Streetworks and events management

Streetworks are an inevitable part of a global business district needing a globally-competitive infrastructure.

You can download this week's closures (186kb)

Read more about Queen Victoria Street eastbound and Queen Street southbound closures (97kb). Buses will also be affected. See the London Buses leaflet (152kb) for more information.

View live traffic status on this Google map

A wide range of apps are also available for smartphones including options like Trafficmaster's TrafficView for iPhone which details roadworks across London and beyond. Search for 'roadworks' in your provider's app store to see what's on offer.

Click on our interactive map that lists daily information on all streetworks, road closures and other highways activities within the City boundaries.

The City of London is stepping up the communication and the main objective of our quarterly newsletter is to inform our residents, businesses and road users about latest developments and what we have been doing and what is planned for the future.

Download the latest issue of our quarterly newsletter here (1.12mb)

LondonWorks register - shows details of all roadworks and street related events in Greater London.

The management of streetworks in the ‘Square Mile’

There are two bodies responsible for managing the public highways in the City of London. Transport for London (TfL) manage what are termed ‘Red Routes’ (i.e. the main roads, or Transport for London Road Network TLRN). The ‘Red Routes’ comprise around 15% of the streets in the City. The second body is the City of London Corporation, which is the Highway Authority for the remainder of the streets in the ‘Square Mile’. Both bodies have responsibility for planning street works on their respective streets.

The Square Mile dates back to over a 1,000 years and retains much of the historic character of centuries past particularly in relation to street layout. Today the Square Mile is a world-leading business centre with around 6,000 businesses employing over 300,000 people.

The demands of these businesses along with the requirements of new business developments in the City mean that typically we receive 4,000-6,000 requests each year for our roads to be dug up in relation to the provision of information technology, electricity, water and gas. We aim to manage these works with the minimum of disruption to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. This is quite a challenge, especially when we have also to deal with road repairs, new developments (such as 1 New Change) and the considerable number of special events (such as the London Marathon) that the City attracts.

We recognise that minimising the impact that street works have on pedestrian and vehicular movement within the City is extremely important. We therefore have a dedicated team working to coordinate work as far as is practicable and in particular we are doing the following:

• We are one of the first local authorities to introduce a ‘Permit Scheme’ enabling us to better regulate street works and issue ‘Fixed Penalty Notices’ (FPNs) to any contractors that breach our conditions or who take unreasonably long to complete their works.
• We are working closely with the senior management of utility companies to improve coordination of their works and in particular to increase the sharing of planned road closures to ensure all utilities complete necessary works simultaneously wherever practicable.
• We aim to improve how we and the utility companies communicate. We want to let you know why works are necessary, how long they will take and, in the case of longer works, how they are progressing against the planned timetable. We will be doing this through an improved website and better signage on all schemes. We expect to have these measures in place over the next couple of months.
• We are looking at all our own major schemes to see how we might reduce the length of the works programme. In the main this will be done through working double shifts and weekend working, although a major limitation to this approach is the importance we place on ensuring residents and businesses benefit from tight controls on noise. We will also be looking at scheme design and materials to ensure there is not a quicker and equally acceptable works methodology.
• We recognise that a high number of street works is inevitable in a rapidly developing and dynamic world business hub such as the Square Mile. However we also recognise the importance of minimising disruption so as to keep the City moving, as well as controlling the environmental impact of works such as noise and dust. It’s hoped the above demonstrates our commitment to do all we can to effectively manage what is a considerable demand for works on our road network.

For more information please visit the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page.

​We help to organise several events on the City's roads. Some of the major events that may have an impact on them are listed below.