors continue and there remains a possibility that if the proposed agreements are approved and the objections are withdrawn, the public inquiry will no longer be required.^

The road widening when complete will provide two carriageways, safer pedestrian walkways and a cycle lane under the bridge.

The new bridge will allow Richfield Avenue to become a bus route.

The bridges have long been the cause of a notorious local bottleneck for traffic travelling between West Reading, Central Reading and Caversham made worse by truck drivers ignoring the height restrictions and getting stuck under the arch of the railway bridge.

[eightf48544]

^Buy land, they're not making it anymore^

Mark Twain was right!

[paul7575]

In the earlier story on the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) site, they refer to the 'the road under the Cow Lane bridges' and the local MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) also confuses the issue IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) by referring to the 'completion of the bridges' being delayed:  

Plans to improve the road under the Cow Lane bridges are being held back as Reading Borough Council negotiates with local land owners.
Deputy leader Tony Page said the talks to purchase land from a number of companies could delay work by up to a year.
Reading West MP Alok Sharma has now offered to step in to help speed up the negotiations.
The council needs to take over additional land alongside Richfield Avenue in order to complete the widening works.
Mr Page said the council could be forced to go down a lengthy legal route to push the move through, if an agreement cannot be reached.
He said: "If necessary we will have to use the formal legal procedures, as the land is absolutely essential to delivering the full benefits of the bridge widening."
Mr Sharma said: "It is very worrying and I would be very happy to help and intervene to see if there is anything I can do as a Member of Parliament to assist in this process.
"We have got a really successful project at the train station, it is below budget, it is opening ahead of time and really it would be fantastic if we could get Cow Lane bridges done on time as well."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-29109904

I think the photo in the 'GetReading' article shows the new bridge structures are fundamentally complete, it is presumably the follow up road widening outside of the NR^» (Network Rail - home page) site boundary and leading to the bridge that is being delayed, and as the BBC point out the problem is actually with a plot alongside Richfield Way - which rather narrows down the possibilities to somewhere to the north of the site on the west of the road, surely?

Hence there should be no problem actually bringing the new route through the western of the two structures into use?

Paul

[John R]

What's wrong with the council completing the rest of the work, with the strip of land obvious to all concerned. Then put a sign up that explains to passers by why they are having to wait another year to enjoy the benefits of the improvements, and how the other landowners cooperated.  Even if they don't name the party concerned, it won't be too hard to guess.

[lbraine]

I saw some plans about the redevelopment of the Cow Lane/Richfield Rd junction.

One had an expanded roundabout - with Cow Lane widened at the mouth - requiring land on just 2 sides. The second included a slip lane on the roundabout for traffic towards the new bridges. This required more land from Richfield Avenue

I surprised its 4 land owners involved - but plans may have changed.

The biggest looser was the removal of most of the Diary Crest site on the railway side of Cow Lane/Richfield Rd. But given the number of vacant warehouses down Richfield Rd I can't imagine relocation / disruption to business would be large - warrenting large compensation !

[Grinder]

Saw a Colas class 70 on the viaduct this morning, looked to have wagons with ballast in tow.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks for posting that useful update information here, Grinder - and welcome to the Coffee Shop forum! 

[paul7575]

Is it possible they've been dropping top ballast on the eventual up main line over the weekend?  Perhaps someone will be past the station and able to check?

At the end of last week it looked as though they were still at the stage where the sleepers, with track fitted, were lying on the levelled ballast.  But all the same it is good progress given that it isn't expected to be in use for well over three months yet...

Paul

[lbraine]

I saw the Train on the eastern side of the main viaduct on Sunday at 10am ish.

The 'bed' of ballast is down - and has been for for a week - on the up and down new main. The new up main has been 'straightened' and looks ready for its top coat of ballast.
At the moment the aligned sleepers are held in place every 100 yards or so with a 'dab' of top ballast.

The train only had about 3 yellow Network Rail low side wagons - as far as I could see.

Also - the double track drive under earthworks from Reading West to under the Festival and a Main are clearly visible now - with a broader span than just two tracks from what I saw.

[paul7575]

...
Also - the double track drive under earthworks from Reading West to under the Festival and a Main are clearly visible now - with a broader span than just two tracks from what I saw.

Edited and expanded post follows having checked the planning drawings...

There's a widening gap between the two tracks of the feeder lines as they go south, looks as though this is to get the right alignment of the junctions.  I think this is because the up main feeder (the eastern line of the pair) connects to the Up Westbury Line rather than the west curve, and is presumably a reasonably high speed junction so it swings away from the down relief feeder line.  (Up and Down directions here refer to the connections in the main station, they will both be bidirectional lines.)

Then following the original design, a decision was made to use the shortened upper triangle sidings as the local National Delivery Service (NDS) yard, for infrastructure material delivery, and this required road access for HGVs.  An access road was already provided from Cow Lane, going under the feeder lines and into the area that used to be the lower triangle depot site, and this has been adapted by adding another road that turns left and then rises through 270 degrees to the higher level and runs south alongside the feeder lines as well.  This required both the bridge and the culvert sections to be widened significantly.

Paul

[lbraine]

Paul - can you snapshot the plan as a picture and share ?

[paul7575]

Paul - can you snapshot the plan as a picture and share ?

No problem, I'll look it out in the morning:

From RBC^‡(resolve) planning application 130763 - "Alteration to the new railway line through the triangle area to incorporate a new access roadway on the eastern side of the embankment. Amendment to 11/01885/FUL".

Paul

[ellendune]

Went through today. 

Looks like work has just started on the second track over the viaduct from the west. Signs of S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) wiring in place fixed to cable trays on the southern parapet.

On the festival lines all the beams are in on the viaduct section with work on end supports and deck just starting.

The foundations for the embankment to the west of the festival lines viaduct also being prepared.

[paul7575]

Went through today. 

Looks like work has just started on the second track over the viaduct from the west. Signs of S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) wiring in place fixed to cable trays on the southern parapet.

On the festival lines all the beams are in on the viaduct section with work on end supports and deck just starting.

The foundations for the embankment to the west of the festival lines viaduct also being prepared.

Having just browsed back through a few earlier posts, I'd add to your information just to emphasise that there are no viaduct sections on the Festival Line west of the Cow Lane, so building up the embankment seems to be about the only major remaining activity on that particular route.

(There's a few earlier posts that refer to the 'east side' of the Festival viaduct, or the viaduct supports on the 'west side', as though it continues, IYSWIM).

Paul