Revealed: the worst traffic 'pain points' in London

The Blackwall Tunnel was named among the worst routes in London for traffic foul-ups
TfL
Mark Blunden @_MarkBlunden12 November 2018

London's 10 worst roads for snarl-ups have been identified by researchers using live traffic data, with the Blackwall Tunnel taking the top two slots.

Navigation app Waze collated journey times from millions of trips in the past month to calculate the roads with the worst congestion and longest jams.

The north approach road to the Blackwall Tunnel, between Greenwich and the Docklands, came out as the slowest route. Some drivers using the app endured a 91-minute wait, compounded by accidents and breakdowns.

Those heading south in the tunnel fared only a little better, frequently suffering delays of more than an hour.

Waze UK manager Finlay Clark said the route is the capital’s worst “pain point” because “once you get into the queue you can’t get out”.

He added: “We see three breakdowns a week in the Blackwall Tunnel due to low fuel, which makes a really bad problem even worse.”

The capital’s most congested routes and their maximum delay: 

 

Blackwall Tunnel north 1hr 31min

Blackwall Tunnel south 1hr 3min

M4 east 49min

N Circular clockwise west 28min

S Circular anti-clockwise 28min

N Circular clockwise east 27min

N Circular anti-clockwise west 26min

Marylebone Road east 23min

Marylebone Road west23min

S Circular clockwise 21min

The voice-activated app, used by 1.1 million people in London daily, lets drivers report accidents, delays and roadworks and uses the live information along with Transport for London data to calculate faster routes.

Data shows the average daily commute time for London drivers is 46 minutes each way — a 92-minute total each day — with the weekday “rush hour” now drawn out from 4pm to 8pm.

Drivers on the M4 eastbound could expect delays of nearly 50 minutes, and those on the North and South Circulars were often stuck for nearly half an hour at peak times.

On Marylebone Road — London’s most polluted route — vehicles idle for up to 23 minutes in both directions. The data also shows that last month it took an average of 20 minutes longer than usual to get through central London, with speeds well under 10mph amid multiple utilities works.

The tech firm’s analysis found that Tube strikes cause further strain on roads. When drivers on the Central and Waterloo & City lines walked out last Wednesday, there was a 30 per cent rise in morning rush-hour traffic, adding 30 minutes to many road journeys.

Holland Road in Kensington “was at a standstill”, Mr Clark said.

Other routes that suffered included New Bond Street in Mayfair, Bloomsbury Street in Fitzrovia, Kensington Church Street and Wood Lane in White City.

Waze, an Israeli tech firm, was bought by Google in 2013 for £751 million.

Mr Clark said the capital was one of the 10 worst cities for drivers in Europe, adding: “With London’s population set to continue rising over the next decade, it presents the question of whether our infrastructure can sustain additional burden.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT