Reading Roadworks This Week: Northumberland Ave, Bath Road

The inbound lane of Northumberland Avenue at Buckland Road Circle in Whitley is closed until further notice for Thames Water. Reading Buses lists the closure from 11 September to 31 October. The emerald 5 and buzz 9 divert, and the inbound Buckland Road Circle stop is out of use.

Bath Road closes again tonight, 7pm to 1am, between Hogarth Avenue and New Lane Hill. That is the second of two nights of resurfacing. Western Elms Avenue closes from today to 4 October, and Wykeham Road in Newtown stays shut until Saturday.

This is our Reading roadworks and travel update. It lists what is closed now, what closes in the next fortnight, the motorway and rail picture, and what is left of the council’s resurfacing programme. Every source was re-checked this morning, Thursday 1 October.

Closed in Reading now

Northumberland Avenue, inbound lane towards Reading, at Buckland Road Circle and the Long Barn Lane junction. Reading Buses says the lane is closed “until further notice” for Thames Water works, and its listing runs from 11 September to 31 October (Reading Buses service updates). Buses divert:

• emerald 5 towards Reading goes via Long Barn Lane and Canterbury Road, rejoining at Hexham Road. Towards the Northumberland Avenue terminus it runs as normal.
• buzz 9 towards Green Park goes via Buckland Road, Basingstoke Road and Long Barn Lane, then onto Northumberland Avenue.
• buzz 9 towards Reading goes via Long Barn Lane, Basingstoke Road and Buckland Road, then Cressingham Road.

For the inbound Buckland Road Circle stop, use Whitley Community Centre or Corbridge Road. Reading Buses says it cannot put temporary stops out because the surrounding roads are full of parked cars.

Bath Road, from the side of 2 Hogarth Avenue to the side of 1 New Lane Hill, tonight 7pm to 1am. This is council resurfacing, booked for two nights from 30 September to 2 October (road improvements). The jet black 1 diverts while the road is shut:

• towards Newbury, after Honey End Lane, via Burghfield Road, Dwyer Road, Calcot Place Drive and Carters Rise, rejoining at Calcot Mill Lane
• towards Reading, via Mill Lane, Carters Rise, Calcot Place Drive, Dwyer Road and Burghfield Road, rejoining at the Burghfield Road stop

The Burghfield Road westbound, Horncastle eastbound and both Greenwood Road stops are affected.

Western Elms Avenue, Reading West, from today to 4 October. The carriageway is closed outside numbers 44 to 55 for essential sewer rehabilitation. Parking bay restrictions are suspended, and a no stopping, waiting or loading restriction covers the frontage of 40 to 59. A signed diversion is in place (Reading Borough Council, multiple temporary closures, 10 September).

Wykeham Road, Newtown, until 3 October. The road is closed between Grange Avenue and Palmer Park Avenue for carriageway re-alignment. Waiting restrictions are suspended on both sides from the Palmer Park Avenue junction to outside and opposite the side of 121 Grange Avenue, under the same 10 September notice. A signed diversion is in place.

Norman Road, Emmer Green: the order has no end date. It closes the road from outside and opposite the boundary of number 16 to the closed end, for the removal and replacement of an electricity transformer. It came into force on 11 September. The order names no finish date, only the standard ceiling of eighteen months or completion, whichever comes first (temporary road restrictions, 3 September). Nobody has published a reopening, so we still cannot tell you whether the road is shut today.

These have finished since Tuesday’s edition:

• the Henley Road resurfacing in Caversham, on 29 September, and its five bus diversions
• the relaxed one way and no entry rules on The Forbury, Forbury Road and Valpy Street, whose order ran to 29 September
• the Weather Centre, Hartley Court Turn, Highwoods Lodge and Howth Drive Top bus stop suspensions, all listed to 30 September or earlier
• Berkshire Way in Bracknell, closed overnight on 30 September and 1 October, which Reading Buses lists as ending today

