Work is due to start on the Coppid Beech Roundabout improvement project, next week on Monday February 2.

The existing two lanes on the roundabout will be temporarily narrowed so traffic can still use them both, while also providing safe space for engineers to start work on widening the carriageway.

Cllr John Kaiser, executive member for planning and highways, said: “Leaving Coppid Beech as it is, simply isn’t an option. It’s done its job well as a vital vein and interchange in our borough, but the road systems around it have evolved and there is far more traffic.

“Two lanes of traffic will be maintained at peak times. Nothing on the junction will be shut during the day. And we will use all our communications channels to keep people up to date with it. If motorists are aware of what’s going on, they can plan their journeys accordingly."

This is a major work to upgrade and widen this roundabout gyratory and its slip roads onto the A329(M) and A329 London Road/ B3408 London Road interchange, as well as adding more traffic lights and improved cycling and walking lanes.

The A329(M) flyover above is not part of the scheme, although it will have a temporary 50mph speed limit. The work is expected to take five months.

Workmen have been on the site for the past few weeks, setting up the works compound and clearing vegetation getting ready for the second.

Measures to keep traffic moving during the next few months will vary according to what part of the roundabout and/or its slip roads are being worked on.

The slip roads will be individually closed, but only between 8pm and 6am. Timely notice of these closures will be posted on the council’s website and social media platforms.

When individual slip roads are closed, alternative routes for motorists wanting to exit the A329(M) will be clearly set out.

There will also be a 50mph speed limit on the A329(M) between its junctions with the M4 and the Wokingham/Bracknell Borough boundary to slow traffic leading onto the roundabout’s slip roads.

These slip roads, and the A329 London Road, and B3408 London Road between Plough Lane and John Nike Way, will also have 30 mph speed limits.