SHOPPERS will be able to catch a glimpse of Wokingham's new-look town centre as two roads reopen this week.

Broad Street and Langborough Road are set to reopen on Friday (March 23) to offer residents and visitors their first proper view of the town's regeneration.

The focus of the works will now shift to Denmark Street, which will be closed off to traffic from Friday.

The reopening of broad Street means the temporary traffic lights on Rose Street will also be removed.

The £3.8million joint borough and town council Market Place Improvements project is replacing the poor quality, root damaged paving, cluttered street scene and inconvenient bus lane with a smart, new look that is pedestrian-friendly and perfect to  support a flourishing market, successful shops and bustling outdoor living.

Wokingham Town Council Mayor Cllr Peter Lucey, said: “We know people have waited a long time for Broad Street to re-open. So I am pleased to see this clear sign of progress and that the exciting new look for the town is becoming visible.

“We have installed new trees (selected to thrive in town locations, and in special pits to avoid root damage to the paving) and, as the project develops, people will see our vision of a beautiful style public space becoming a reality.”

Broad Street’s re-opening was delayed because of the volume of issues underground that have had to be repaired and rectified. It is now expected that the project will be complete in July.

Cllr Keith Baker, Wokingham Borough Council's executive member for highways and transport, said: “We understand the stress and frustration these works have caused and we apologise for the disturbance to people lives and businesses. 

“There is always an element of uncertainty about a highways project such as this and the larger the areas being investigated, the more risk – particularly in a historic town such as Wokingham. In this case, we have been very unlucky and have found a jungle of poorly laid and unregistered utility pipe works as well as old structures that have caused unavoidable delays. We rely on utility companies to tell us about the whereabouts of pipe works and, on this occasion, the information was not as accurate as we would have liked.”