A4 Roadworks to Be Suspended Due to Queen's Funeral
Move made to avoid delays to cortege as it travels to Windsor Castle
Traffic queueing on the approach to Hogarth Roundabout. Picture: TfL
Transport for London has taken the decision to suspend roadworks on the A4 in Chiswick for a week in preparation for the state funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Work to repair the Cromwell Road railway bridge is to be paused from Friday 16 September to Saturday 24 September and all lane restrictions are to be temporarily removed. Work is expected to resume on Sunday 25 September
There will be a full closure of the A4 westbound overnight between Chiswick Roundabout and Hogarth Roundabout from 10pm on Thursday 15 September until 3:00am the next day to allow the road to be cleared.
The pavement on the westbound side of the road – between Harvard Hill and Oxford Road South – will reopen as planned on Friday 16 September. Signed diversion routes via the subway at Harvard Hill and the underpass on Wellesley Road will remain in place until then.
On the day of funeral on Monday 19 September the cortege would need to travel through Chiswick, past the point of the roadworks, on its way to Windsor Castle after leaving Westminster Abbey. There are currently substantial delays at this point due to the road being reduced to a single carriageway near the junction with Sutton Court Road.
There have been concerns expressed about visiting royalty from other nations and heads of state, being stuck in traffic on their way from Heathrow prior to the funeral. Warnings about the opportunity high-value targets being static in congestion presents to terrorists have been made.
The roadworks were due to enter a particularly disruptive phase with a lane reduction on the eastbound carriageway starting on 17 September while the restrictions on the westbound carriageway continued.
TfL is currently working on an updated programme to remove and reinstate the works but it is possible that the closures may now need to continue into next year.
Cllr Peter Thompson, leader of the Conservative group on Hounslow Council said, "This sensible move from TfL is expected and very welcome. The eyes of the world will be on London in the days ahead and more people than usual will be travelling to London to pay their respects to our late Queen. We need all our major roads to be open to make their journeys as smooth as possible."
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September 15, 2022