Penrith Road in Thornton Heath is closed for gas main works until 13 December. Purley Downs Road shuts in phases for 13 weeks, and late trains change all week.

Getting around Croydon means dealing with three different road authorities, the largest tram network in London, and whatever the utility companies have dug up this week. This page keeps the picture straight: what is genuinely disrupting travel now, who actually runs each road, and the live maps that always have the current answer between our updates.

Roads shut right now, checked 7 September 2026

Two long gas main jobs started in the borough over the past few days, and both run into the winter. The council has made the orders, so these are not proposals.

Thornton Heath, from Monday 7 September to Sunday 13 December. Gas main replacement closes a block of streets in phases (Croydon Council, order PN262):

  • Penrith Road, the entire length, in two phases, with parking suspended on both sides throughout
  • Cranbrook Road, at its junction with Penrith Road, which the order prints as Penwith Road
  • Beauchamp Road, between Grange Road and Moffat Road
  • Moffat Road, between Livingstone Road and Westbrook Road, from 28 September to 25 October
  • Westbrook Road, between Burlington Road and Moffat Road, from 28 September to 15 November
  • Burlington Road, in two sections, from 26 October to 15 November

The diversions run via Moffat Road, Livingstone Road, Mersham Road, Hythe Road, Grange Road, Beulah Hill and Spa Hill for the Penrith and Beauchamp Road closures, and via Northwood Road, Osborne Road, Beulah Crescent, Burlington Road, Upton Road, Cranbrook Road and Howberry Road for the Cranbrook Road phase.

Purley and South Croydon, from Thursday 3 September for about thirteen weeks. SGN is replacing a gas main, and five roads close in phases (order PN263):

  • Norman Avenue, the entire length
  • Purley Downs Road, outside numbers 54 to 96a
  • Yew Tree Walk, at its junction with Purley Downs Road
  • Purley Bury Avenue, at its junction with Purley Downs Road
  • Penwortham Road, at its junction with Purley Downs Road

Purley Downs Road traffic is signed via Brighton Road, Purley Road, Godstone Road, Downs Court Road, Mitchley Avenue, Rectory Park and Sanderstead Hill.

Two shorter jobs also began on Monday. In Coulsdon, drainage works close Downs Road either side of its Dunstan Road junction, and Dunstan Road itself, until 18 September, diverted via Westwood Road, Fairdene Road and Reddown Road (order PN261). In Shirley, the junction of Bennetts Avenue and Bennetts Way is shut for SGN until 12 October, diverted via Temple Avenue, Shirley Way and East Way (order PN260).

One more is worth a diary note. On Sunday 20 September, Thames Water replaces temporary footway surfacing with permanent paving in North End. The bus lane on the north east side closes between numbers 168 and 170 and West Croydon station, buses move into the main carriageway, and pedestrians walk through the bus lane. The council expects it to take a single day (order PN270).

The red routes are clear, for once

TfL’s road disruption feed lists no disruption anywhere inside the borough of Croydon, checked in the early hours of Monday 7 September (TfL traffic status). The temporary signals on the A213 Selhurst Road in South Norwood, which ran from 29 August for UKPN, have come off the list.

Three jobs just outside the boundary still matter if you drive out of the borough:

  • A23 Streatham Hill, in Lambeth: lane restrictions between Christchurch Road and Leigham Court Road for TfL works, until 19 November. This is the main road route out of Norbury and Thornton Heath towards central London, and it is by far the longest-running job on the corridor.
  • A212 Crystal Palace Parade: southbound lane restrictions at Fountain Drive for UKPN, until 18 September. TfL logs it in Bromley and Southwark, but it is the road Upper Norwood drivers use for the park and the triangle.
  • A237 Manor Road in Wallington, in the borough of Sutton, about four miles west: temporary signals at Maldon Road for emergency water works, due to clear at 17:00 on Monday 7 September.

The trams are running normally

TfL lists no tram stops disrupted at all, and no planned tram closures anywhere in the next fortnight, checked in the early hours of Monday 7 September (TfL tram status). The network was in its normal overnight closure at the time of checking.

The town centre closure that ran from 6 to 30 August, twenty five days while around 770 metres of worn track was replaced, is finished. Centrale, Church Street, George Street, Wellesley Road and West Croydon are all being served again.

One caution, because it caught this page out in August. TfL moved that closure’s end date once already, from 23 August to the 30th, without warning. If a town centre stop matters to your journey, glance at the live status before you set off rather than trusting any published date, including ours.

