Traffic gridlock in West London on A4

littlerock

I drove from west London to Hertfordshire yesterday. This was a journey I used to do regularly until a few years ago. It used to take 1 and a 1/14 to 1 and 1/2 hours depending on traffic, in the rush hour.

Yesterday I had to travel from West London to Ayelsbury. My route takes me over the A4 (Great West Road) to the M4 motorway (then M25 and A41). Normally reaching the M4 takes me around 20 minutes. Yesterday morning at 08.00am the A4 was almost stationary, completely blocked with traffic in both directions. It took me an hour to reach the M4. Once on the motorway, the M4 was flowing OK as were the M25 and then the A41.

On my return journey the A41 and M25 were flowing freely but the M25 road signs were warning of heavy congestion on M25 Jcn 15 east bound (M4 /Heathrow exit) so I turned off early on the M40 which was flowing freely.

Apart from usual delays in Greenford things were OK until I reached the Gillette tower on the A4 at 5.15pm. Once again it was completely full of traffic and virtually stationary in all directions as were all the approach roads to it. I know the area well and tried several work arounds but it still took me 80 minutes to get home instead of 20 minutes.

I have been offered some temporary work in Hertfordshire but if this is what it is like now, I really cannot face it. There do not seem to have been any accidents yesterday. Is this the new normal in West London. Anybody commute along the A4 and can report?

unforeseen

About 20 years back when I used to commute from Stanmore to High Wycombe, listening to the radio one morning and the road report stated that the M25 was gridlocked. No particular place as the whole of the M25 was affected..

I'm glad that I escaped north of Watford never to return

bob_a_builder

Whilst it won't give you travel times, Google Maps has Traffic option which shows the current traffic situation by colouring the roads based on traffic density,
BUT there is also an option to show Typical traffic and a slider for the time of day

Using a PC rather than an App - not seen that option on the App versions ?

not sure if the link will maintain the Traffic option

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.48525,-0.2348324,14.25z/data=!5m1!1e1

if it does, click on the drop down next to "Live Traffic" at bottom center of window to see "Typical Traffic"

spiro

If I was commuting around the M25 I wouldn't think of leaving at 8am, 6am maybe. I commute from Stevenage to Staines everyday.

AdrianC

London and M25 busy in rush hour. Hold the front page.

Have you considered Chiltern Railways?

agrinnall

bob_a_builder wrote: »

Whilst it won't give you travel times, Google Maps...

Yes it will, it gives you the journey time with current road conditions and as a comparison the time with no hold ups.

warehouse

The west side of London is now regularly ridiculously heavy with traffic. I have to travel from Watford to Heathrow and I NEVER touch the M25, it's that bad every day now, same on the return journey.

As already stated above, you need to change the hours you use the roads, (earlier or later than rush hour is generally OK), or find a non motorway route to the A41.

As an aside, this morning I cycled in along the canal. It took me the same amount of time to get in as it did on Monday morning this week.

iolanthe07

I made the mistake of assuming the M25 would be reasonably quiet on a Sunday morning back in August. It took me almost two hours to travel nine miles - no accidents, just gridlock. I really feel for people who have to put up with this every day.

littlerock

The M25 was running freely so was the A41. The problem was the A4 in West London and it was not merely busy, it was completely full, and stationary, in all directions. As I said it took me 80 minutes to do a 20 minute journey in the evening. Yet I could find no reports of heavy congestion on my phone or pc when I got in. Hence my question, is this the new normal?

Chiltern railways do not run from West London by the way.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Wouldn't matter if they built a 14 lane M4, when it funnels down to two lanes it can only carry 2 lanes of traffic.

Very soon it will be total gridlock that will take days, not hours, to clear, its what we've been agreeing to (voting for) for years now.

Sicard

The junction on the A4 at Gillette's Corner at certain times of day is a nightmare and always has been. I used to live in Heston and that was 30+ years ago. The M25 is the biggest car park in the world and according to Chris Rae is The Highway to Hell.