Northbound traffic to be diverted from 30 April while urgent Thames Water repair works are carried out. Work to be carried out around the clock during the Bank Holiday weekend to help minimise disruption.

Transport for London (TfL) has given Thames Water permission to close the northbound carriageway of the A406 Gunnersbury Avenue, between Chiswick Roundabout and Pope's Lane, from 20:00 on 30 April.

This essential closure will allow Thames Water to carry out urgent water main repair works, in order to prevent the serious disruption that could result if it were to burst.

During this period, northbound traffic will be diverted from the Chiswick Roundabout via Chiswick High Road, Acton Lane and Uxbridge Road, before rejoining the A406 Hanger Lane.

Southbound traffic will not be affected.

The works, which could take up to 10 days to complete, have been scheduled to occur over the Bank Holiday weekend when traffic levels are lower, to help minimise the disruption to road users in the area.

Minimising disruption

Thames Water will be working 24-hours a day to ensure they are completed as quickly as possible.

TfL is working closely with Thames Water to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum, and will keep motorists informed of closures and diversions through roadside message boards and local radio broadcasts.

In order to maximise the potential of this road closure, TfL has arranged for British Telecom to carry out upgrade works while the carriageway is closed.

Alan Bristow, TfL's Traffic Director, said: 'We have liaised with Thames Water over these urgent works and have insisted that they work 24-hours a day to complete these repairs as quickly as possible.

Working around the clock

'We ask motorists to bear with us while these works are carried out and we will do our best to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum.'

Steve Shine, Thames Water's Chief Operating Officer, said: 'We understand this work will cause inevitable disruption to road users and local residents, but we have to carry out these repairs urgently to stop the leak getting any worse.

'We would like to assure road users and local residents that we will be working around the clock to complete this work as quickly as we can.'

During the Bank Holiday weekend, the District line will be closed between Turnham Green and Ealing Broadway.

Passengers wishing to travel to Ealing Broadway should change at Hammersmith for the Piccadilly line and then change to local bus services at Ealing Common to complete their journey.

Notes to editors:

  • TfL and 18 London boroughs now operate the London Permit Scheme on their roads. Permitting enables TfL and the London boroughs to proactively plan and coordinate the timing of works, providing greater opportunities for utility companies to carry out works at the same time, helping to reduce disruption to road users
  • Since the scheme was introduced on 11 January this year, TfL has turned down more than 1,850 permit requests - one in every eight applications received to date - and prevented more than 250 days of disruption by working with the utilities to better coordinate their works on TfL's roads
  • TfL is continuing to engage with the Department for Transport on the Department's proposed increase in Section 74 overstay charges and on TfL's proposal to introduce a lane rental scheme on the TfL Road Network, which will allow charging of utility companies if they want to dig up targeted parts of London's major traffic arteries during peak hours
  • TfL will be constantly reviewing the traffic management plans over the Bank Holiday weekend and will look to restore two-way traffic along the A406 if and when it is considered safe to do so