If you tried to travel anywhere in North London on 21-24 November you will recall how "insane" the traffic congestion proved to be anywhere along the North Circular Road corridor. 

A journey from Southgate/Arnos Grove towards Edmonton Green was taking one hour and 20 minutes. Bus journeys took forever; minicab companies turned away work.

A major cause of the disruption was the pre-planned closure of the Fore Street Tunnel

and the diversion of traffic along Silver Street, Edmonton from Friday at 22:00 through to 05:30 on Monday; compounded by the England v Germany Football match

TfL are forecasting a further THREE weekend closures between now and Spring 2015 and overall improvement work continuing until end of 2015. In addition During the works, there will be continue to be night time closures of the tunnel in both directions between 22:00-05:30, Monday to Friday, with diversion routes via the Fore Street junction clearly sign posted

Why are we doing the work?

Since the tunnel opened in 1998, ground water has continually leaked into it from the surrounding ground. We took over ownership of the tunnel in 2000 and regular maintenance has been carried out since then to minimise the damage caused by the groundwater. However, a full refurbishment is now being carried out to manage the water seepage problem and replace damaged mechanical and electrical equipment. This will bring the tunnel into a good state of repair and remain serviceable into the future.

The work will also see the existing lighting upgraded to LEDs, lowering energy consumption and the need for future maintenance, as well as helping to make the tunnel safer.

To link to the latest TfL info, click here