If you were planning to go somewhere in Croydon by car next weekend, the Whitsun bank holiday, or the following half-term week, then you might have to plan your route very carefully.
Cherry Orchard Road and Addiscombe Grove (northbound) are going to be closed from next Friday evening for four, even five, days, basically to make it easier for Menta, the developers, to build another block of over-priced “luxury apartments”. Even pedestrian access will be closed off while the private developer moves a large crane.
The closures in central Croydon are likely to cause considerable traffic disruption around East Croydon Station and along George Street and the tram route.
Then, on Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week, May 30-31, a stretch of Waddon Road between Harrisons Rise to St John’s Road is to be closed for resurfacing works. Residents won’t even be able to park their cars along the road, never mind drive along it for two days.
According to a council memo, seen by Inside Croydon, on Cherry Orchard Road, “A large static on-site crane will be removed from the Redrow building site … between Oval Road and Cross Road. To remove this static crane a mobile crane will be erected on Cherry Orchard Road in the carriageway between Oval Road and Cross Road. Due to the size of the mobile crane required, the entire carriageway and both footways will be closed.
“A pedestrian walkway is being built on the Redrow site opposite to facilitate pedestrians. As no traffic can travel down Cherry Orchard Road, Addiscombe Grove will also be closed Northbound.
“Unfortunately as this mobile crane requires an entire day to erect and/or dismantle so these works cannot take place off-peak.
“Works will be carried out over the bank holiday weekend from Friday May 26 at 20:00, due to finish Monday May 29 at 20:00. However if these works are delayed due to poor weather conditions then Tuesday May 30 will also be used.
“East Croydon Station are aware of this closure and are informing passengers of Landsdown [sic] Road as an alternative collection/drop off point. This route will be signed for motorists. Buses, are also aware and are making alternative arrangements. However the main routes up and down Addiscombe Road are still available.”
The closures will affect residents on Cedar Road, Oval Road, Altyre Road, Hazledene Road, Addiscombe Grove, Leslie Grove and Leslie Park Road, and the council was planning to drop letters off to those addresses.
The memo also states: “Croydon Council have worked closely with Redrow to ensure these works take place with the minimum amount of disruption possible for a closure of this size.”
The separate works requiring the closure of Waddon Road, the council says, will see a suspension of on-street parking during works hours, though pedestrian access will not be affected. “Unforeseen circumstances (eg. inclement weather conditions)” could see these works over-run, too.
And the council warns that “penalty charge notices (PCNs) will be applied to vehicles parked within the suspended areas during the works hours and/or vehicles relocated”.
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Based on the past experiences & observations of what happens when Cherry Orchard Rd / Addiscombe Rd is closed, I would recommend that everyone avoids the East Croydon area for the duration of these works.
In previous instances the adjacent roads ( Cherry Orchard Rd to Clyde Rd ) have clogged up very rapidly with lost & confused drivers, many relying on SatNavs to find their way out. Many of these drivers will have blithely passed one road sign after another stating that the road ahead is closed and completely ignored them until they arrive at the road barriers.
Into this mess add large numbers of taxis working their way through to Billington Hill / East Croydon Stn either to drop off passengers at the station or to join displaced taxi rank.