Wokingham Borough Council’s ‘Traffic and Travel’ social media accounts, dedicated to keeping residents up to speed with the roadworks around the borough that may affect their journey times, will return to both Facebook and Twitter this September which will coincide with the launch of the council’s weekly Traffic and Travel email newsletter.
The ‘Wokingham Borough Council Traffic & Travel’ social pages, which are usually administrated Monday to Friday during office hours, have been temporarily suspended since the beginning of lockdown when council staff were redeployed to help and support residents in different ways.
With the roads understandably much quieter, many of the more disruptive works that were planned to take place over the summer holidays were pulled forward during lockdown.
As lockdown restrictions have eased, the number of cars on the roads is increasing and with children returning to school this week the council has made the decision that its traffic and travel social accounts will restart on 7 September to update their followers on planned and emergency works to allow them to plan their routes in advance.
The council has also announced the launch of a new weekly Travel and Travel e-bulletin on Thursdays, part of the council’s Wokingham Borough Connect series of bulletins, that will provide residents with updates on all major works across the borough, including information on its Major New Highways project that will see Arborfield Cross Relief Road open in October.
“With the lifting of many restrictions, we are seeing an increase in the number of cars on our roads and it seems the right time to restart our traffic and travel social media channels and launch our brand new email newsletter to make our residents’ lives a little easier when it comes to planning their journeys, allowing them to seek alternative routes in advance.” said Cllr Pauline Jorgensen executive member for highways.
“We understand the impact that roadworks can have on journeys around the borough. Lockdown measures caused road usage in the borough to drop by 50 per cent providing an opportunity to complete work in potentially disruptive locations including the A4 and the Showcase roundabout.
“However, our residents’ safety is our main priority and it is essential that we continue to update and maintain our utility infrastructure and maintain our roads so that they are safe for our residents to use all year round. We are continually working to improve the way we communicate with residents about upcoming works, including both our social media channels and now our new weekly e-newsletter to ensure that residents hear as much as possible in advance so they can plan their journeys,”
You can follow the council’s traffic and travel social pages by visiting www.facebook.com/wokinghamroadworks and twitter.com/WBCTrafficAlert
To sign up to the council traffic and travel e-bulletin launching mid-September visit cutt.ly/Ud2ee74 where you can also register to receive bulletin on other subjects including Covid-19 and WBC service updates, General News, Rubbish & Recycling, Libraries, Business Matters, and Countryside. More are planned and all you need to do is enter your email address, no other details, and you can unsubscribe at any time.