Latest news with #congestion
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Section of the A3 in Surrey to be closed over the weekend
A section of the A3 will close in both directions over the weekend as the £317m Wisley interchange upgrade continues in Surrey. National Highways has said the closure will be between the M25 Junction 10 and the Painshill Roundabout in Cobham, lasting from 21:00 BST on Friday until 06:00 on Monday. The works include installing an overhead road sign holder, drainage work in the central reservation and installing trenches for technology across all will be in place across the weekend. The same section of the A3 will be closed again from 4 to 7 July, say National works are part of a project to ease congestion on the A3 and the Wisley Interchange and are due for completion in 2026.
Malay Mail
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- Malay Mail
Packed bays, stalled trade: JB businesses suffer as Singapore-bound workers hog city parking from dawn to night
JOHOR BARU, June 20 – Parking woes in downtown Johor Baru have reportedly been made worse by Malaysians working in Singapore, who leave their vehicles in public bays before heading across the Causeway. The Straits Times reported that businesses such as kopitiams and sundry shops have struggled to retain customers who are unable to find parking, while enforcement officers regularly tow away vehicles parked illegally on the roadside. 'A task force has been set up to study the issue involving the two city councils,' state housing and local government exco Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor was quoted saying, referring to Johor Baru and Iskandar Puteri, in response to rise in complaints from residents and business owners about the matter. 'We are closely monitoring this issue that has been raised by fellow state assemblypersons and the local business community... where motorists hog parking bays all day till late at night, causing disruption to local businesses here as customers cannot find a lot to park their vehicles.' Local authorities have so far considered measures including parking time limits and increasing parking bays, along with collaborations with bus operators to reduce congestion. With over 350,000 people crossing the border daily, transit points such as Skudai and downtown Johor Baru often see full car parks, sometimes occupied by workers in rotating shifts. ST reported that even private parking lots are packed, with 80 per cent of lots near Galleria Kotaraya taken by Singapore-bound workers. Businesses can pay RM150 monthly to reserve customer spots — but other drivers still violate these spots. This has caused businesses to resort to 'reserving' spaces with their personal vehicles to carry out their trade, citing the impossibility of working without them. ST cited experts pointing to poor urban planning, car dependence, and lack of last-mile connectivity between housing areas and cross-border transit points as root causes. Low parking fees were also to blame: parking in the city costs as little as 40 sen per 30 minutes, while full-day passes are just RM6, and private bays priced at up to RM20 per day. Long-term solutions include a RM2.6 billion development near Bukit Chagar RTS station with a 1,550-lot park-and-ride facility, and a proposed light rail system linking townships to the cross-border train service set for 2027.
CTV News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
City councillor urges city to temporarily reopen King Street to cars amid downtown construction
City Councillor Brad Bradford speaks about the spike in congestion in Toronto and the motion he will put forward to get King Street reopened to vehicles. Toronto city councillor Brad Bradford says the city must act on what he calls a 'common-sense' solution to worsening downtown gridlock: reopen a key stretch of King Street to vehicles until major construction wraps later this summer. Standing near the closed King and Church streets on Thursday, Bradford said downtown congestion has surged since the intersection was shut earlier this month to replace a 142-year-old watermain. With no streetcars currently using King Street between Spadina Avenue and Church Street, Bradford says he plans to introduce a motion at next week's council meeting to temporarily allow cars back onto the corridor. It's a move he says is already backed by businesses and residents in the area. 'What I'm hearing from Torontonians is they are mad as hell with the congestion in the downtown core,' Bradford told reporters. 'They want the city to take it seriously. They want the mayor to step up and do something. If she's not prepared to do that, I will.' Construction closures bringing traffic to a crawl In addition to replacing the watermain, the work along the King-Church includes rebuilding TTC streetcar tracks. Watermain construction at King and Church intersection causing traffic, commute chaos Watermain construction at King and Church intersection causing traffic, commute chaos However, Bradford argues that no streetcars have been running through the corridor, with several routes instead using Richmond and Adelaide streets. 'These streets are already under pressure from the Ontario Line construction, lane closures and everyday commuting,' Bradford said. 