Late trains change every night this week

Three separate jobs affect the borough’s stations from Monday evening to Thursday evening. All of them are late night, so daytime services are unaffected.

  • East Croydon and Purley to Caterham and Tattenham Corner. From about 22:30, all lines beyond Purley are closed and buses replace trains (Southern).
  • Selhurst or Norwood Junction to Sutton and Epsom Downs, via West Croydon. From about 22:45, buses replace trains (Southern).
  • Sydenham to West Croydon on the Windrush line. After 22:15, no London Overground trains run. West Croydon trains divert to start and finish at Crystal Palace (TfL).

The Overground closure is the one with the most detail attached, and the detail is useful. The last through train from Highbury and Islington to West Croydon leaves at 21:47, and the last from West Croydon to Highbury and Islington at 22:46. After that, tickets are accepted on Southern between Crystal Palace and East Croydon via Norwood Junction, and on two Southern replacement buses leaving Norwood Junction at 23:18 and 00:13 for West Croydon via Selhurst, carrying on to Sutton.

One overnight job runs a night longer. Buses replace the 23:36 Tonbridge to Redhill and the 00:28 Redhill to Tonbridge from Monday to Friday morning, which matters if you use Redhill to reach Kent.

The fortnight after that

Taken from Southern’s own calendar, day by day, on 7 September:

  • Sunday 13 September, before 09:00: trains between London Victoria and Three Bridges or Brighton run to an amended timetable with extended journey times, for work in the London Victoria area. On the same morning, the Windrush line runs no service between Wandsworth Road and Clapham Junction until 09:00, diverting to Battersea Park instead (TfL).
  • Monday 14 to Thursday 17 September, late evenings: after 23:50, no London Overground trains run between New Cross Gate and Crystal Palace or West Croydon. Southern trains to and from London Bridge are also amended. National Rail tickets are accepted on other operators at no extra cost.
  • Sunday 20 September, before 09:00: buses replace trains between East Croydon and Oxted, with an amended service on to East Grinstead and Uckfield.
  • Monday 21 to Friday 25 September, from about 23:30: buses replace trains between East Croydon and Oxted or East Grinstead on Monday to Thursday evenings, with an extra bus from Crowborough to Uckfield.

Two things this page carried last week have gone. Southern no longer lists the Purley to Redhill, Reigate and Horley buses for Sunday 13 September, nor the Thameslink calls dropped at Coulsdon South that day. Both were on the calendar on 3 September and are not on it now, so we have removed them rather than carry them forward.

A procession closes six Thornton Heath roads on 14 September

The Shree Sakthy Ganapathy annual chariot festival takes its procession through Thornton Heath on Monday 14 September, and the council has given notice of a special events traffic order for it.

Six roads close to traffic, but only while the procession is passing along them: Bensham Manor Road, Berne Road, Boswell Road, Brigstock Road, Ecclesbourne Road and Lucerne Road. Parking bays on those streets are suspended as required. The order runs for the day, and the council expects the procession itself between about 18:30 and 21:00, with the traffic ban lifted as soon as normal flow can be restored. Pedestrian access to premises is kept open throughout (order PN272).

The M23 and M25 this week

Driving to Gatwick or the coast is straightforward in daylight, and the only motorway job that touches a Croydon route is overnight.

  • M23 northbound entry slip at junction 10, for Crawley and the Gatwick approach: closed 21:00 to 06:00 on Monday 7, Tuesday 8, Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 September for drainage works. That is four nights, not the two on National Highways’ previous report.
  • M25 clockwise at junction 9, Leatherhead, about twelve miles west: exit and entry slips closed 22:00 to 05:30 on Tuesday 8, Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 for resurfacing, diverted by local roads.
  • M25 clockwise, junction 10 to junction 11: full carriageway closure on Thursday 10 September, 22:00 to 05:30, for surfacing.

The anti clockwise entry slip at junction 8, Reigate, which this page listed last week, closed for the last time on the night of Friday 4 September and is not in the current report.

Weeknights are much the busier half of the week nationally. National Highways lists 312 closures across its entire English network on Monday night, 313 on Tuesday, 293 on Wednesday and 287 on Thursday, against 100 on the Saturday just gone and 99 on the Sunday (National Highways: seven day closure report, last updated 15:32 on 4 September and covering 4 to 10 September).

Sanderstead bridge, still without a date

Network Rail is replacing the bridge carrying Sanderstead Road between Broomhall Road and Purley Road. It has dug trial holes to work out how much protection the utilities underneath need, and that answer sets how long the main closures last. The council has published no dates for those closures yet (Croydon Council: bridge works). We will carry them here when it does.

