Rickmansworth Road roadworks cancelled after traffic chaos

Hertfordshire County Council has just announced (9.30am) that the Rickmansworth Road roadworks have been stopped and the site will be cleared as soon as possible.

The Whippendell Road roadworks will remain in place.

This morning, there was chaos on the road network - queues snaked through West Watford, including in Hagden Lane, Tolpits Lane, and Vicarage Road.

Drivers travelling from Croxley Green were worst affected with standstill traffic on the A412 Watford Road almost back to the edge of Rickmansworth. Baldwins Lane was also affected.

These images show queues on the A412 Watford Road in Croxley towards Watford

Affinity Water had been granted permits to carry out lead replacement programmes - replacing the water pipes - in both Rickmansworth Road and Whippendell Road, lasting until at least February 28.

But since the roadworks appeared yesterday, Observer readers and residents on Twitter have vented their fury at the county council and Affinity Water for allowing the work to take place at the same time.

Well done @AffinityWater @Herts_Highways. You have not only gridlocked West #Watford but now the traffic jam reaches Ricky as well. Good work. @Observer_Owl

— Mick. (@Beer_Activist) January 7, 2020

Wtf is wrong with the traffic in #Watford this evening? The whole town is gridlocked. Took me an hour and 20 mins to do 3 miles.

— *\(^o^)/* (@mostlygeordie) January 6, 2020

@Herts_Highways @hertscc @WatfordCouncil @AffinityWater Traffic chaos in Croxley Green/West Watford due to working on two main routes at once. Complete lunacy!

— Jason Smith (@jasonsmith119) January 6, 2020

Good morning Nicola, I'm really sorry for the delays caused by these works. These are essential works which we must complete, however we'll be reviewing how we carry them out to try and minimise and further disruption. Thanks for bringing this to our attention - James

— Affinity Water 💧 (@AffinityWater) January 7, 2020

Images from last night showed traffic leaving Croxley Park and Watford Business Park.

The county council said the traffic lights would be manually controlled during peak hours but it got so busy on all routes, it became difficult to control all the traffic.

Both Affinity Water and the county council has said that the traffic delays experienced "exceeded expectations".

Affinity Water have now patched up the road and left the site. The traffic lights have gone too. 

The scene in Rickmansworth Road at 2.30pm Tuesday

In a tweet this morning, Hertfordshire Highways said: "#Watford @AffinityWater works on A412 Rickmansworth Road have been cancelled and are working to clear site as soon as possible. Works on Whippendell Road will continue as planned. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

#Watford @AffinityWater works on A412 Rickmansworth Road have been cancelled and are working to clear site as soon as possible. Works on Whippendell Road will continue as planned. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. More information: https://t.co/zGDhUhDsUF pic.twitter.com/h6wExMvlqI

— HCC Highways (@Herts_Highways) January 7, 2020

West Watford councillor Nigel Bell, who had raised concerns with the county council about the double set of roadworks, said today: "Sense has prevailed, at least in the short term.

"We need in future the better coordination I have talked about when utilities want to carry out works in an area like Watford."

Emergency roadworks in Grove Mill Lane at the junction of Hempstead Road continue to cause major delays in Hempstead Road. This work should be completed by the end of the week.

More to follow.