Londoners should plan ahead now to avoid road disruption during the weekend of 3 and 4 August, when many bridges and roads will be closed to traffic for the biggest road cycling event the capital has seen since the Olympics.

Prudential RideLondon, the Mayor of London’s world class cycling festival, will include the largest mass participant cycling event ever held in the UK, with thousands of cyclists, including some of the world’s top professionals, taking part in four separate events.

Sir Peter’s warning came as TfL launched a campaign advising residents and businesses ‘don’t get caught out’ and to plan their travel in advance.  The public are advised to avoid driving in central London and the area affected by the RideLondon-Surrey100 and Classic route on Sunday 4 August, which runs from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, through east, central and south west London to Surrey, finishing on The Mall in central London.

Sir Peter Hendy CBE said: “This is going to be a fantastic event, which cements London’s growing reputation as a major cycling city.  It will draw thousands of cycling fans from across the country to enjoy the event and all that London and Surrey have to offer.

“However, this is the largest event London’s streets will have seen since the Olympics. Hosting such an event means we must close to traffic many bridges across the Thames and hundreds of roads in large parts of east, central and south west London. 

“During the London 2012 Games, Londoners and businesses took sensible steps to plan ahead and adapt their travel.  I’m urging everyone to do that once again so that they don’t get caught out, and can continue to get around and enjoy the weekend.”

To avoid road delays, the public are advised to use public transport and to avoid driving near the Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle route in central London on Saturday 3 August. FreeCycle is a free, family friendly bike ride which will take place on closed roads within Westminster and the City of London to allow participants to experience the fun and freedom of cycling in London. On Sunday 4 August road users are advised to avoid driving in east, central and southwest London, and in the affected parts of Surrey, for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 and Classic events.  Tube and rail services will be the best way to get around. Maps and details of road closures and estimated re-opening times are available at www.tfl.gov.uk/prudentialridelondon and www.gosurrey.info

 

The 100 mile Prudential RideLondon-Surrey route, on 4 August, will start in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, passing Tower Hill, Blackfriars, Piccadilly, Hyde Park Corner, Gloucester Road, the Hammersmith Flyover, Cromwell Road, Chiswick Bridge, Sheen, Richmond Park, and Kingston. It will then head into Surrey going through Walton on Thames, Weybridge, Newlands Corner, Holmbury St Mary, Leith Hill, Dorking, Box Hill, Leatherhead, Cobham and Esher. On the return trip the route goes via Kingston, to Wimbledon, Putney High Street, Putney Bridge, New Kings Road, Chelsea Embankment, Millbank and Whitehall, before finishing on The Mall.

 

There will be a large number of road closures around the route from early morning on 4 August to make sure the route is secure and ready for the 100 mile cycling event. These will include, but are not limited to, the A12, Limehouse Link Tunnel, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Underpass and the A4.  A large number of river crossings will be closed to traffic for much of the day, having a major impact on road transport, including buses, along the route. River crossings and roads closed to traffic but not pedestrians on Sunday 4 August will include:

• Blackwall Tunnel / A12 southbound – closed from 01:00, for regular maintenance work followed by the event preparation, to approximately 09:00;
• A12 northbound from A13 – closed from 05:00 to approximately 09:00;
• A13 eastbound & westbound from A12 to Leamouth Road – closed from 05:00 to approximately 09:00;
• Tower Bridge and Southwark Bridge – closed from 04:00 to approximately 15:15;
• Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge closed from 05:00 to after 19:30;
• Chelsea Bridge, Albert Bridge and Putney Bridge – closed from 05:00 to after 19:15;
• Chiswick Bridge – closed from 05:00 to after 14:30;
• Kingston Bridge – closed from 05:00 to after 19:15;
• Hampton Court Bridge – closed from 05:00. Open from 15:30 northbound and 19:00 southbound.

The following river crossings will remain open throughout the day to road traffic:

• Blackwall Tunnel northbound will remain open throughout the event with access to the A13 westbound and diversions to allow traffic to travel north;
• Rotherhithe Tunnel, London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge and Waterloo Bridge will all remain open;
• Wandsworth Bridge, Kew Bridge, Twickenham Bridge and Richmond Bridge will all remain open.

Full details of road closures are available at www.tfl.gov.uk/prudentialridelondon  and www.gosurrey.info.  Drivers are urged to plan ahead or to consider re-timing their journey to avoid road disruption, particularly if people are planning to travel to or from airports, or to a special event.

The cycling festival is expected to give a major boost to the number of cyclists in the capital and the rest of the UK, while attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to London and Surrey. The exciting events taking place across the weekend will also help encourage people of all ages and abilities to take to two wheels.