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Bus stops out of use

• Water Road, inbound on Tilehurst Road, today only, 10am to 3pm, for Thames Water. royal blue 33. Use The Park Grove or Waverley Road stops.
• Wellington Avenue, Shinfield Road, towards Shinfield, to Friday 2 October, for Thames Water. leopard 3, buzz 9, 9a and 9b, routes 81 and 92, F30 and F33. Use Leighton Park or Chancellor’s Way.
• Churchward Walk, outbound on Carters Rise, to 2 October, for SGN gas main replacement. yellow 26. Use the Kennet Valley school bus stop. Carters Rise is in Fords Farm, just over the borough boundary in West Berkshire, about two miles west of the town centre.
• Buckland Road Circle, inbound, until further notice, for the Northumberland Avenue lane closure above.
• Cunning Man, Burghfield, both directions, to 18 October, for Thames Water. lime 2 and 2a. Use Burghfield Golf Course. Burghfield is about five miles south west of Reading, in West Berkshire.
• Three Firs Way to Easter Park, Padworth Road, to 23 October. lime 2 and 2a divert via Reading Road, Victoria Road, Stephens Road, West End Road and Welshmans Road, with delays of up to ten minutes. This is the Burghfield to Tadley AWE stretch.

The aqua 28 extra capacity for Henley College students continues. An extra double-deck bus runs about five minutes behind the 7.50am from Friar Street, Monday to Thursday, and another alongside the 4.30pm from Hart Street in Henley, Monday to Friday.

Coming in the next fortnight

• The IDR, northbound only, from the A33 junction for 106 metres, resurfaced on one night, Friday 2 to Saturday 3 October, 7pm to 1am.
• Brooksby Road stop, inbound on Overdown Road, Tilehurst, out of use 5 to 7 October for Openreach. sky blue 16. Use Tring Road or Oak Tree Copse.
• Cressingham Road Church stops on Cressingham Road, Whitley, out of use 5 to 16 October for SSE. buzz 9, 9a and 9b. Use Barnsdale Road, or the Cressingham Road Church stops on Shinfield Road.
• No right turn from Gillette Way into Manor Farm Road, 5 to 30 October, under traffic management. The greenwave 50a cannot reach Gillette Way. Outbound it runs via the A33, Kennet Island, Manor Farm Road, Basingstoke Road and the full length of Rose Kiln Lane. Towards Reading it runs via Basingstoke Road and Rose Kiln Lane. Use the Morrison and Whitley Park School stops instead.
• Pangbourne Cemetery stops, both directions, Friday 9 October only, for utility works. azure 43. Use Stoke View. Pangbourne is about six miles north west of Reading, in West Berkshire.
• Bath Road, eastbound bus lane between numbers 48 and 44, suspended for one day on 18 October so utilities under the carriageway can be reached. The road itself stays open.
• Barkham Road, Wokingham, closed between The Bull and Bearwood Road until 13 November for Thames Water. leopard 3 takes an amended route through Finchampstead, serving Finchampstead Road instead. A weekday shuttle runs to Wokingham from the dropped Bearwood Road stops, 6.30am to 6.30pm. Wokingham is about six and a half miles east of Reading.

Two smaller items for Arborfield, in Wokingham borough about six miles south east of Reading. Nine Mile Ride Extension, between Sheerlands Road and Harvest Path, closes 10.30am to 12.30pm on Sunday 4 October for a 10k run, and the leopard 3 diverts. The Rowcroft Road outbound stop on Sheerlands Road is out of use 6 to 8 October for Thames Water.

Still no new council orders

We checked the statutory notices again this morning. Reading Borough Council has published no new temporary traffic orders since the batch dated 10 September, three weeks ago. That batch produced Wykeham Road, Kelvedon Way, Western Elms Avenue, the Bath Road bus lane and the Caversham Lock footpath. The resurfacing jobs do not need a separate notice; they appear on the council’s programme page.

Have your say: two proposals just outside the borough

Neither of these is a Reading borough scheme, but both sit on roads Reading drivers use.

• A no right turn at Theale. West Berkshire Council proposes to ban all motor vehicles and pedal cycles from turning right out of Englefield Road, Theale, into Theale C of E Primary School, with an exemption for emergency vehicles. Theale is about four miles west of Reading. Objections must be in by Friday 9 October, quoting reference TM/4798/003 (notice dated 17 September).
• A longer 30mph limit at Shiplake. Oxfordshire County Council proposes to extend the 30mph limit on the A4155 Reading Road at Shiplake northwards by 44 metres. Shiplake is about four miles north east of Reading, on the road to Henley. The council says the proposal mirrors one approved in May 2024, which lapsed because the statutory two years to implement it ran out. Objections close at the end of 23 October, quoting reference CM/12.6.341/P0140 (notice dated 25 September).

The motorway this week

National Highways publishes a rolling seven-day closure report. The current spreadsheet runs from Wednesday 30 September to Tuesday 6 October (road closure report).

• Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 October, 9pm to 6am: the M4 westbound entry slip at junction 10 closes, for traffic coming off the A329(M) southbound. The reason given is surveys. Junction 10 is the Winnersh and Wokingham junction.
• Friday 2 October, 9pm to 6am: the M4 eastbound entry slip at junction 6 closes. That is Slough, on the London side.
• Tonight, 9pm to 6am: the A404 southbound exit slip at Burchetts Green closes for maintenance, on the Maidenhead to Marlow road.

The M4 at Reading’s own junctions, 11 and 12, has no closures listed this week.

On the A34, the Oxford road:

• northbound, Marcham to Abingdon: closed 9pm to 6am every night to Tuesday 6 October, for barrier work.
• southbound, Hinksey Hill to Marcham: closed 9pm to 6am tonight, for surveys.
• northbound, Speen to Donnington: closed 11pm to 6am tonight, for resurfacing. That is the Newbury bypass.
• southbound, Milton to Chilton: closed every night from Friday 2 to Tuesday 6 October, for improvement works. Friday’s closure runs 8.30pm to 7am and Saturday’s 8pm to 8am; the rest run 9pm to 6am.

Trains: Sunday is the one to plan around

Sunday 4 October brings engineering work either side of Reading. Both entries are on National Rail’s planned works pages.

West towards Didcot, work closes some lines between Reading and Didcot Parkway. From the 07:38 London Paddington to Didcot Parkway, trains do not call at Pangbourne, hourly up to and including the 17:38 from Paddington. Replacement buses run between Tilehurst and Pangbourne for all trains. After 19:00, trains call at Pangbourne as normal (National Rail, Pangbourne, 4 October).

Early the same morning, work between Reading and Theale changes the Newbury line (National Rail, Theale, 4 October):

• The 08:06 Reading to Newbury does not run. A replacement bus leaves Reading earlier, at 07:51, calling at all stations except Newbury Racecourse.
• The 08:33 Reading to Bedwyn starts from Newbury at 09:02.
• The 08:04 Paddington to Penzance leaves earlier, at 07:53, and diverts via Swindon without calling at Newbury or Pewsey. The 08:44 calls at both instead.

Further out, GWR’s planned engineering work page lists these:

• Saturday 10 to Friday 16 October: track renewal through Pewsey. There is no direct train from Paddington to Paignton or to Frome. Trains keep running between Reading and Newbury or Bedwyn.
• Weekend of 10 and 11 October, and Sunday 18 October: replacement road transport between North Camp and Gatwick Airport, and between North Camp and Redhill. GWR trains still run between Reading and Ash.
• Monday 12 to Friday 16 October: late-night trains between Newbury and Bedwyn are replaced by road transport, and the 22:30 Paddington to Bedwyn starts from Reading and terminates at Newbury (National Rail, Newbury and Bedwyn).
• Sundays 18 and 25 October: only two of the four tracks between London Paddington and Reading are available, and trains run to an amended timetable.

The resurfacing programme: two new jobs

The council’s published list is awarded to contractor O’Hara Bros. Surfacing Ltd. The page was updated on 28 September, for the first time since 9 September (residential road improvements).

The update also cleared up the oddity we flagged in the last two editions. The council had left every job from 1 September onwards marked “Not complete”, including ones whose dates had passed. It now lists these as complete:

• the IDR slip road from Southampton Street
• both A33 Relief Road northbound sections
• Friar Street, West Street to Station Road
• Blagrave Street, Forbury Road to Valpy Street
• The Forbury, Forbury Road to outside St Laurence’s Church

There is also a reserve list of roads that may be brought in “if there is sufficient budget remaining”. The council adds that “only few of these sites are likely to be delivered”. It says the list gives it “flexibility, allowing us to substitute sites into the programme should any sites become unavailable”. So a street not named above is not necessarily safe from works this autumn. The reserve roads are:

• Honey End Lane, Deacon Way and Northumberland Avenue
• Basingstoke Road, two sections
• Whiteknights Road, Erleigh Road (two sections) and Shinfield Road (two sections)
• Portman Road, Vastern Road, Caversham Road and Richfield Avenue
• Peppard Road and Kings Road
• Bath Road, outside The Wren School
• Friar Street, Gun Street and Valpy Street

That list matters more than it looks. The council’s own road safety report for King’s Road notes that the eastbound bus lane there still has sections of red surface dressing. Those would have to be resurfaced before a planned safety change can be marked out, and the area “is on the list of reserve sites for resurfacing”.

