Traffic hit by work on Thames tunnel and four bridges at the same time

Poor flow: Battersea bridge is under pressure as drivers seek alternatives following the 18-month closure of Albert bridge
12 April 2012

Transport for London was under pressure today to explain how permission was given for roadworks to be carried out simultaneously on five Thames crossings.

Motoring groups and politicians expressed anger and disbelief that four bridges — Albert, Hammersmith, Southwark and Waterloo — are subject to part or full closure.

There is also an overnight ban on southbound traffic using the Blackwall tunnel during a £70million refurbishment that lasts until December 2012, and these restrictions are due to be extended across entire weekends.

All the affected boroughs told the Standard they had notified TfL well in advance of their plans. No borough wanted to go public with criticisms of TfL but one well-placed source said "eyebrows had been raised" at the amount of work being carried out on the river crossings.

Professor Stephen Glaister of the RAC Foundation said: "Routes across the Thames are essential and to have so many crossings inaccessible at the same time is at best poor planning.

"It is not just motorists who suffer; so do bus passengers and freight transport. We are in danger of having a divided capital. The river is already a significant barrier without this disruption. TfL and the boroughs have a responsibility under law to keep traffic flowing."

Rush-hour vehicles are already stacking back from Battersea bridge as drivers seek an alternative route from Albert Bridge, which closed on Monday for 18 months.

Hammersmith bridge is closed this week, to coincide with reduced traffic during the school half-term holidays, but motorists will be unable to use the crossing at weekends until mid-March while Richmond and Hammersmith and Fulham councils carry out repairs to approach roads.

Waterloo bridge has been reduced from four lanes to two — the bus lanes have been closed — to allow repairs to the structure, while Southwark Bridge is operating only one lane at a time while power cables are installed.

Westminster council said it started planning works to Waterloo Bridge more than a year ago and "liaised closely" with TfL.

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat chairwoman of the London Assembly transport committee, said: "What on earth is going on? Is it too much for different authorities to talk to each other and coordinate works? Once again Londoners will suffer months of disruption and traffic jams."

A TfL spokesman said: "Though TfL is not responsible for the works currently being carried out on some bridges, through the Thames Crossing Coordination Group we work with all of the boroughs to ensure that any roadworks are planned and carried out with the minimum disruption to road users on major river crossings.

"TfL doesn't have the power to stop borough councils from carrying out work on their bridges, but we can ask that works are carried out at night-time or off peak." TfL has promised to keep the Rotherhithe Tunnel open when work is carried out on the Blackwall tunnel.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in