Forum Topic

Emergency Gasworks on A316 near Hogarth Roundabout

Apparently a repair to a gas main near the junction with Paxton Road is going to continue until 15 June. The map below shows the queueing at 10:15am today. Suspect it would have reached back over Chiswick Bridge during rush hour. Area best avoided.

Andrew OSullivan ● 263d25 Comments

People can quibble on the cause but there do appear to be serious capacity issues developing at Hogarth Roundabout. Going forward there is the big IMG building development plus TfL's plans for a major overhaul of the junction. Hounslow Council have created a precedent with this suspension and it may not be the last.

Andrew OSullivan ● 253d

I walked by Caxton Road yesterday and there were no roadworks or lane restrictions. Didn't get a chance to see what was going on at Hogarth Roundabout but the A316 was running smoothly which is unusual for a Friday evening.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 254d

According to the news report on the front page, Hounslow suspended enforcement on Staveley Road and Hartington Road yesterday. I don't want to start a fire by suggesting that is why the queues have suddenly got much shorter. I don't know whether the Caxton Road works are done or if they are the same utility works referred to in the article.

Andrew OSullivan ● 255d

The traffic on the A316 northbound didn't seem to be as bad today so I presume that the roadworks are complete.Nevertheless, the continuing reports of queueing back towards Chiswick Bridge does seem to indicate that something has changed there recently. The most likely explanation is alterations to phases at Hogarth Roundabout.That TfL is considering changes at the roundabout do indicate that they think there is a growing issue. It seems highly likely that increased traffic to and from Heathrow is a factor. The concern for us must be that TfL will always see the smooth running of the A4 as the main priority even if it means extra congestion on local roads. Obviously blockages on one of the main arteries into and out of central London should be avoided but there are other considerations such as security. Visiting dignitaries arriving at the airport and royals coming from Windsor will use the A4 and they want to avoid them being sitting targets.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 255d

Well as neither Labour or the Conservatives even mentioned Heathrow in their manifestos and made no commitment to reducing air travel, we have to assume that the current growth in passenger numbers will continue. Most rational people will accept that record passenger numbers probably means that vehicle journeys to the airport are increasing and, even if they aren't, the scale of development along this corridor is significant so the road is only going to get busier. The start of this thread was an observation that the A316 was being dug up near Caxton Road which was likely to mean the endemic queues back towards Chiswick Bridge would be worse than usual and this seems to be exactly what has happened.  TfL see the problem because they are looking to reconfigure Hogarth Roundabout but unless you start widening the Great West Road, there isn't much you can do to boost its capacity. Therefore, public transport is the only answer. If by the force of your argument you manage to persuade the next government to put a cap on flights, money spent on the Piccadilly Line will not be wasted as people using it are not only going to Heathrow.

Andrew OSullivan ● 256d

“ If Heathrow is going to be allowed to increase passenger throughput further, then measures need to be taken to stop this part of London grinding”That’s the point!  Heathrow shouldn’t be allowed to increase passenger throughput and the government should be discouraging people from flying. Hence no more investment in public transport. Make the journey a misery as Kahn has done for motorists when he carved up London into unused cycle lanes and ridiculous LTNs.  Aircraft pollute. Stop flying so much.

Steve Taylor ● 256d

No evidence then. Just baseless supposition. As usual. When you grow up and do some research to gather evidence to back your claims somebody might pay attention to you.

Paul Campbell ● 256d

What utter garbage.

Andrew OSullivan ● 256d

The best and simplest way to improve access to Heathrow by public transport would be to implement the long-mooted link from South Western Railways into the airport, which comes up about once every ten years or so, is greeted enthusiastically by politicians and residents, and is then quietly discarded again. IMHO, if it had not been for Labour's nationalisation of the railways in 1948, a commercially-run Southern Railway would have been looking to build an airport link in the 1950s, as indeed would the Great Western Railway from the other side of the airport. We are still suffering from the errors of the Attlee Labour government.

