Head Over Heels in Traffic!

More traffic problems this morning when someone found their Vauxhall Corsa inverted by Worcester Park station, according to the Surrey Comet here, together with a dramatic picture of the vehicle in question via Twitter.

Details are scarce so anything you can provide would be interesting, though they're unlikely to be quite as interesting as any dashcam footage that might have been available had one been installed, as is often the case in places like Russia.

Drivers there commonly install.dashcams for insurance reasons and the resulting video have proliferated while continuing to amaze and horrify in equal measure. Not for the easily disturbed. Drive safely people

Worcester Park Roadworks Map

I've been attempting to work out the scale of the upcoming roadworks disruption and turned to Google Maps to help visualise it. While all those who are into NLP discuss my preferred learning style the rest of us can try and work out whether we'll ever be able to go shopping again.

If you click on the image on the left it should take you to a Google map with lines and clicky things showing where the works will be taking place. It's my best endeavour at trying to collate the information, which comes from the Kingston Council page here, so do let me know if I've missed, misplaced or mucked anything up. So, in no particular order:

Phase One works will start in January 2011 and are expected to be completed in eight weeks. A traffic management scheme will be in place throughout the works that will require the temporary closure of three roads – Green Lane, Lynwood Drive and Park Terrace - and one way working underneath the railway bridge that will be controlled by temporary traffic lights.

‘Streets For People’
Who: Sutton Council (with funding from Transport for London)
Where: Central Road between junctions with Green Lane and Lynwood Drive.
What: Works involve de-cluttering the footways, altering kerb lines, building speed tables and resurfacing footways.

Cast Iron Mains replacement
Who: Sutton and East Surrey Water
Where: Central Road between junctions with Green Lane and Balmoral Road.
What: Replace two mains along both sides of Central Road and the supply to each property in the area. This requires excavation of the carriageway and the temporary closure of the junction with Lynwood Drive.

Gas Mains Replacement
Who: Southern Gas Network
Where: Malden Road from the junctions with Motspur Park and Idmiston Road.

Replacement Sewer – Flood alleviation scheme
Who: Thames Water
Where: Malden Road, Worcester Park from junctions with Park Terrace and South Lane.
What: The works would involve deep carriageway excavations, likely to occupy half the width of the carriageway, requiring some form of temporary traffic management.

‘Minor’ Traffic Management schemes
Who: Kingston Council
Where: Two primary locations on Malden Road – junction with Motspur Park and Church Road.
What: Realignment of kerb lines and resurfacing of the highway.

Possible addition: Gas Mains Replacement
Where: Malden Way Southbound slip Road on A3 at Malden Roundabout

Two years of roadworks disruption in Worcester Park?

Hmmm... just when Sutton and East Surrey Water's little experiment in road works seems to be passing without much disruption dire prognostication of disruptions to come arrives from Kingston Council (aka "the people who cut down the trees" to those of us on the Sutton side) who really ought to know.

On the Kingston Council website it says:
“We have identified that there are a series of activities by a number of different agencies that will need to be completed in the next two years that will all affect traffic on the A2043 [Ed:Malden Road/Central Road].

“The simple fact is that these works cannot be carried out without causing some level of disruption. By working together we can reduce the completion time by some months and therefore minimise the disruption to road users and local residents.”

The total duration of all these works would be approximately two years if all the works followed one after the other in the traditional way. But all the agencies involved recognise that by working together, sharing our knowledge and expertise, we can deliver the best improvements for local people in the shortest time and by causing the least disruption.

And here comes the really good news!
The first project will be essential works to underground gas supplies either side of the railway bridge at Worcester Park Station, between Green Lane (London Borough of Sutton) and Park Terrace (The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames). Phase One works will start in January 2011 and are expected to be completed in eight weeks.

The works are part of the national Gas Mains replacement programme, replacing old iron pipes with new Polyethylene mains which will require excavation of the highway. A traffic management scheme will be in place throughout the works that will require the temporary closure of three roads – Green Lane, Lynwood Drive and Park Terrace - and one way working underneath the railway bridge that will be controlled by temporary traffic lights. Advance warning notices will be displayed in the area and residents will be kept updated of progress throughout the programme

Full article here:
http://www.kingston.gov.uk/information/news_and_events/news.htm?id=110203

Is this all part of Sutton Council's cunning plan to get us on Central Road side of the railway to shop in Sutton instead!?!?

Worcester Park roadworks

This sign at the corner of Washington Road doesn't look promising! Hopefully it's only the one week but I smell impending traffic carnage (as if we didn't have enough already!).

No trains

According to SW Trains emergency page they won't be running a service through WP today so your only chance is to go to New Malden for the 4-an-hour Waterloo to Waterloo trains round the Kingston/Twickenham loop or see if there's enough buses to get to Morden and get the Northern Line. I suspect that's where I'll be.

