In message , mo
writes

whats the a316 like - is it 1 or 2 lanes and is traffic free flowing on it -

It is virtually motorway standard (3 lanes) until about the last 3
miles. After that it is 2 lane, with 5 roundabouts and 3 sets of traffic
lights before the Hogarth roundabout (where you join the A4, rather
closer to the centre of London than Chiswick roundabout, incidentally).

is it as easy to drive on as the M4 would be and how much time would i be
saving?

It is difficult to say, because what you are saving is the likelihood of
running into interminable jams on the M4 - but I would say the A316 is
almost always going to be quicker. I live in the area, and would never
consider going all the way round to the M4 when coming up from
Southampton, unless there is a big match at Twickenham at the critical
time (the A316 runs almost outside the stadium) - but I don't think
there's a match this weekend.

I would certainly consider the advice to park outside of the centre of
town and get the train for the last stretch. As you can see he

http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.c...e=10000&icon=x

Chiswick station is about 1 minute off the A316 after crossing the
Thames, parking is free and trains are every 15 minutes, up to almost
midnight. Journey time 25 minutes to Waterloo - considerably less than
the drive time. It offers a relaxing ride in and out of town - and when
you pick up the car you get straight out onto fast roads. No engineering
works are listed for this weekend, incidentally.

Parking in Hammersmith is also worth considering - I often park under
the A4 flyover, next to the church, but you have to pay up to 6.30pm and
there may be a maximum of 2 hours. Also, if you don't know the area,
this is harder to find than Chiswick station.

As I mentioned, I live in the area and would not normally consider
taking the car into that part of central London on a Saturday afternoon
because of the difficulty/expense of parking and the uncertainty and
frustration of long traffic delays.
--
Paul Terry