Motorists warned to expect long delays on A329M this evening

The lane closures that left fuming motorists stranded in stationary traffic on the A329M for more than two hours will remain in place until November 5, meaning that all traffic along the key link road will remain restricted to one lane in each direction.

This morning furious commuters thought that contractors had forgotten to remove traffic cones blocking two of the lanes following overnight works, but Wokingham Borough Council has now confirmed they were actually put in place as part of efforts to form a contra-flow ahead of major works to improve the safety of the Loddon Viaduct early next year.

Cones along the slip road will be moved to allow for longer merging distance, which severely restricted traffic.

In a statement the council confirmed the closures will stay in place until Tuesday, November 5 and said: “We apologise for the inconvenience that was caused this morning. Regrettably we did not anticipate the significant disruption that has been experienced by all road users.

“The contraflow will come into operation at the beginning of the Viaduct repair works which are programmed for the beginning of 2014. The temporary works are currently programmed to last until November 5 and we are working with the contractor to minimise the impact of these preparatory works.” Drivers around central Reading also faced misery when a lorry became wedged between railings at the junction between Chatham Street and Bedford Street. Both roads were closed for around an hour while police freed the vehicle, causing widespread tailbacks. There were also long jams in west Reading when traffic lights at the Cow Lane bridge developed a technical fault, meaning they were on green for just seven seconds at a time.

Anna Fowler from Reading Borough Council said: “We apologise for the congestion at Cow Lane and the obvious inconvenience that was caused by a technical fault. We have an engineer on site at the moment working to rectify the problem.”