The latest phase of highways work is set to start as the much-delayed new Oakley School is nearly finished.

The new £61m school is Warwickshire County Council's most significant investment ever in a single building and will includes a 34-place nursery, 420-place primary and 900-place secondary school with SEND provision. 

Work is now set to start on creating the formal entrance to the new school and upgrade the existing junction at Harbury Lane to give more space to pedestrians and cyclists. 

The phases of the work will see the old footway on Oakley Wood Road reinstated with a stone foundation and amber gravel topping to allow pedestrians to safely avoid most of the work areas with that work starting on 18 March. 

A four-way traffic management scheme will be put in place by contractors while this work and other phases is carried out, anticipated to last until mid-June.

The sequences are as follows 

• Sequence 1: Oakley Wood Road moves 
• Sequence 2: Tachbrook Roadd traffic moves 
• Sequence 3: Harbury Lane eastwards moves 
• Sequence 4: Harbury Lane westwards moves 

Subsequent works will see road widening and drainage, the new school vehicle entrance, Oakley Wood Rd / Harbury Lane junction improvement works and, finally, carriageway resurfacing and road markings for a new right hand turn lane which will be done under night-time road closure. 

A WCC spokesperson said: "We are entering the final phase of highways works that will be needed to accommodate the new school and the developments in the local area.

"It is a hugely exciting prospect for the area with a new all-through school taking in nearly 1,500 local school-aged children from nursery through to the end of secondary.

"But of course it will need a highway network that can serve such expansion, which we are carrying out. 

"There will be some disruption, inevitably, due to the traffic management needed to keep workers, pedestrians and other road users safe.

"It may cause a slight delay due to the number of traffic movements; however, by doing this, we are able to maintain traffic movements in all directions during the majority of the works." 

What will happen first? 

Phase 1 & 1A: The old and overgrown footway on the east side of Oakley Wood Rd will be reinstated, with a stone foundation and Amber gravel topping. This will allow for pedestrians to use the path and safely avoid most of the work areas. We have already cut the hedges and overgrowth back to avoid the bird nesting season that may have delayed works. 

Phase A (Accommodation works) - Reinstatement of east footpath - 18/3/24 to 28/3/24. 

Phase 1 - Road widening & drainage to east carriageway - 2/4/24 to 12/4/24. 

Phase 2 - New school vehicle bell mouth entrance - 15/4/24 to 30/4/24. 

Phase 3 - Road widening to west carriageway - 1/5/24 to 8/5/24. 

Phase 4 - Oakley Wood Rd / Harbury Lane junction improvement works - 9/5/24 to 30/5/24. 

Phase 5 - Carriageway resurfacing & road markings for new right hand turn lane (under nighttime road closure) - 18/5/24 to 9/6/24. 

Delays

Last autumn local MP Matt Western said parents and children have been "let down" by the delays around the new school.

Having been expected to open last September, the over-budget Oakley Grove School will not welcome students until September 2024, with students forced to study at other local schools until the new facility opens.

The facility was first given planning permission in 2019, to provide an all-through education from ages four to 18 for the adjacent new Oakley Grove estate and other new housing estates nearby.

Matt Western has also said that questions need to be asked about the huge increase to the cost of the school, now set to cost over £60 million - an increase of £10 million.