Easthampstead Road

Project overview

Our work on Easthampstead Road is one of the most important parts of the South Wokingham Distributor Road.

From April 2026, the road will be closed between Star Lane and Heathlands Road, with a diversion in place for vehicles, but access will remain open for pedestrians and cyclists.

The road layout will be permanently transformed and when works on the Central Section are finished, part of Easthampstead Road will be permanently closed off to form a cul-de-sac.

Through traffic will instead follow a new link road, which will also provide access to the new housing coming to South Wokingham.

All northbound or southbound through traffic will instead follow the link road, rejoining Easthampstead Road near the junction with Heathlands Road.

There will be a new three-way signalised junction to provide access to and from the northern half of Easthampstead Road. This change was necessary to allow safe access for the new homes that will be built in South Wokingham. 

A four-way junction would need to be much bigger to operate safely and would then be too close to other junctions nearby. Other changes include:

• Except for buses, eastbound traffic on the new Central Section won’t be able to turn left onto Easthampstead Road
• All westbound traffic on the new Central Section will be able to turn right onto Easthampstead Road
• All southbound traffic on Easthampstead Road will be able to turn either left (eastbound) or right (westbound) onto the new Central Section

Once the new road opens, HGVs heading north along Easthampstead Road will no longer be able to turn left into Heathlands Road, though all other traffic will.

The Star Lane level crossing will remain open after the works are completed, but will be closed while works are taking place.

Work at Heathlands Road junction

Although the main closure will begin in April, we are also carrying out work to reconfigure the junction of Easthampstead Road and Heathlands Road.

This work started on Monday 17 November and is due to be completed by May 2026, with the new link road expected to be open at around the same time.

Between these dates, there will be potential delays to your journey through temporary traffic lights and road closures.

Throughout the works, there is no access for pedestrians through the site, as there will be no footways, but access will be maintained for residents and businesses will remain open as usual.

The diversion route is: Easthampstead Road, Old Wokingham Road, Nine Mile Ride, Heathlands Road (and the reverse for northbound traffic).

The diagrams linked below show how the junction will look at each phase and what to expect in terms of potential disruption. 

• Phase one: Starting on Monday 17 November and due to run for four weeks. There will be three-way temporary traffic lights on Easthampstead Road and at the junction with Heathlands Road. No road closures will be needed
• Phase two: From early January. Heathlands Road will be closed at all times for three weeks. The road layout will be changed to allow traffic to move in both directions on Easthampstead Road while the junction is being reconfigured
• Phase three: January to March. There will be three-way temporary traffic lights on both Easthampstead and Heathlands Road for ten weeks
• Phase four: Late March. Easthampstead and Heathlands Road will be closed at all times for one week while surfacing is carried out, along with the installation of traffic lights
• Phase five: The junction will open to traffic under permanent traffic lights around May 2026. The new link road will now be open, joining up with Waterloo Road and William Heelas Way

As the works progress, we will be able to provide specific start dates for each phase via our South Wokingham newsletter, as well as on our social media channels.