Waiting for repairs: TfL says that it is considering engineering reports about the Croydon Flyover
The six-week closure of the 1960s-built concrete flyovers of the A40 Westway in west London, which begins tomorrow, raises the prospect that the Croydon Flyover could soon be undergoing similar, full-scale remedial engineering works.
Transport for London describes the A40 closure as being for “essential safety-critical renewal work”. The A40 will be closed from 10pm tomorrow night, Friday March 20, until “late April”, which means that the surrounding area around Ladbroke Grove and White City will be worth giving a wide berth if travelling by road. Although, to be fair, when isn’t that the case?
“This work will require the closure of the A40 Westway in both directions between the Westway roundabout and the Marylebone flyover to allow the work to be carried out,” TfL says, adding with practised understatement: “During these works, diversion routes and local roads will be extremely busy.”
West London’s buses will be affected, with changes to schedules and routes “to help maintain reliability as much as possible” during the works.
The A232 Croydon Flyover, which links Addiscombe to Duppas Hill and on to the Purley Way, is of the same vintage as the Westway, and broadly similar concrete construction.
Engineers have been regular visitors to the Wandle Road car park for many months, checking the rusting steel and crumbling concrete underneath the Flyover, assessing the state of the structure, as around 40,000 vehicles hurtle overhead every day.
The six-lane urban motorway, built between 1965 and 1969 as Croydon flaunted its modern credentials, has been found to have similar structural concerns to the Hammersmith Flyover. The Hammersmith road underwent major repairs in 2013.
It is four years now since a TfL report identified the Croydon Flyover as needing, “significant structural lighting renewal” and repairs to prevent it from reaching a state of “imminent closure”.
This week, after announcing the Westway closure, a TfL spokesperson said: “Safety is our top priority, and we regularly inspect and maintain TfL’s road network to ensure it is safe for people to use.
Major works: the A40 Westway closes for six weeks, starting tomorrow, March 20
“The Croydon Flyover is included as a prioritised project in our business plan, and we are currently completing essential design and planning work.”
Which suggests that some version of a repairs closure may be coming soon – provided the funding is in place.
The scale of the works on the A40 and the length of time TfL will be taking to carry out their “essential safety-critical renewal work” might given some indication of what might be coming Croydon’s way in due course.
According to TfL, the A40 Westway is one of the busiest strategic routes on its road network, used by up to 96,000 vehicles a day.
“Parts of the structure have reached the end of their service life,” TfL says. The next phase of work involves replacing two joints on the Marylebone Flyover which should allow the flyover to expand and contract with temperature changes and vehicle movements.
“This is complex and specialist work which requires a full carriageway closure.”
Travel advice and alternative routes around the area affected by the A40 closure can be found by visiting the TfL status update page by clicking here.
And TfL warns that, following this full closure, there will be weekend westbound closures at the Westway roundabout.
For more information, visit www.tfl.gov.uk/westway.
“Please check before you travel,” the transport authority says. The latest status updates on how London’s roads are running can be found by clicking here.
Read more: Croydon Flyover ‘investigation’ highlights need for repairs
Read more: Vital safety works for Croydon Flyover could start in 2026
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