Several motorists were caught out by traffic island close to the entrance to the ramp

A local resident has described seeing at least eight cars receiving punctures after hitting the entrance to the ramp at the Hogarth flyover one evening last week.

She told Chiswickw4.com that it appeared that a bollard had been taken away which normally serves as a warning that the road is approaching the ramp. Motorists can then decide whether to proceed over the flyover, or veer left to the roundabout. Tyres are apparently being damaged by hitting the concrete island, which can be seen in the above photograph.

"On Wednesday night (June 15th) my daughter got a puncture as she drove through the first road narrowing concrete islands on the approach to the flyover.

"Normally there are 2 white bollards indicating the islands but last night the left one was missing. Also the shape of the concrete island appears to have changed and angled to cause maximum damage when clipped at slow speed.

"Whilst waiting for our pick up truck we saw several motorists (within 2 hours) with near side front tyre punctures after doing the same thing "

She said that her twenty-one year old daughter travels that road frequently on her way to work.

"We pulled into Cornwall Grove while waiting for a truck to pick up the car and saw four other cars pulled in, who had all been caught at the flyover. One had two flat tyres. There was a Japanese family in a hired car who hadn't a clue what to do or where they were. All had their front near side tyres punctured."

Later when she went back to take photographs, there were three cars with their hazard lights pulled over at the side of the road.

She also observed a woman driving a car with a puncture along Chiswick Lane, who then pulled in close to the Goldhawk Road, possibly also having come over the flyover.

"It cost us over £200 at the garage and the car had to be rebalanced. I don't know what went wrong but perhaps they have reshaped the island and it doesn't give as accurate a warning."

Another Chiswick local wrote on our forum that there was chaos when a car was immobilised at the entrance to the flyover. The entrance is just opposite the former Hogarth Business Park where Berkeley Homes is currently building a residential development.

We told Transport for London ( TfL) about the reports but have yet to receive a reply. A spokesperson said they would investigate.

The flyover had a major maintenance work in 2014 to strengthen its structure. Any problem with the flyover contributes to traffic chaos in Chiswick as more traffic is then directed towards the Hogarth roundabout and long queues develop.

It is the second time in two weeks that local people have complained about this stretch of road.

Drainage work taking place on the road just opposite the ramp entrance mean that the 190 bus stop had been out of operation for two weeks and commuters had to walk a considerable distance to the next stop on Chiswick Lane.

June 18, 2016