News Roadworks creating worst jams in years Apr 23 2002 By Oscar Mortali And Jon Ryder, South London Press(posted 8037 days ago)THE worst jams for years are forcing traffic to a standstill across south London with roadworks creating near-gridlock on the city's streets.
Winding tailbacks are driving motorists mad and some minicab drivers say they are thinking of packing in the job because of the stress behind the wheel.
One said congestion has got so bad, customers were getting out halfway through the journey as they struggled through obstacle courses of cones and diversions.
Laurie Gordon, who works for Martini Car Hire, said: "One woman told me to stop, got out and said she'd be quicker on the train." He said he was turning jobs down and losing money.
Laurie, who has worked for the Burnt Ash Hill firm for six years, said he has never seen the streets so bad. Last week it took him 40 minutes to drive less than HALF-A-MILE across Lewisham.
"It's horrendous. I've never seen anything like it and it's coming to the stage where drivers are thinking enough is enough. The way it's going, it's coming to a complete standstill."
When the South London Press scanned the RAC roadworks' list on Friday, we counted 13 major road-works clogging up the already over- crowded streets.
Long-suffering drivers have been fuming over hold-ups around The Oval at Vauxhall Cross, and Jamaica Road between Shad Thames and Abbey Street has been clogged since last October. Those Bermondsey roadworks are not expected to be finished until the end of July - 10 months after the cones first went down.
The A2 has been plagued by bridge-strengthening work at New Cross but, as if that wasn't bad enough, there's also a hole in it big enough to swallow a small car. The capital's largest pothole appeared on busy Blackheath Hill last week and is believed to be the result of collapsed chalkmines.
The chasm will take a lot of filling, meaning the vital section of the trunk road could be shut for another month leaving drivers snarled up in massive traffic jams on the surrounding roads.
A Transport for London spokes-woman said: "There is a lot of improvement work at the moment at places like Vauxhall and the Kennington Oval which would account for any increase in roadworks."
* A pilot project in Camden launched last year saw the north London authority fine utility companies for every day that roadworks ran over the allocated time.
It is hoped the scheme will get the go-ahead London-wide later this year.