EDIT: The 93 bus was starting from Stonecot Hill and not going through North Cheam this morning. The 293 will take you from North Cheam to Morden, albeit using a very circuitous route.

UPDATE: The SW Trains website has more info on their service stopping at New Malden.
London Waterloo circular via Wimbledon, Kingston, Twickenham
Services will run from London Waterloo at 12, 27, 42 & 57 minutes past each hour via Wimbledon, Kingston and Twickenham
Services will run from London Waterloo at 03, 18, 33 & 48 minutes past each hour via Twickenham, Kingston and Wimbledon

Although the bus/tube combination worked OK this morning I think I'll try the train/bus combination on the way home.

Don't hold your breath (or maybe do)

Michael left a comment this morning about the traffic in which he uttered the fatefuly words "I wonder how much carbon is pumped into the atmosphere while motorists wait for no one!" which offers me the near perfect opportunity to demonstrate the new green tardis.

The picture below shows the pollution stats for the last week and you'll see that on most commuting days there's a peak in the morning and a peak in the afternoon, which goes some way to demonstrating how bad the traffic was.

On Saturday (30th) you can see a constant rumble of traffic and on Sunday there's not much at all, so although I can't give you an amount in tons (or tonnes) of pollution this gives you an idea. If you want to see some more green tardis stats then you can find them in the feed on the left or click here.

I've been wracking my brain (cell) to try and think of what to say about the new KFC that's accurate and witty without a hint of rudeness but I'll have to settle for "it looks very nice". I wonder if some of the regular clientele will worry that it's been turned into a Gordon Ramsay joint and that those people who eat in will worry that their food might be delivered to their table by someone with a spectacular French accent who will describe it in immense detail as they give it to them:

"Sir has chosen a zinger burger with the mayonnaise lightly drizzled, accompanied by the zinger sauce and french fries, and for madame..."

It does look good though so hats off to them for putting the effort in on the decor..... now for the menu ;)

Windsor Road closure

Following my observation about yesterday's closure of Windsor Road I've found out what it's about:

1. The Council of the London Borough of Sutton hereby gives notice that in order to facilitate the installation of traffic signal ducting in the carriageway, and because of the likelihood of danger to the public arising from the said works, it intends to make an Order the effect of which will be to temporarily close Windsor Road to all classes of vehicular traffic at all times.
2. The Order will come into effect on Sunday 30 November 2008 with the works expected to take two Sundays to complete. However, the Order will remain in force for 18 months to be re-introduced should further works be required. Note: these dates may change due to adverse weather conditions and/or works progress.

The good news is that it looks like it's related to coordinating the assorted traffic lights in Worcester Park to help speed up the traffic? Leaving for work early as I do I haven't noticed the effect on the traffic but has the closure made it better or worse?

The Hamptons new proposal - an objection

Isn't it odd how one person's "tidying up" can be another person's "hiding stuff so you have no chance of finding it"? As a result I wasn't able to locate the the new Hamptons proposal from St James in Brinkster Central this morning so will have to go from memory.

I only really want to address the traffic part of their proposal as that part did strike me as being open to misinterpretation, given the facts I am about to present. As I recall St James mention in their glossy document that they were willing to fund synchronising the Green Lane lights with the other sets of lights to improve traffic flow in Worcester Park but seeing as TFL are now going to fund that they suggested they might spend some money on something else, without specifying what kind of something else they'd spend it on or how useful it would be. The facts as I understand them are that the reason TFL are funding the synchronisation system (aka SCOOT) is because traffic has become so bad it's affecting the bus service, which is a TFL issue. Implementing SCOOT will improve the traffic flow on Central Road but at the expense of side roads which join at the same lights. The relevant point here is that Green Lane, "Gateway to the Hamptons" joins Central Road at the lights and the new scheme will actually reduce the traffic flow out of Green Lane rather than increase it... counteracting St James inference that their proposal will improve traffic for all and therefore capacity to cope with their proposed Hamptons expansion.

To my mind if you live in the Hamptons you ought to be upset about their proposal because if you travel by car then it's going to get more difficult rather than easier. Or am I going mad?

P.S Like the new rating system for each post?

Traffic

Central Road at 7am this morning.

As has been noted by any Worcester Park dweller who dares to set out in a car between the hours of 6am-10am or 3pm-8pm the traffic situation is not funny. In conversation with a Longfellow Road resident last night he mentioned that there was traffic queued from Central Road nearly up to his house in the mornings. As he lives in house with a number around the 3-digit mark that was pretty impressive and on checking at 7am this morning there was indeed a queue of about 30 cars in Longfellow Road waiting to get out on to Central Road.

Quite why Sutton council think that adding to this situation with traffic from the proposed Hamptons development won't be a problem is mysterious at best. I'm assuming they've never been in Worcester Park in the morning.......

As I don't commute by car, preferring to cast myself on the mercies of SW Trains, I'm not qualified to comment but I'm sure some of you are.....