The contract manager for the programme is Glen Russell on 07827 466 614. The council’s resurfacing inbox is resurfacing@reading.gov.uk.

Still no minutes from the 10 September traffic committee

Reading’s Traffic Management Sub-Committee met on Thursday 10 September and was asked to send six schemes out to statutory consultation. Three weeks later the council has still published no minutes and no decision record for that meeting, so the outcome is not on the public record. The agenda frontsheet and the 18MB reports pack are online. The only minutes on the page are those of the previous meeting, on 10 June 2026 (Traffic Management Sub-Committee, 10 September 2026).

The six include new 20mph zones on residential streets either side of Oxford Road, a parallel crossing on Portman Road, a 20mph zone on the Amersham Road estate, and a change to the outbound bus lane on King’s Road after a run of collisions at three left turns. None of them dig up a road this month. All of them change one later. We have written the detail up separately: what the council wants to do to six Reading roads, and the 97-request queue behind them.

Checking what is happening today

The council does not publish a written list of live roadworks. Its current roadworks page is an embedded map only, drawing real-time data from Causeway one.network, which covers utility works as well as council schemes. That is where to look for a specific street on a specific day.

For anything affecting buses, Reading Buses service updates is faster and more specific. It names the road, the dates and which routes divert, which the map does not. Much of this page comes from it.

New council closures appear first as statutory notices in the Reading Chronicle, which is why the orders at the top of this page were live before anything on the council’s own website mentioned them.

The routes that decide your journey

Whatever is being dug up this month, Reading traffic funnels through the same handful of places.

The IDR. The Inner Distribution Road is the town centre ring road, and almost every central diversion ends up on it. The council now lists its Southampton Street slip road as resurfaced, and one more night on the northbound stretch at the A33 is booked for 2 October.

The A33 Relief Road. The main southern approach, linking the M4 at junction 11 to the town centre past Green Park and the stadium. It carries the retail parks and the Mereoak park and ride buses, and it takes the strain whenever the M4 shuts.

The A4 Bath Road and Berkeley Avenue. The western approach and the standard M4 diversion route. Bath Road appears three times this autumn: the Brunswick Street end was booked for daylight work from 23 to 25 September, the Hogarth Avenue end is booked for two nights this week, and the eastbound bus lane at numbers 44 to 48 is suspended for a day on 18 October.

The bridges. Caversham Bridge and Reading Bridge are the only two road crossings of the Thames in the town. Anything closing one puts everything on the other.

Leaving the car behind

Reading’s park and ride is cheap and usually the right answer during town centre works. A return is £4 at Mereoak, Winnersh Triangle and Thames Valley, and at Mereoak and Winnersh Triangle that fare includes the parking (park and ride fares).

• Mereoak, off the A33 at M4 junction 11, service 600, up to every 15 minutes. £4 return, parking included.
• Winnersh Triangle, service 500, up to every 15 minutes. £4 return, parking included.
• Thames Valley, service 300, Monday to Friday 6am to 7pm. £4 return, parking charged separately at £1 an hour, capped at £4.
• Coppid Beech, lion 4 and 4a. This one is priced differently: £3 single, £6 return, with parking £1.50 for up to four hours and £3 beyond that.

Concessionary pass holders travel free but still have to buy a parking ticket at the rates above.

If you are driving in anyway, our guide to parking in Reading compares the twelve council car parks and the station multi-storey, including the two that are free all day on a Sunday.

What it means for you

If you drive into town from Whitley on Northumberland Avenue, the inbound lane at Buckland Road Circle is shut until further notice. Bus passengers heading into Reading should use Whitley Community Centre or Corbridge Road.

If you drive the western end of Bath Road in the evening, the stretch from Hogarth Avenue to New Lane Hill closes 7pm to 1am tonight. You cannot park inside the works area during working hours. The council warns that any vehicle left there “may be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and removed”.

If you live on Western Elms Avenue, the closure outside numbers 44 to 55 runs from today to 4 October, and the parking goes with it.

If you drive through Newtown or park near Palmer Park, Wykeham Road is shut between Grange Avenue and Palmer Park Avenue until Saturday.

If you catch the royal blue 33 into town on Tilehurst Road, the Water Road stop is closed until 3pm today.

If you use M4 junction 10 from the A329(M), the westbound entry slip is shut overnight on Monday and Tuesday next week.

