Which route to the O2 from the north @ rush-hour?

[havoc]

Off to the O2 tomorrow, sadly neither of us could get the whole afternoon off, so we'll probably hit the M25/M1 junction at about 6pm.

So on that basis, what's the lowest-risk route to get to the Blackwall Tunnel?
- M25 / M11 / A12
- M1 all the way down, A406 N-circular to foot of M11, then A12.


Multimap says do #2, but I have to be honest and say that last time I checked, the N-Circular at 6-7pm was a f'n nightmare. I did #1 last time I went, but that was a Saturday night so doesn't count.


So what do the Londoners and commuters reckon?

Thanks all,

Martin.

[gonte]

Do yourself a favour and get of the M1 at junction 4 and get the jubilee line from Stanmore straight in. All the crowds will be going the other way.

[nonplussed]

gonte said:

Do yourself a favour and get of the M1 at junction 4 and get the jubilee line from Stanmore straight in. All the crowds will be going the other way.

Definitely.

[havoc]

Balls...we've already paid for parking there! Might be worth considering, but will waste the money...


Just checked...how long would you spend on the tube anyway?!? That's the whole length of the Jubilee line!

[john_p]

havoc said:

Balls...we've already paid for parking there! Might be worth considering, but will waste the money...


Just checked...how long would you spend on the tube anyway?!? That's the whole length of the Jubilee line!

Just under an hour, probably less time than fighting through London!

[gonte]

Check out the time table on the transport for london website. Bet the parking wasn't cheap!

[Matt172]

nonplussed said:

gonte said:

Do yourself a favour and get of the M1 at junction 4 and get the jubilee line from Stanmore straight in. All the crowds will be going the other way.

Definitely.

would have been my suggestion too

[Neil_H]

havoc said:

Balls...we've already paid for parking there! Might be worth considering, but will waste the money...


Just checked...how long would you spend on the tube anyway?!? That's the whole length of the Jubilee line!

Less time than if you drive it, you can be sure! And you get off at the entrance to the O2.

If you must drive then I'd do M25, M11, NC, A12 - that's the route I always took from the north when I lived in Canary Wharf.

[Mojooo]

You must be living in dreamland if you think you will get from there to the O2 and parked up etc by about, say 8pm???

[a boardman]

you are aware the michael jackson concert has been cancelled.

[obscene]

Avoid going through London would be my suggestion, this way may be alot longer but has saved me hours. Go round to Junction 2 of the M25 then take the A2 in towards the O2.

Only took me 9 times of going there to realise I should of done this route and funnily enough that was the last time I went. I felt like a complete dhead when it took me under half the time to drive in by avoiding going through London.

[109 Bob]

No, don't go round the M25 to the M11 or anywhere else in that direction because of big bad roadworks after J26.

Which ever way you go is going be a bit slow & you are going to hit traffic. I suppose the 406-A12 is going to be as good as any route & the 406 will speed up a bit around & after the A10 junction but you may hit traffic on the A12 approaching the tunnel.

[havoc]

OK, now I really AM confused!

- Roadworks after J26? How bad / how much time to get through them typically?

- N-Circ...will be QUICKER? than the M25/M11? Isn't that single-carriageway still for much of its length?

- No earlier than 8pm? So 2 hours to get from M25/M1 junction to the 02?!? Are you truly serious there???
(BTW, first band I want to see is on @ 7.25... )


PS - NIN & Jane's Addiction...cunningly titled the NINJA tour!

[Vee]

havoc said:

OK, now I really AM confused!

- Roadworks after J26? How bad / how much time to get through them typically?

- N-Circ...will be QUICKER? than the M25/M11? Isn't that single-carriageway still for much of its length?

- No earlier than 8pm? So 2 hours to get from M25/M1 junction to the 02?!? Are you truly serious there???
(BTW, first band I want to see is on @ 7.25... )


PS - NIN & Jane's Addiction...cunningly titled the NINJA tour!

i think you'll struggle to get in and parked up by 7.25
However, traffic seems to be quite light so ar this week.
Last night I picked up the A406 at the M1 and was at the M11 turn off within 25 mins.
Noneof the usual traffic at Bounds Green/Southgate.

Where from the north are you coming from ? A14/M11/M25 would probably be better imo.

[baldy1926]

Normally that time of night you are looking at about an hour to do the last 2 miles to the blackwall tunnel alone!so good luck

[wombat172a]

havoc said:

OK, now I really AM confused!

- No earlier than 8pm? So 2 hours to get from M25/M1 junction to the 02?!? Are you truly serious there???

2 hours is quite believable, either route isn't nice. I've not been subject to the roadworks around J26, but there are similar roadworks between the M40&M1 junctions, and this regurlarly backed up to M4/M3 junctions at a crawling pace. The north circular won't be fun either, when you get home tonight log on the traffic cameras at around 7pm and have a look at your route.

havoc said:

OK, now I really AM confused!

PS - NIN & Jane's Addiction...cunningly titled the NINJA tour!

And dammit!! I thought that was only a US tour! What a fool I've been.

[Mojooo]

Absolutley no way will you be able to get from M25/M1 and in and seated at the O2 by 7.25.

As someone else said, it can sometiems take 30mins to get to the damn palce when you are only a few miles away.

At the very least I would have an exit strategy so that if you now traffic is too bad you can maybe divert to a tube station with parking or something.

[havoc]

Vee - coming down the M1 from Coventry. Nice idea, won't work.

Wombat - think there's still tickets left for tonight, although whether they're standing and whether you can get there or not are different matters...

Exit strategy...good idea...although from what people are saying we may as well dump the car at Stanmore and save the hassle...waste of £17.50 parking though*!



* My only concerns are getting home...concert finishes at 11pm, so if we've say a 20-30min wait for a tube, then ~50mins back to Stanmore:-
- are the tubes still going to be running that late?
- We won't be home until ~1.30am at the earliest...and we're working tomorrow! Driving I reckon we'd be home in <2 hours from walking out the door...

[threesixty]

I quite often find myself driving into canarywharf (just past the 02) at 5pm (ie going through m25/m11 junction at 5pm) would normally expect to hit cw by 5:40pm.

I go M11- A406(north circular) - A13 and while its busy its generally fiarly free flowing in that direction. I'd avoid the A12 completely that gets abit more residential and consequently alot busier.

Edited by threesixty on Wednesday 15th July 09:54

[The Wookie]

Have to say... you've got no chance. My choice would have been M11, but the roadworks on the M25 will make you late. 2nd choice would be over the bridge and A2, except the queues for the bridge have been appalling recently, and again you've still got the roadworks...