Many drivers' worst fears were realised tonight as two sets of roadworks brought one side of Watford to a standstill.
Ironically, the motorists caught up in the Rickmansworth Road and Whippendell Road roadworks were not even the worst affected in the town.
That's because emergency roadworks in Grove Mill Lane left Hempstead Road completely gridlocked out of town from the late afternoon and into the evening rush hour.
Back in west Watford, despite assurances from Hertfordshire County Council that traffic would be controlled during peak hours, hundreds were left stuck in slow traffic, particularly out of Watford Business Park and Croxley Park.
And at around 5.30pm, traffic on the A412 crawled back to the Shell petrol garage in Croxley Green.
A stream of headlights as drivers exiting the business parks at 6.15pm queue down Ascot Road
Queues into Rickmansworth Road towards the town centre at 6.15pm
Queues into Rickmansworth Road towards the town centre at 6.15pm
Queues in Whippendell Road at 6.15pm with temporary lights near junction of Hagden Lane
Reece Ireland, who works in Croxley Park, says a normal 15 minute journey took him one hour and 30 minutes.
He added: "I hope this work can get completed swiftly and efficiently with minimal disruption to commuters and residents."
He was not the only fed-up motorist.
It's completely gridlocked from Croxley to Watford. Extremely bad planning - no idea how an emergency vehicle would get through.
— Hina (@Hina72408259) January 6, 2020
Are these delays expected to continue for the duration of the works? It’s impossible to get anywhere today...
— Kath (@kathpebworth) January 6, 2020
We spoke to a highways employee at around 6.15pm, who had been maually controlling the three-way lights in Rickmansworth Road at the junction of Gade Avenue.
He said that all of the roads had got so busy that there was no option but to put the lights back on a timer.
He added that Rickmansworth Road traffic had a green light each way for 50 seconds.
The temporary lights in Rickmansworth Road near the junction of Gade Avenue
Affinity Water has been given a permit by the county council to carry out lead replacement programmes in both Rickmansworth Road (ending March 20) and Whippendell Road (ending February 28) at the same time.
The scheme will see the temporary lights gradually move further along each road until the whole stretch of road has been completed.
Affinity Water says this type of programme is "essential", and it will be repeated across many streets in Watford all the way up until the summer.
Hi Jason, I do apologise that these works are causing issues with traffic. Highways are working with us during peak times to try and minimise the amount of disruption. The pipework is being updated which is essential to help reduce the amount of leaks, I do hope this helps- Nina
— Affinity Water 💧 (@AffinityWater) January 6, 2020
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