Richard Greenhough ● 256d

Andrew, the burden of proof is on the person making the claim that traffic volumes are increasing on the A4 and that Heathrow is the cause. Transport policy is evidence-based so if you don't have any evidence then your claims will be ignored.

Paul Campbell ● 256d

Heathrow is reporting  passenger numbers and the cost of getting to the airport on public transport has risen so if you can explain to me why the number of vehicles on the A4 travelling to and from Heathrow isn't also rising, I'd be very interested.

Andrew OSullivan ● 256d

Can you share your data on the volumes of traffic using the A4 to access Heathrow?

Paul Campbell ● 256d

Parroting some slogans doesn't really help anyone. The problem already exists at current levels of air travel so even if it was possible to limit the number of flights, a solution would still be needed. If Heathrow is going to be allowed to increase passenger throughput further, then measures need to be taken to stop this part of London grinding to a complete standstill, not just a regular one during rush hours.

Andrew OSullivan ● 256d

People should be discouraged from flying. No more investment in public transport to Heathrow. Flights must be reduced!! Too much pollution.

Steve Taylor ● 256d

The Elizabeth Line and the Heathrow Express do give better public transport access to Heathrow along the A40 corridor but a large proportion of travel to and from the airport is along the A4 corridor and that is where the problem seems to be developing. Heathrow wants to grow and even without a third runway it has plans to significantly boost the number of flights. Combine this with massive development on the Golden Mile along the A4, we are probably at the foothills of this problem so complacency isn't appropriate. There is an outside chance the Piccadilly Line upgrade may get a mention in the Labour manifesto today. 

Andrew OSullivan ● 256d

"If so, the best way to mitigate this would be a Piccadilly Line upgrade."If only somebody had spent £20bn on a new and hugely successful rail line to Heathrow ...

Paul Campbell ● 257d

There is also queueing all the way along Chiswick Lane back to the High Road from Hogarth Roundabout. The A4 is also heavily congested. Perhaps part of the reasons is the continued growth in Heathrow passenger numbers. If so, the best way to mitigate this would be a Piccadilly Line upgrade.

Andrew OSullivan ● 257d

I'm not sure of the answer to the question about Waze and Google Maps but the traffic patterns on Acton Lane and South Parade have been quite interesting recently. There can be significant queues going back towards Bedford Corner and then 15 minutes later the road is clear up to Fairlawn Grove. Maybe the lights at Chiswick High Road are adjusting when the queues get to a certain length.The relevance to your question is that when the queues are long you do see vehicles taking the underpass despite the access restriction. I saw a black cab do this last week. Presumably it had some sort of navigation device so perhaps when enough people make this mistake some SatNavs start to assume the road is open.

Mark Evans ● 257d

Are systems like Waze and Google Maps robust enough to recognise that the access restrictions are still in place or do they get fooled by seeing exempt traffic and motorists stuck in the queues mistakenly turning into Grove Park?

Jeremy Parkinson ● 259d

I very rarely agree with Paul, but the rules are clear, the fact that there are long tail backs caused by roadworks does not allow most of us (Grove Park residents excepted) to use Hartingdon Road or Staveley Rd to cut through to SCR Northbound.Queue on friday afternoon was bad, probably adds 15 minutes to journey time

Justin Stephenson ● 261d

Oh absolutely, hang those dreadful cretins out to dry Paul - won’t it be simply marvellous when all the roadworks are over (never) and cyclists rule the world ?!!!

Madeleine Hazard ● 262d

That’s getting to be standard regardless of these roadworks.  The timings of the restrictions should be extended. Massive fine bonanza incoming this week as those queues on SCR northbound are there during the restrictions too …

Paul Campbell ● 262d

Sort out Hammersmith Bridge!

Adrian Irving ● 263d

Traffic jam through Grove Park at 7:30 this morning, causing delays on Sutton Court Road too.

James Wright ● 263d

Yup. I came back from Kew that way this morning and was stuck in a massive tailback.

Susan Kelly ● 263d