See answers to previous information requests

1. California Crossroads
Total recorded expenditure on the California Crossroads scheme, broken down by financial year and by major cost category

Year Recorded Expenditure (£)
2017 55,728.00
2018 332,822.67
2019 33,348.80
2020 269,769.15
2021 78,018.58
2022 144,814.50
2023 691,401.75
2024 2,952,209.95
2025 145,354.61

2. California Crossroads – Risk Assessment
A copy of the Risk Assessment, Road Safety Audit, or any equivalent safety assessment documents held by the Council relating to the new traffic arrangement at California Crossroads, including any Stage 1–4 Road Safety Audits, designer responses, or sign off documentation. If any part is withheld under Section 38 or Section 42, please provide the full public interest test and the non exempt portions.
All conducted Road Safety Audits including designer responses are already publicly available on our website and can be viewed by visiting: California Cross
(https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roads/road-maintenance/california-cross) – the exception being RSA4 which has only very recently been received and is due to be uploaded in the very near future. I have included a copy of the RSA4 within the attached zip folder.
Detail of the findings of traffic studies conducted prior to work and post work, specifically in relation to length of queues on Nine Mile Ride and Finchampstead Road: Included within zip folder
Detail of traffic movement analysis exercises conducted to compare and consider movement effects on the roundabout when the entrance/exit to the parking to the front of Coop was swapped: Included within zip folder to a degree – however swapping of access/egress was predominantly completed on safety grounds and went through all stages of Road Safety Audit and signed off at various levels by a multi-national design contractor.
Confirmation of outcome of any reassessment of the working of the new layout since implementation was completed: If referring to the layout specifically mentioned above – we do not have specific data for this movement, however if query is related to scheme wide then included within the zip folder
Confirmation of the Risk Assessment which concluded that no white line demarcation is needed at the road junction adjacent to the Chef Peking, leading to the car park at Nine Mile Ride school: No risk assessment for this specific item is on file however design went through all stages of Road Safety Audit and signed off at various levels by a multi-national design contractor

3. Highway Code / design basis for pedestrian priority markings
Highway code guidance is included on our webpage in relation to using the informal crossing points for the scheme (use link provided above).
Any recorded information, internal guidance, design notes, safety audits, or correspondence held by the Council that:
• identifies the Highway Code provisions, Directly referred on a webpage (linked above)
• Department for Transport guidance,
• or any other statutory or non statutory guidance that the Council relied upon when implementing the painted leaf pedestrian markings at California Crossroads, including any documents stating these markings should be treated by motorists in a manner similar to a zebra crossing: Designer adhered to Manual for Streets (MfS) guidance where applicable and all relevant Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) guidance where applicable – both documents are available to view online and referenced on our webpage using the link above. These markings should not be treated by motorists in a manner similar to a zebra crossing – all of the implemented crossing locations within the scheme are informal crossings, therefore they are not zebra crossings and shouldn’t be treated as such. Guidance used to justify inclusion of leaf pattern is as follows: Chapter 6 of the Traffic Sign Manuel states “informal crossings can be indicated with any or all of the following: coloured surfacing, raised carriageways, or patterned materials.”
• evidence of consideration and decision making process undertaken to decide no need for signage advising that the leaf pattern on the road indicated a pedestrian crossing: No design guidance specifies signage requirements for informal crossings. Leaf pattern was installed as part of a wider surface treatment, and whilst its placement helps to highlight the presence of an informal crossing, its isn’t a recognised road sign.
• evidence of consideration and decision making process undertaken to decide that no belisha beacons are needed: Belisha Beacons are only used within a Zebra Crossing location – as mentioned above, none of the crossings installed within the scheme are Zebra crossings and therefore Belisha Beacons could not be considered.

4. Road repair expenditure.
Total expenditure on highways repairs (including potholes, patching, resurfacing and emergency works) for each financial year from 2015/16 to 2024/25.
The table below shows the total expenditure in Wokingham Borough on reactive (ad hoc) carriageway (road) repairs in the respective financial years.
Financial Year Cost of Carriageway Repairs
2015/16 No data
2016/17 No data
2017/18 £478,744.66
2018/19 £486,686.03
2019/20 £806,366.81
2020/21 £303,076.33
2021/22 £311,661.98
2022/23 £417,296.55
2023/24 £862,511.09
2024/25 £590,203.67

5. Highways maintenance – long term strategy.

Information on Wokingham Borough’s approach to highway maintenance is published as the Wokingham Highways Maintenance Management Plan (HMMP). The HMMP is available on the Wokingham website at Highways Maintenance Management Plan https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roads/road-maintenance/highways-maintenance-management-plaN
Annual highways maintenance expenditure for each financial year from 2005/06 to 2024/25: The table below shows the total expenditure in Wokingham Borough on planned highway maintenance in the respective financial years. The values shown are for roads and pavements only, excluding other items such as street lighting, bridges, etc. We do not have information on financial years 2005/06 to 2018/19.
Financial Year Cost of Planned Highway Maintenance
2019/2020 £5,531,682
2020/2021 £7,334,184
2021/2022 £6,581,530
2022/2023 £7,324,637
2023/2024 £6,223,750
2024/2025 £6,079,906

6. California Country Park bridlepath lighting.
Total recorded expenditure on the lighting installation and associated ducting works on the bridlepath at California Country Park, including initial installation and any subsequent remedial works: Total recorded expenditure and maintenance costs (excluding energy costs) = £115,462
Inspection of completed work details and records because ducting which good practice states should be at least 450mm below the surface has breached the surface in a number of locations along the path and did so almost immediately following installation some years ago: Please find attached three electrical test certificates from 2018 for the installation of the lamp columns and feeder pillars. At the time, the ducting could not be installed to normal recommended depths at ALL points along the “Greenway” due to tree roots and arborist advice. The installation will be reviewed to see if any adjustment or protections are now required some years after installation.

7. Total recorded expenditure on the MPD resurfacing works at, including any remedial works undertaken following the initial surface failure.
Confirmation that the contractor's completed work will be inspected and any clear and obvious differences in levels will be remedied. The surface at present is dipping in numerous locations barely one week after completion of the work and this cannot be an acceptable standard of workmanship: Estimated expenditure on the Manor Park Drive surface treatment undertaken in financial year 2026-27 is currently £8,981. Please note that this value is the estimated expenditure as at 16th July 2026 and may change in the future as more information becomes available and final measure gets done.
Confirmation that the contractor's completed work will be inspected and any clear and obvious differences in levels will be remedied. The surface at present is dipping in numerous locations barely one week after completion of the work and this cannot be an acceptable standard of workmanship: Inspections of all newly completed sites will take place in the near future, and then periodically throughout the year. Manor Park Drive had a surface dressing treatment applied to it, of which it’s primary focus is sealing the carriageway surface to prevent future water ingress – undulations are not uncommon and don’t necessarily mean that workmanship was poor. For further information on Surface Dressing treatments, please visit our webpage (https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/roads/road-maintenance/looking-after-our-roads/how-we-treat-or-resurface-roads)