The Croydon Flyover has been undergoing urgent checks by Transport for London engineers this week, with the capital-wide transport agency confirming that the 60-year-old concrete and steel urban motorway “is in need of refurbishment”.
Off-limits: the parking suspension signs earlier this week. The two-day closure was extended across the week
Parts of the Wandle Road surface car park, beneath the Flyover, have been closed this week while the surveying work has been undertaken.
The partial closure of the town centre car park was originally expected to last two days. In the end, the closures continued all week. TfL expects its investigation works to be completed today.
It is three years since TfL slated the Croydon Flyover as in need of refurbishment works to maintain and repair the rusting steel and crumbling concrete of the structure, which was built between 1965 and 1969.
It is a little more than a decade since urgent repair works were conducted on the Hammersmith Flyover in west London, which was built around the same time, using the same materials and methods as the Croydon Flyover, when falling lumps of masonry made that concrete structure unsafe to use.
The Hammersmith Flyover was closed in 2013 for a project that took two years and cost £100million.
The covid pandemic, and the millions squandered by London Mayor Boris Johnson, has left TfL with inadequate funds for capital works and maintenance on its major roads and infrastructure.
TfL has estimated that it needs to spend £2billion on its entire road network to prevent key road bridges and tunnels from shutting.
The six-lane Croydon Flyover carries the east-west A232 from alongside Fisher’s Folly and the Croydon Underpass in central Croydon and over Roman Way on to Duppas Hill Road. Built of reinforced concrete, it is used by 40,000 vehicles a day.
TfL said earlier this year that it hoped to start maintenance works on the Croydon Flyover in 2026.
According to a report in New Civil Engineer, “The deteriorating condition of TfL’s road structures has been a long time coming.
Danger list: how the Croydon Flyover featured in reports to the TfL board in 2022 as a road in urgent need of safety works
“Last year [2021], TfL meeting agenda papers revealed that the cost of patching up London’s surface transport assets has increased by 762% during the last five years. This includes all bridges and tunnels in the capital as well as River Thames crossings.
“TfL attributes this increase to delays and budget cuts to its surface transport assets renewal programme, which includes major repair work to at risk structures including the Rotherhithe Tunnel, A40 Westway, Vauxhall Bridge and Hammersmith Bridge.”
TfL’s most recent published proposals for the Croydon Flyover included carrying out concrete repairs, waterproofing, replacing expansion joints and fitting new lighting. The road way is often left dark for nighttime drivers due to the disrepair of its lighting system.
Design work for the repairs has been completed, leaving TfL waiting for funding.
Carl Eddleston, TfL’s director of streets and network operations, told Inside Croydon: “Safety is our top priority, and we regularly inspect and maintain TfL’s road network to ensure it is safe for people to use.
“We have implemented closures to Wandle Surface Car Park as part of our investigations to assess the condition of Croydon Flyover, which is in need of refurbishment.
“The final phase of the car park closure will be completed by November 7.”
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