Wokingham Borough Council is doing work on the footbridge part of the railway bridge by Winnersh station in Robin Hood Lane, to replace the steps with a slope, so that wheelchairs and buggies etc can cross the bridge on that side of the road.  This is a longstanding ambition of the borough councillors, parish council and the Neighbourhood Action Group, who have all been asking the council to make the change.

The work started a week late, in August (thanks Network Rail for holding it up).  It has been going on very very slowly ever since.  And the bad news is that it is probably not going to be finished for another 5 weeks.

It should have taken about 10 working days.  Finally I have got to the bottom of why it is still dragging on.  Because the footway has been redone, they could not keep the existing parapet. So they ordered a replacement.  And the manufacturers made the replacement to the wrong specification.  So now they have to make it all over again.

Clearly the footbridge can’t be used without having something along the side to stop people falling off it onto the tracks below.  The council tried to come up with a temporary solution but can’t find one that will work.  So the bridge has to remain out of use until the new permanent parapet is ready.

I have been assured that the council will not incur any additional costs as a result of the delay.  I have asked whether they can get some money back for the poor performance of the contractors, which I think is what should happen.

   Leave a comment