If you use Tilehurst or Pangbourne stations on Sunday 4 October, check before you go: buses replace trains between the two for most of the day.

Frequently asked questions

What roads are closed in Reading this week?

The inbound lane of Northumberland Avenue at Buckland Road Circle is closed until further notice. Bath Road between Hogarth Avenue and New Lane Hill closes 7pm to 1am on the night of 1 October. Western Elms Avenue is closed outside numbers 44 to 55 from 1 to 4 October, and Wykeham Road in Newtown is closed between Grange Avenue and Palmer Park Avenue until 3 October. The Norman Road order in Emmer Green, in force since 11 September, has no published end date.

Is the M4 closed at Reading this week?

Not at junctions 11 or 12. At junction 10, the westbound entry slip from the A329(M) southbound closes 9pm to 6am on the nights of Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 October, for surveys.

Are there train engineering works at Reading on 4 October 2026?

Yes, on both sides of Reading. Trains do not call at Pangbourne for most of the day, with replacement buses between Tilehurst and Pangbourne. Early in the morning the 08:06 Reading to Newbury is replaced by a bus at 07:51, and the 08:33 Reading to Bedwyn starts from Newbury.

Which Reading roads are being resurfaced in October 2026?

Bath Road from Hogarth Avenue to New Lane Hill finishes its second night on 1 to 2 October, and the northbound IDR at the A33 junction is booked for the night of 2 to 3 October. Both run 7pm to 1am. A reserve list of twenty sections may be brought in if budget allows.

When does Norman Road in Emmer Green reopen?

The council has not said. The order that closed it came into force on 11 September and gives no end date, only the standard ceiling of eighteen months or the completion of the works, whichever is sooner. The job is replacing an electricity transformer.

Where can I see Reading roadworks on a map?

The council’s current roadworks page shows a live map fed by Causeway one.network, covering council schemes and utility works alike.

Can I park on my road while it is being resurfaced?

No. The council states that parking is not possible during working hours, and that any vehicle left within the works area may be issued with a Penalty Charge Notice and removed.

How much is Reading park and ride?

£4 return at Mereoak, Winnersh Triangle and Thames Valley, with parking included at the first two. Coppid Beech is priced separately at £3 single and £6 return, plus parking.

Sources

• Reading Borough Council, multiple temporary closures, 10 September 2026 for the Wykeham Road, Western Elms Avenue and Bath Road bus lane orders.
• Reading Borough Council temporary road restrictions, 3 September 2026 for the Norman Road and Forbury orders.
• West Berkshire Council, Englefield Road no right turn and Oxfordshire County Council, A4155 Shiplake speed limit for the two consultations and their deadlines.
• Reading Borough Council road improvements, last updated 28 September 2026, for the resurfacing programme, completed jobs, working hours, reserve list, parking wording and the contract manager.
• Reading Borough Council current roadworks for the live one.network map.
• Reading Buses service updates for dated closures, diversions, suspended stops and the aqua 28 extra buses.
• Reading Buses park and ride fares for park and ride prices and frequencies.
• National Highways road closure report for the seven-day spreadsheet covering 30 September to 6 October, and the M4, A404 and A34 closures.
• National Rail planned works for Pangbourne and Theale on 4 October, and Newbury to Bedwyn from 12 October.
• GWR planned engineering work for the Pewsey, North Camp and Paddington to Reading dates in October.
• Traffic Management Sub-Committee, 10 September 2026 for the six schemes going to consultation, the missing minutes and the King’s Road resurfacing note.

Roadworks programmes change at short notice and reserve sites may be substituted in. Council orders are published as intentions and the dates can move. Check the live map before you travel. Sources last checked 1 October 2026.

Correction, 1 October 2026: our 29 September edition said the Northumberland Avenue inbound lane closure at Buckland Road Circle had been listed to 28 September and had run its course. Reading Buses now lists it from 11 September to 31 October, closed until further notice, and it is back at the top of this page.

Correction, 29 September 2026: our earlier editions said the Hogarth Avenue end of Bath Road was resurfaced overnight from 10 to 12 September. The council never listed that job as complete, and it is now booked for 30 September to 2 October. Our 24 September edition also said the only minutes linked from the traffic committee page dated from June 2010. They are the minutes of the committee’s previous meeting, on 10 June 2026.

Correction, 20 September 2026: our 13 September edition said the Padworth Road closure between Burghfield and Tadley AWE ended that day. Reading Buses now lists it running to 23 October, and the entry above has been corrected.