Just wondering if anyone knows what on earth is wrong with the traffic in Forest Hill? Yesterday at 11.15am there was a tailback from Forest Hill along Dartmouth Road to the girls school so I walked to the station. At 7.10pm when I returned, traffic was tailed back from Sainsburys FH to beyond the Kirkdale roundabout. Today at 3.10pm I needed to go to East Dulwich but once again there was a tailback in Dartmouth Road so I drove up Kirkdale. It took me 15 minutes to get half way up so I did a U-turn and came home. I noticed that the 197 and 176 buses were coming up the hill instead of Dartmouth Road - anyone know if there was a reason for this? I am aware that Sydenham Rise is closed but this shouldn't affect the traffic in such a dramatic fashion.

This post was last modified: 30-11-2013 10:33 PM by marianne.

I agree its been bonkers this week. I allowed an hour and 15 mins to drive from Epsom to Forest Hill on Thurs, and it took nearly that to get to FH from Crystal Palace - nearly an hour late to pick up the kids. A fair few local roadworks and I guess the weather has shifted people from bikes into cars, but wow...

My wife tells me that at 5.30 this evening it was very slow on the westbound South Circular coming into FH from the Catford direction, and also in both directions along Dartmouth Road (partly due to lots of parked cars and more buses on the road than usual because of the weekend rail replacement services).

I heard something on the radio yesterday (London 94.9 FM, I think it was) about problems with traffic light phasing in the area.

Yes, I heard it on LBC news.

I was stuck waiting at the lights of Cranston Road / A205 for yonks on Saturday. Timed 6 mins between green lights.. then 1 min the next phase. Someone reboot the master control server please..

I live on Cranston Road, by the lollipop lady's spot, and while there are often tailbacks almost as far as Loxton, they've been coming past my door regularly in the last two weeks. Most of these are self-regulating, as people just turn up Loxton and use Colfe or Kemble to get to Stanstead, but I guess not everyone's so familiar with the area.

As an aside - a friend of mine from the north-west, who visits on a regular basis, will take an entirely different combination of motorways, depending on how long this queue is upon leaving my house. Which is a bit odd.

I dont think the traffic diverted from Sydenham Rise is helping matters on the South Circ, but I agree, it has been very bad of recent.

Sydenham Rise has now reopened with slightly improved pedestrian crossing.

Great stuff, lets see if things improve with traffic any time soon. Although its not been too bad at the times I travel.