Traffic chaos hits Teddington during half term and street cleaners Veolia lose contract

Traffic is gridlocked between Teddington, Hampton Wick and Kingston today.

This is due to the road resurfacing at Kingston Road and Normansfield Avenue, in conjunction with the work on the railway bridge at the corner of Broad Street and Park Road.  Both works are causing chaotic traffic congestion today, as yesterday.

There are no traffic lights at Kingston Road and Normansfield Avenue where the road is down to one lane only, whilst the road is being resurfaced.

There are temporary traffic lights at the railway bridge and the junction at Waldegrave Road.  Traffic is backed up through the High Street, Broad Street and Park Road.

The side streets such as Station Road are also queuing with people avoiding the main roads and cutting through the side streets.

The council have placed signs up, but the chaos in the town just wasn’t expected.  If you are going to Kingston or Teddington hospital, or trying to get out and about, you are likely to be delayed.

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Richmond Council has announced that they have awarded the Borough’s street cleaning contract to Continental Landscapes, achieving a £200,000 saving.  Teddington’s street cleaning will now take place after every refuse and recycling collection on a weekly basis, not on a fortnightly basis.

Councillor Morris commented: “This would be an absolute win-win for local people which our officers have negotiated hard to agree. Residents will have their roads cleaned more regularly while at the same time seeing less of their Council Tax money going to a private firm.

“Continental has said it is willing to operate on a smaller profit margin for this contract, leaving more funds available to pay for other Council services. I would like to thank them for their good business sense during what are tight financial times for the public and private sectors.

We have said before we would spend every penny of public money as carefully as if it were our own and this contract is an example of that. Alongside that, it has been our aim to maintain core services like keeping our streets safe and clean, but we have said they may be done differently. This is one of many instances where different means better – for local people and the Council.”

How are you coping with the traffic chaos and what do you think the new street cleaning decision?