And you thought HOUSTON Traffic was Bad???

I hope London is competing with us for an Olympic bid!!

http://www.thisislondon.com/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=679070&in_review_text_id=651447

London traffic slows to 3mph

by David Williams Motoring Editor
Traffic in central London is moving at an average of 2.9mph - no faster than a stroll, an Evening Standard survey reveals today.

An unprecedented wave of roadworks and new traffic-calming schemes has reduced speeds to as low as 1.6mph on some vital routes.

It means that scores of key thoroughfares in large parts of London are now experiencing the worst congestion the capital has seen.

In February, Ken Livingstone's Transport for London office announced that average speeds in central London had fallen to 9.9mph - slower than the trotting speed of a horse and carriage.

Now, as thousands of drivers find their progress hampered by the rephasing of traffic lights, our survey shows that it is far quicker to walk than to drive on many short journeys.

The figures were described as "appalling" by motoring organisations-today as they called on TfL to ease the crisis.

What particularly shocked them was that the survey was carried out in the middle of summer, when traffic levels in central London are typically 35 per cent lower as commuters go away on holiday.

Our investigation was carried out at off-peak times of day and supervised by the RAC Foundation. It showed that on one stretch of road, Haymarket, speeds were regularly as low as 1.6mph; even slower than the typical walking pace.

Indeed, the passenger of a van directly ahead of our survey vehicle was able to get out, stroll into a nearby McDonald's, order a meal and stroll back again before the vehicle had moved 20 yards.

The second slowest road was City Road, a vital link between Islington and the East End, where we recorded a speed of just 2.7mph. Motorists sat in congested traffic for long periods, while the adjacent bus lane was only used by one bus in more than 20 minutes.

Commercial Street was little better, with an average speed of 2.9mph - the mean figure for all of central London.

Even on the Strand, once a thriving link between the City and the West End, we found that traffic was reduced to a depressing crawl. At just 3.1mph this was still slower than many of the passers-by taking a brisk walk.

At Piccadilly, speeds were scarcely any faster at just 3.2mph. According to the RAC Foundation, conditions on this important route into central London now give a taste of what is to come on other key roads when congestion charging begins.

"What you are seeing on Piccadilly is what happens when motorists are forced to avoid other areas - in this case the Mall and Trafalgar Square - and have to cram onto other routes," said the Foundation's road safety manager Kevin Delaney, a former Metropolitan Police head of traffic.

He added: "When congestion charging begins we shall see a lot more of this relocation onto other roads, with similar effects."

The fastest major route covered in our survey was High Holborn, even though traffic was held up by resurfacing work and traffic lights with long red phases. By contrast green phases were so short that only a tiny number of cars made any progress. The average speed of traffic there was 4.1mph.

Our measurements were adjudicated by the RAC Foundation to Department of Transport guidelinesand taken by driving a measured route twice in both directions (except on one-way streets) against a stopwatch.

"This survey shows two particular things," said Mr Delaney. "For the last 30 or 40 years, London has had a system of roads, junctions and one-way systems that have kept traffic moving fairly well.

"But, within the last two to three years, engineers and politicians have tampered with well-proven junctions and altered traffic lights and the roads are becoming a disaster.

"The second point is a near total absence of buses on many of the bus routes that have been put down and taken vital lanes from other roadusers. Recent policies are making it nigh on impossible to drive around London, which is a huge blow to the many thousands of people who rely on the car.

"If we had carried this out at rush hour it would have been even worse. Sadly, we can only expect worse to come."

Julia Lalla-Maharajh, spokesman for business campaign group London First, said: "We are very concerned about the current increase in congestion in the central area. This is damaging to business and also affects buses and the emergency services. We need to be reassured that these problems are only temporary and not part of a longerterm policy of restricting traffic."

Angie Bray, London Assembly Conservative spokeswoman on transport, said: "This just goes to show how Livingstone's crazy traffic-light-altering schemes are bringing London to a standstill. Transport for London are proving themselves to be masters at mismanagement of London's roads."