The early bird catches the traffic

By Steve Bax on Jan 5, 09 06:40 PM in Out and about

And so passes another Christmas and New Year. I hope yours was fun, relaxing, and hopefully not too hard on the wallet.

I must say it seems odd being back at the office today for a proper working week, after almost a month of using up lingering holiday allowance with the odd day off here and there or finishing early for Christmas/New Year.

So it's back to the old 9am to 5.30pm eh? Well almost. After a chat with the editor on Friday I'm experimenting with earlier starts in 2009 to ensure that you, our readers, are greeted with fresh content should you decide to visit our websites first thing in the morning.

So with that in mind today I rose at 6.30am (with a little assistance from my natural alarm clock - a screaming baby) and was out the door at 7.45 bound for Chertsey.

Despite the snow cover on the ground I had hoped that my earlier-than-usual start would result in a quicker journey to work, especially as I'd decided to take a family friend's advice and go via Queens Road in Hersham and Weybridge instead of my usual route over Walton Bridge and by Shepperton.

It wasn't long before I was greeted with a sea of red tail lights ahead and a 45 minute journey beckoned. I've come to the conclusion that getting through Weybridge on a morning is every bit as frustrating as attempting to cross Walton Bridge so my search for the optimum route to work goes on.

If anyone can suggest the quickest route from West Molesey to Chertsey between the hours of 7am and 9am on a morning I'm all ears.

That said many of my colleagues missed their 9am start today due to the heavy traffic so perhaps I got off lightly with my 45 minute journey. It seems the weather conspired with the reopening of schools/work places to make today particularly frustrating for North Surrey's commuters.

I suppose I shouldn't complain though, after all clear roads probably means a lot less people are working and nobody wants that.

Tomorrow I think I'll take my chances on Walton Bridge and see if I can shave a few more minutes off the journey time. Good luck if you're taking to the roads.