Who runs which road

This is the evergreen fact worth keeping. Croydon’s two trunk corridors are red routes, and red routes belong to Transport for London, not the council: the A23 through the borough (London Road, Purley Way and Brighton Road through Purley and Coulsdon), the A232 across it (including Addiscombe Road and the Croydon flyover), and the A22 Godstone Road through Purley and Kenley (Croydon Council: road and pavement responsibilities). Stopping restrictions on the red routes are enforced with £100 fines (Croydon Council: red routes).

Every other public road is coordinated by Croydon Council, which schedules its own works and permits the utilities: Thames Water, SGN, UKPN, Openreach and the rest. Potholes and street problems go to the council through its Love Clean Streets app (road and pavement responsibilities). The M25 and M23, brushing the borough’s southern edge, are National Highways’ roads.

Decision helper showing who runs each road in the borough of Croydon: the A23, A232 and A22 Godstone Road are TfL red routes, the M25 and M23 belong to National Highways, and every other public road is coordinated by Croydon Council with problems reported through the Love Clean Streets app
Diagram by Croydon Today, from the council's responsibilities pages and TfL.

The live maps that always have the answer

Roadworks lists date fast; these do not.

When the roads jam, the rails usually win

The practical Croydon answer to a blocked road is rarely another road. East Croydon runs about fifteen trains an hour into central London off peak with London Bridge 14 minutes away, and the network barely stops at night; the full pattern, fares and caps are in our trains to London guide. With the August track renewals finished, the trams knit the borough back together from Wimbledon to New Addington and Beckenham. Both systems share the same contactless daily cap, so switching mid journey costs nothing extra (TfL fares). If you drive to a station instead, our parking in Croydon guide covers the car parks and controlled zones.

Frequently asked questions

Which Croydon roads are closed right now?

The big one is Penrith Road in Thornton Heath, shut along its entire length in two phases for gas main replacement from 7 September to 13 December, with Cranbrook Road and part of Beauchamp Road closed alongside it. In Purley and South Croydon, Norman Avenue and part of Purley Downs Road are closed in phases for about thirteen weeks from 3 September. Downs Road in Coulsdon is shut until 18 September, and the Bennetts Avenue junction in Shirley until 12 October (Croydon Council temporary traffic orders).

How long is Penrith Road closed for?

Until Sunday 13 December 2026. The council’s order covers the entire length of the road in two phases, with parking suspended on both sides for the whole period, to let SGN replace the gas main (order PN262). The order stays legally in force for 18 months so it can be reintroduced if more work is needed, which is standard wording and not a sign the closure will run that long.

Are there rail replacement buses at East Croydon this week?

Yes, every evening from Monday to Thursday. From about 22:30 buses replace trains from East Croydon and Purley to Caterham and Tattenham Corner, and from about 22:45 between Selhurst or Norwood Junction and Sutton or Epsom Downs via West Croydon. Daytime services are normal (Southern).

Is the London Overground running to West Croydon?

Not late in the evening this week. After 22:15 from Monday to Thursday there is no Windrush line service between Sydenham and West Croydon, and trains turn back at Crystal Palace. The last through train from Highbury and Islington to West Croydon is the 21:47. Southern replacement buses leave Norwood Junction at 23:18 and 00:13 (TfL).

Are the trams running through central Croydon?

Yes. The closure between Reeves Corner and East Croydon ran from 6 to 30 August and has ended. TfL lists no tram stops disrupted and no planned tram closures in the next fortnight, checked on 7 September (TfL tram status).

Where can I see current roadworks in Croydon?

Three places. one.network is the council’s own live map. The council’s temporary traffic orders list every full closure in writing with its dates. TfL’s traffic status covers the A23, A232 and A22 red routes.

Who is responsible for the A23 and Purley Way?

Transport for London. The A23 through the borough, including London Road, Purley Way and Brighton Road, is a red route, along with the A232 and the A22 Godstone Road (Croydon Council). Everything else is the council’s.

How do I report a pothole in Croydon?

Through the council’s Love Clean Streets app, or its online reporting pages, for any road except the red routes (Croydon Council). Red route problems go to TfL.

Sources

Roadworks and engineering dates change at short notice, as this summer’s tram closure showed; the live maps above are the authority on the day. Our other guides cover trains to London, parking in Croydon and Croydon bin collection days. Last checked 7 September 2026.