Emma Gaydon, TfL, writes

This is just to let you know Tower Bridge reopened to all traffic at 12noon today (Thursday 22 December), following the completion of the City of London’s essential maintenance work.

The diversion routes have been removed and the Congestion Charge will be back in place from 07:00 tomorrow, Friday 23 December until 18:00. It will be suspended from Saturday 24 December until Monday 2 January 2017. The daily charge will apply again from Tuesday 3 January.

Please note any drivers following the free diversion route, which had been in place, for the rest of today (Thursday 22 December) will not have to pay the congestion charge.

All the best for the festive season­­­

Emma Gaydon TfL writes

There are a number of planned works which will impact the road network from the beginning of January 2017, especially around Blackfriars/Victoria Embankment and Cannon Street.

Thames Tideway Tunnel construction at Blackfriars/Victoria Embankment

Tideway is building the new sewage tunnel under the River Thames, and will start construction of a connection shaft alongside Victoria Embankment from Monday 2 January 2017. The construction site is between Blackfriars and Temple Avenue.

The westbound traffic on the Victoria embankment slip road will be on diversion from Monday 2 January 2017 until 2021. For vehicles travelling westbound that need to access Victoria Embankment, signed diversion routes will be in place:

·         Travelling north on Blackfriars Road: Stamford Street, IMAX roundabout, Waterloo Bridge, Strand, Arundel Street and Temple Place

·         Travelling south on New Bridge Street: Fleet Street, Strand, Arundel Street and Temple Place

Please note there are no height, weight or width restrictions on the diversion route apart from a length restriction of 40 feet on Fleet Street. Vehicles longer than 40 feet should use Stamford Street.

From Monday 2 until Monday 23 January, full closures will be in place to traffic in both directions on the Victoria Embankment slip road as follows:

·         21:00–05:00 each night from Monday 2 until Friday 20 January

·         From 05:00 Saturday 21 until 05:00 Monday 23 January

On these dates westbound traffic will be diverted along Fleet Street (note length restriction), Strand, Arundel Street and Temple Place. Eastbound traffic will be diverted along Puddle Dock Lane and Queen Victoria Street.

The existing loading bays on Temple Avenue/Victoria Embankment along the westbound lane will be suspended from Monday 2 to Thursday 23 January.

At the end of January, Tideway will start building a connecting shaft for the new sewage tunnel, further west along Victoria Embankment between Northumberland Avenue and Horse Guards Place. Two-way traffic will be maintained.

For travel advice, please visit www.tfl.gov.uk/victoria-embankment

More information available on the Tideway website at www.tideway.london

Emergency gas works on Victoria Embankment
National Grid are carrying out emergency works on a gas leak on Victoria Embankment at the junction of Temple Avenue. All lanes are open to vehicles, but with a speed restriction of 20mph and a slight reduction in the width of traffic lanes. Please note National Grid may need to alter these works depending on the severity of the gas leak. If the road layout changes we will let you know as soon as possible.

Westbound closure of Cannon Street from 2 January 2017
To support the Bloomberg Development, the City of London will be closing Cannon Street westbound between Monument and Mansion House for six weeks, starting on Monday 2 January.

Roadworks over the festive period
As you will have seen from the Freight Bulletin, works continue at Upper Holloway with planned closures of the A1 Holloway Road due to continue until mid-January whilst the bridge is replaced. Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes are not permitted to use the signed diversion route and the ban is being rigorously enforced. For the HGV diversion route, please click here.

The traffic switch for A1 Archway A1 takes place on Saturday 17 December. Click here for more information. Please click here for the latest information and traffic impact maps for other major schemes. Click here (MailChimp tracker link) for an update on the Tower Bridge works.

The A4 Hogarth Lane is currently closed in both directions after an HGV collided with the central reservation overnight, resulting a large diesel spillage damaging the road surfacing on both carriageways. All six running lanes need to be resurfaced over a 30 metre long stretch of road between Junction 3 of the M4 and the A4 Hogarth Roundabout.

Garrett Emmerson, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer for Surface Transport, said: “Following a lorry collision a large amount of diesel was split, damaging all six lanes of the A4. I would like to apologise to motorists for the disruption and reassure them that we are working hard to reopen the road as quickly as possible. The carriageway needs to be completely resurfaced over a 30 metre length which we expect to be completed by mid-afternoon.”