Morning rush hour is getting slower

Lowest average speed of 3.7mph

COMMUTES west London are getting slower with speeds on some roads forcing motorists to crawl through traffic.

Figures from the Department for Transport (DfT) revealed some roads, particularly in Hammersmith and Fulham and Hounslow, saw speeds down by more than 30% since last year.

The worst culprit was the A217 southbound in Hammersmith and Fulham during the morning rush hour which saw the biggest decline to speeds of just 7mph on average in the 12 months to September 2015 – a whopping drop of 35.8% compared to 10.9mph in the year to September 2014.

The next biggest drop was the A406 southbound in Hounslow where speeds

in were down by 32.4% to just to 11.5mph, year-onyear. The average speed on west London’s A roads during rush hour was 14.6mph in the year to September 2015 – a slight decrease on the average of 15.2mph for the previous year.

The DfT data also showed the 10 slowest A roads in west London during rush hour over the same 12 month period saw motorists travelling at sluggish speeds between 3.7mph to 6.8mph.

The worst offenders were the A400 northbound in Westminster where average speeds reached just 3.7mph, followed by the A306 eastbound in Hammersmith and Fulham at 4.5mph and the A4007 eastbound in Hillingdon at 5.4mph.

In year ending September 2015, average speeds on A roads in England during the weekday morning peak were 23.6mph.

The DfT said the fall in average speeds observed in recent years is likely to be partly due to increases in traffic levels on the A road network over the same period and that intermittent periods of high rainfall may also help to explain some of the observed decreases in speed.