'Now there are four busy streetcar lines moving more than street 30 streetcars per hour that have been diverted onto Richmond and Adelaide.' Bradford emphasized that due to this overflow, it makes little sense to restrict King Street when streetcars don't use it. Rethinking a traffic strategy Bradford's motion, seconded by Coun. Stephen Holyday, also calls on the city's Deputy City Manager of Infrastructure Services to develop better strategies for managing congestion ahead of major downtown infrastructure work — something he explains is even more urgent because the city's planned 'congestion czar' has yet to be appointed. That czar role was approved by council in April, part of Mayor Olivia Chow's wider congestion strategy. But a report on what the role will entail isn't due until July 10. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow speaks to reporters on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press) Another staff also suggested that Toronto's 5,600-kilometre road network has not expanded in decades, despite massive growth in construction activity and traffic volume. Last summer, up to 24 per cent of city roads were closed at one time, more than doubling travel times. The report also highlighted the city plans to have 67 traffic agents in place by summer — but enforcement alone may not be enough, Bradford suggests. 'This is about using common sense and looking for creative solutions to our problems,' Bradford said. 'We should be making better use of all the corridors that are available at our disposal when we can, particularly one that is significantly underutilized right now.' A 'segregated' east end feeling left out, Bradford says While the King–Church intersection isn't in Bradford's Beaches–East York ward, he says the consequences of downtown congestion are city-wide — particularly for residents east of Yonge Street. 'Respectfully, a lot of people from the east end of the city feel entirely cut off from the downtown core,' Bradford said. 'When they took that ramp down on the Gardiner, they segregated the east end of Toronto and made it very difficult and painful to get into the core, and we're still dealing with the impacts of that.' Gardiner Expressway Westbound traffic is seen on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press) 'I'm standing up for everybody east of Yonge that's having a hard time getting into the core, and folks from out in Etobicoke, North York, trying to get downtown.' Developers and business leaders have also lined up behind the motion, warning that gridlock is hurting the city's economic engine. 'Fixing Toronto's mobility crisis requires action, not just talk,' said Jon Love, executive chair of KingSett Capital. 'There's no reason for King Street to be reserved for streetcar priority when there are no streetcars running on it.' Leona Savoie, co-chair of NAIOP Greater Toronto's government relations committee, called the motion 'a common-sense solution to alleviate congestion and get Toronto moving again.' A bid for mayor? Notably, Bradford was asked several times during Thursday's news conference about whether he was trying to lay the groundwork for a future mayoral run, to which he said: 'I have not made any decision on that... As a member of the 25 councillors and 26 including the mayor, it is becoming on all of us to stand up and fight on the issues that are important for people that are trying to call the city home.'
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Moor Farm roundabout on A19 in Northumberland needs upgrade, MP says
Government money needs to be spent to improve two busy roundabouts which are "past breaking point" due to traffic congestion, an MP has Cramlington and Killingworth MP Emma Foody used a Westminster Hall debate to call for the junctions on the A19 at Moor Farm and Seaton Burn to be of Roads Minister Lillian Greenwood accepted that congestion and delays around the roundabouts "need to be addressed", but she did not commit to improving the said new road enhancements would be "considered" as part of the future road investment strategy, which will start from 1 April. Department for Transport (DfT) figures show between 2021 and 2024 there has been an 87% increase in delays through the northbound A19 section of Moor Farm in Northumberland and a 36% rise southbound, with an increase of 31% at Seaton Burn, North Tyneside. This has led to more delays on the A1 for traffic joining Seaton Burn roundabout, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS). Foody said businesses including Miller UK, Fergusons Transport, George Smith and Renolit UK had seen a negative effect due to delays on the roads."Right now the situation at Moor Farm and Seaton Burn acts as a blocker to growth, causing misery to residents and commuters and holding back investment," she said. Foody said earlier road investment strategies had seen upgrades made to roundabouts further south on the A19 at Silverlink and Tesco's."Surely, now is the time to finish the job and complete the junctions to the end of the A19 at Seaton Burn," she said."My area has seen significant housing developments in recent years. The result is that the roundabouts are past breaking point."Labour's Blyth and Ashington MP Ian Lavery joined the debate to say people were "frightened to use the Moor Farm roundabout" and claimed traffic would get worse once a large data centre is built in Cambois. In response, Greenwood said: "As part of last week's Spending Review, the government announced £24bn of capital funding between 2026 and 2030 to maintain and improve motorways and local roads across the country."That funding will allow National Highways and local authorities to deliver faster, safer and more reliable journeys. Already this year, north-east England has been provided with an extra £22m for local roads maintenance." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Congestion, construction frustrating Ottawa commuters
Ottawa Watch The warm weather means more construction across the city, leading to heavier congestion on Ottawa roads. CTV's Josh Marano reports.
