Roadworks that have caused days of transport chaos and prevented residents from assessing Putney’s new traffic light system are being cleared today, with construction equipment removed from Putney High Street and barriers dismantled, enabling the first real test of improvements promised by Wandsworth Council during Thursday morning’s rush hour.
Workers in high-visibility gear spent Wednesday packing up temporary traffic lights, barriers and signage that had obscured any impact from new traffic control chips installed on Tuesday. The equipment removal means commuters will finally experience the junction without construction interference.
The new system was meant to improve signal timing at Putney Bridge junction as part of measures the council outlined in its 24 October letter admitting traffic has been “worse than originally predicted.” But simultaneous roadworks made it impossible to evaluate their effectiveness until now.
They also caused havoc when the temporary lights failed and the subsequent snarl-up backed traffic up all the way into Fulham.
Thursday morning offers the first clean test, though half-term means lighter traffic. Normal commuting patterns resume next week.
The traffic control chips, installed by Transport for London, are designed to give more green light time to vehicles turning from Putney Bridge Road onto the bridge. The council promised this would help traffic “clear the junction more easily during each traffic light phase.”
Send us your thoughts
Starting Thursday morning, let us know how your journey goes through Putney Bridge junction.
- Which route did you take through the junction?
- What time of day?
- How long did it take?
- Better, same, or worse than your usual experience?
Tap/click here to provide your experience. We’ll publish an analysis next week showing whether the council’s fixes are working.
