WIREDGOV

People are being advised to plan ahead and use public transport to avoid road disruption during the Prudential RideLondon cycling festival over the first weekend in August.

There will be road closures in central London on Saturday 3 August and a large number of road and bridge closures across east, central and southwest London, as well as parts of Surrey on Sunday 4 August.

The festival, which has been developed by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, will include the largest mass-participant cycling event ever held in the UK.

Thousands of cyclists, including some of the world's top professionals, will be taking part in fun rides and races.

London's Transport Commissioner Sir Peter Hendy said: 'This is the largest event London's streets will have seen since the Olympics.

'During the London 2012 Games, Londoners and businesses took sensible steps to plan ahead and adapt their travel.

'I'm urging everyone to do that once again so that they don't get caught out, and can continue to get around and enjoy the weekend.'

Road and bridge closures for 4 August

In addition to road closures in central London on 3 August, there will be many road closures around the route on 4 August.

These will include the A12, Limehouse Link Tunnel, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Underpass and the A4.

A large number of river crossings will be closed to traffic for much of the day, having a major impact on road transport, including buses, along the route.

River crossings and roads closed to traffic will include:

• Blackwall Tunnel/A12 southbound - closed from 1am to around 9am, for regular maintenance work followed by the event preparation
• A12 northbound from A13 - closed from 5:00 to about 9:00
• A13 from A12 to Leamouth Road - closed from 5:00 to about 9:00
• Tower Bridge and Southwark Bridge - closed from 4:00 to roughly 15:15
• Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge closed from 5:00 to after 19:30
• Chelsea Bridge, Albert Bridge and Putney Bridge - closed from 5:00 to after 19:15
• Chiswick Bridge - closed from 5:00 to after 14:30
• Kingston Bridge - closed from 5:00 to after 19:15
• Hampton Court Bridge - closed from 5:00. Open from 15:30 northbound and 19:00 southbound

The following river crossings will remain open throughout the day:

• Blackwall Tunnel northbound with access to the A13 westbound and diversions to allow traffic to travel north, Rotherhithe Tunnel, London Bridge, Blackfriars Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, Wandsworth Bridge, Hammersmith Bridge, Kew Bridge, Twickenham Bridge and Richmond Bridge

Go to tfl.gov.uk/prudentialridelondon for full details of road closures