Just when you thought it was safe to drive into Twickenham (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Essential work has to be done so best we cope, however, to ease the disruption, could the council officer who has mucked about with the traffic light phasing in central Twickenham please come and have a look at the congestion that has resulted?
It's awful and frequently backs up to the schools in Cross Deep and along London Road outside rush hour and school runs which It never used to.
Apart from anything else it must be awful for those living on Cross Deep who now suffer perpetual queuing traffic outside their homes.
Time for an urgent rethink just like the Richmond Station debacle?
Alex

Today, Holly Road car park was dug up due to an emergency. The signage was wholly inadequate and caused considerable confusion, with cars having to travel the wrong way along narrow Holly Road car park into the path of oncoming traffic with no where for anyone to go!

With regard to the junction at Cross Deep - I am delighted to have had success in getting TFL to tweak the phasing of the lights so that the light turns red for cars travelling in a southerly direction from King Street to Heath Road slightly earlier than for those travelling North. This allows cars to turn right into Cross Deep as their light turns to red and increases safety for pedestrians waiting to cross at the lights.

However, I agree with Alex, the length of time allowed for cars travelling from Cross Deep to the junction is far too short and the queues are considerable.

The whole of Twickenham traffic phasing is a mess and the worst junction is at London Road, where so many drivers completely ignore the red light by The Cabbage Patch and prevent cars exiting from Station Yard. I queued at this junction last night and only ONE or TWO cars managed to get through at each change of traffic lights. Totally unacceptable.

Drivers routinely ignore the red traffic lights in Twickenham because they know they can. The few cameras in the Town Centre are trained on the bus lanes and the Council is only interested in capturing the number plates of motorists who dare to cross the bus lane to either park or turn down a side road.

Where is the enforcement????

My thanks to Julie Hill for explaining one of the reasons for the changed pattern of congestion in Twickenham. Unfortunately, as a result, the red light jumping problem seems to have migrated from King St to Cross Deep where drivers infuriated by the ridiculously short green light phase simply go for it and clog up the Heath Rd/King St junction just as they do at the London Rd/Station Approach junction.
I joined the, now daily queue, just after the Alexander Pope pub at 4.10pm today - the bus lane was empty even though it only operates until 10.00am - no parked cars, no buses so I sailed through like a Russian oligarch in one of their fabled blue light lanes! I got some pretty frosty looks until one or two other drivers looked at the signs and followed me.
Why don't we have clearer signs to enable drivers to use all lanes when outside controlled hours? We locals know but others don't or are so wary of getting a fine they don't risk it - I wouldn't. Result? Yet more congestion
Is this joined up thinking and does the Twickenham regeneration plan take this sort of mess into account?
Alex

I can report that Twickenham Riverside Ward Councillor Scott Naylor is on the case and hopefully TFL will re-visit what they have done and the long queues from Cross Deep will be drastically reduced.

Only 3 cars can currently get through this junction which for an extremely busy Town Centre is totally unacceptable. The knock on effect is that even more cars are rat-running along residential roads to avoid this junction.

TFL was only supposed to have tweaked the southbound lights to stop so many motorists running the RED (not even amber) in the direction of Heath Road, so as to allow motorists tryiing to turn right, to do so safely and without having to break the law themselves. There was no need to mess about with the Cross Deep lights.