A new entrance has been created at Addington School in Woodley to help students and parents access the site more easily.
School buses and parents will now be able to get in and out of the site directly onto Woodlands Avenue.
Work carried out this Spring, overseen by Wokingham Borough Council’s operational property team, created the entrance to help alleviate congestion for the school and its community, which now has its own dedicated entrance. Its former main entrance for cars was via Leisure Road, off Woodlands Avenue.
This entrance is often busy as it provides access to the Bulmershe School, Bulmershe Leisure Centre, Goals Reading five-a-side centre and Kingfisher Table Tennis Club.
Part of wider improvements in the area
The road was recently resurfaced in 2020 as part of improvements in the area, which include the expansion of the secondary school in 2013 and the leisure centre reopening after being rebuilt and reopened in 2020.
During peak periods the entrance road can get congested. This is particularly the case around pick up and drop off times at the schools, especially with school buses, taxis and private vehicles lining the road making it difficult to manoeuvre.
Work at Addington also includes new secure pedestrian and vehicle gates and a new permeable surface for a section of the Addington car park, to improve drainage during heavy rainfall.
The car park has also been realigned to increase the number of parking bays and improve functionality. The school will start using the new access from 17 May 2021.
'This will considerably ease congestion'
Sara Attra, headteacher at Addington School, said: “We are delighted that we now have a newly configured carpark and a new entrance onto Woodlands Avenue, which finally completes our expansion.
"Both will considerably ease the congestion that currently happens at the beginning and end of the school day when three large facilities share the same entrance and exit points. We are very much looking forward to improved safety in our car park for pupils and parents, as well as improving the flow of school transport.”
Cllr Graham Howe, deputy executive member for children’s services, said: “Addington School provides an outstanding education to hundreds of young people in our borough.
“This follows a recent expansion with the new sixth form centre, enabling even more young people in our borough to access this. Now their journeys in and out of the school will be easier, as well as reducing congestion for those accessing Bulmershe secondary school and the leisure centre at peak times.”
Part of Addington expansion project
The work follows the opening of a £4.4million sixth form centre on the school site in September, which created places for an additional 50 young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities to attend the school.
Works also included an expansion of the car park to accommodate the extra staff and this will adjoin to the new entrance onto Woodlands Avenue.
The access road at Bulmershe has been subject to other measures to improve the safety of the area. This includes a new turning circle for buses to use at drop off and pick up times at Bulmershe and pedestrian crossings to make it easier to get into buildings for those travelling on foot. A safety barrier controlled by the school was also added a few years ago to control traffic flow at busy times.
Improved pedestrian and cycle links between Woodlands Avenue and Bulmershe School include a new and widened pedestrian way adjoining the new leisure facility, a new cycle way through the new leisure facility and improved pedestrian access between the new leisure facility and both Addington and Bulmershe schools.
More from Wokingham Borough Council
Stay connected
Stay connected to the communities around you. Enjoy the latest on the Covid-19 pandemic, general news, updates and highlights straight in your inbox. Subscribe to our Wokingham Borough Connect newsletters now.
