Kingston roadworks causing huge disruptions

Heavy traffic along Villiers Avenue, Surbiton in the morning, due to the road being closed off for roadworks.

Ongoing roadworks in Kingston have caused a huge disruption to both students and local residents due to delayed and infrequent buses.

Following roadworks throughout December in Kingston’s Town Centre, more roadworks are now under way throughout Surbiton that are on course to continue until late February.

“It’s frustrating because the bus routes have changed and it’s caused such a huge hassle,” said Mary Mungai, a Kingston University student. “The bus route has changed meaning it takes longer to get to Penrhyn Campus and I’m having to leave earlier.”

The roadworks are part of Kingston Council’s Go Cycle Programme which aims to upgrade Kingston’s major highways in order to improve the flow of traffic of not just cars, but cyclists and pedestrians too.

However, because the roadworks are occurring throughout the school term, this has resulted in both university and city buses having to use longer, alternative routes.

“Kingston Council has a moratorium on works during Christmas that prevents works being undertaken on the public highway during the festive period,” said a spokesman for the Kingston Council. “This moratorium period has just finished, thereby allowing anyone planning to carry out work on or under a road, pavement or footpath (public highway) to resume works.”

Many more roadworks will soon start following those currently ongoing in Surbiton, with some of them being undertaken by SGN gas works and Thames Water.

Although the roadworks will continue until late April, the Kingston Council hope they will be beneficial to citizen’s wellbeing and health and positively impact the environment too.

“Even though the roadworks are a pain, I do believe it will be beneficial because it will help keep cyclists and pedestrians off of the roads more. Even the lanes for the cyclists I can see as beneficial to both parties,” Keyari Page, a Kingston University student also living at Clayhill Halls of Residence, said. “This is going to help traffic be more of a constant flow and the roads will eventually become less congested.”

By Abby Lake