Motorists, cyclists and bikers are being warned to plan ahead and leave more time for their journeys as a series of vital road works is carried out across the borough.

In Fulham, Thames Water and its contractors Optimise have begun work today, Friday, February 15 in New Kings Road, between Wandsworth Bridge Road and Bagleys Lane, to replace a longstanding leaking main.

In Hammersmith, work will begin from February 18 to rebuild an underground concrete chamber belonging to BT in Hammersmith Broadway, between the taxi rank and Shepherds Bush Road.

H & F Council says these essential works, which need road lanes to be closed and could lead to potential disruption, were postponed last year because of the Olympics and Christmas roadwork embargos. These embargos meant that all councils in London were forced to suspend all major works between July and October last year, and then again over the Christmas holiday period, leaving a backlog of works.

They have now become increasingly urgent as they could prove dangerous - for example, the BT chamber is in threat of collapse and if it did, then emergency works could mean the entire gyratory would have to be closed immediately, causing traffic chaos.

The projects fall under the London Permit Scheme, where the utility company must buy a permit for the length of time of the work from the council and if they go over their allocated time, would incur a fine.

The utility companies have been working with the council, Transport for London, London Buses and London Underground to try and find the best possible solution to get these works done as quickly as they can while causing as little disruption as possible.

Here are full details of the works taking place across the borough:

Friday February 15 – Sunday February 24
Thames Water works at New Kings Road – one lane closed eastbound between Wandsworth Bridge Road and Bagleys Lane

At the New Kings Road site, workers will have to dig a large hole in the carriageway to replace the 150-year-old 24 inch main that has been leaking since August 2010. To replace the pipe, which is currently leaking up to 200,000 litres of water a day, the eastbound carriageway will be reduced to just one lane. The westbound lane will be open as usual, however, residents are advised to leave more time for their journey when travelling in the area.

Work is expected to last for ten days and has been coordinated to take place over the school half-term holiday, when there is less traffic on the roads.

The works begin at 10am on Friday and will be completed by 3pm on Sunday, February 24.

Thames Water’s contractors Optimise will be working on the main every day so that the job will be finished as quickly as possible and minimise disruption to residents and road users.

The hours of work will be from Monday to Friday - 7.30am to 6pm, Saturday - 8am to 5pm, and Sunday - 9am to 3pm. No noisy works are allowed before 8am on weekdays and 10am on Sundays.

Mark Taylor, the Thames Water project manager overseeing the scheme, said: “This is not a nice-to-do. This is a must-do - an essential repair to a pipe leaking around 200,000 litres a day. On a busy route like this, we always balance the potential disruption work like this will cause against the need to carry out vital repairs to our network.

“Water is a precious resource and this leak is wasting hundreds of thousands of litres. We simply cannot delay this job any longer.

“While there is never an ideal time to do work like this, the majority of the work will take place during half-term to help minimise the impact on traffic in the area. We are sorry for the inevitable disruption this causes.”

Residents living in the area should have received letters giving them information about the work while an electronic variable message sign (VMS) and advance warning signs have been in place for the last week.

For further information residents should call the Optimise customer centre, which is open 24 hours a day, on 0845 641 0011, quoting their address and the reference number BB117463.

Monday, February 18 - Monday, April 29
BT works on Hammersmith Broadway – one lane closed between Queen Caroline Street and Shepherds Bush Road and changes to a pedestrian island in Shepherds Bush Road

These works will be carried out in two phases.

Phase 1: Monday, February 18 – Sunday, March 17
Preparatory works for the demolition and reconstruction of the chamber will include adjustments to the pedestrian island in the middle of Shepherds Bush Road. This pedestrian crossing will still be in use and pedestrians will be able to use all the other road crossings around the Broadway as usual.

Work to change this island is being done to create an extra lane around the gyratory, so that two lanes are kept open and running while BT workers are on site.

There will be no road closures at this time.

Phase 2: Monday, March 18 – Monday April 29
Two lanes on Hammersmith Broadway on the Hammersmith Gyratory, from the top of Queen Caroline Street to Shepherds Bush Road, will be closed for six weeks for BT’s essential works to happen. However, as an extra lane will have been created, two lanes of traffic will still be able to flow around the gyratory.

It is likely that these lane closures will cause some delays so road users and residents are advised to leave extra time for their journeys.

To make sure that these works are completed as quickly as possible, BT will be able to work on the site 24/7 though no noisy works will be allowed between 10pm and 8am, Monday to Saturday, and between 10pm and 10am on Sunday.

Local amenity groups and emergency services will be consulted on the works and local residents, businesses and community groups will receive letters offering more information about the works and how they may affect them.

Work began this week to resurface the carriageway in Broomhouse Lane between Carnwath Road and Broomhouse Road, as part of the council’s highways improvement programme. The road, which has been suffering from pot holes, is closed with diversions in place until February 28.

Askew Road in Shepherds Bush, between Goldhawk Road to Hadyn Park Road, will also be closed overnight every Monday through to Thursday nights, from Monday, February 25 to Friday morning, March 8 for carriageway resurfacing works. The road improvements will be done between 8pm and 6am, and will complement a major project to improve the road’s pavements that is finishing at the end of this month.

Residents living in and around the area have been sent letters giving them notice of the works, and a diversion will be in place from Goldhawk Road to Conningham Road and then back onto Uxbridge Road.

TfL will completely close the Hammersmith flyover for regular maintenance in the eastbound direction overnight on March 5, 10pm-4am, while the westbound lanes will be closed the following night (March 6) at the same time of 10pm-4am. Diversions will be in place and will be signposted in advance. These works form part of regular cyclical overnight closures for general maintenance on the flyover.