The westbound A406 shuts overnight on 12 and 13 November and Hendon Way on 19 and 20 November. Work then pauses for Christmas, with seven more closures in January.
Updated 10 November: the contraflow on the flyover is in place, one lane each way. The next closures are the westbound A406 North Circular on the nights of Thursday 12 and Friday 13 November, 10pm to 5am, to take off the westbound lane restriction. Traffic goes up and over the interchange. A41 Hendon Way then shuts both ways on 19 and 20 November, and TfL says work pauses from late November to early January for the Christmas trading season (TfL travel advice, re-read 10 November). TfL has not given exact dates for the pause. The full list is in what comes next below. The original report from 1 October follows.
Work to rebuild the A41 Brent Cross flyover started overnight. From today the flyover and its approaches are down to one lane in each direction. Transport for London says the job will run for up to two years.
The first full closure came last night. TfL’s live traffic feed showed the westbound A406 North Circular shut at the Brent Cross roundabout from 10pm on Wednesday 30 September to 5am this morning, logged as “closed for the Brent Cross Flyover renewal works” (TfL traffic status).
The next closures are tonight and tomorrow night, on the A41 Hendon Way southbound.
Brent Cross flyover: what comes next
Six weeks in, the first two batches of closures are done. The Hendon Way nights of 1, 2, 5, 6, 29 and 30 October and the three nights the A406 North Circular was shut beneath the interchange, 13, 14 and 15 October, have all passed. The A41 flyover and its approaches are still one lane in each direction, and one lane of the westbound A406 is still shut between Brent Street and the Brent Cross exit slip.
TfL’s travel advice for the works, re-read on 10 November 2026, gives these closures still to come. Each runs 10pm to 5am, with signed diversions:
| Night | What is closed |
|---|---|
| Thursday 12 November | A406 westbound between the Brent Cross Interchange exit and entry slips; traffic goes up and over |
| Friday 13 November | The same |
| Thursday 19 November | A41 Hendon Way, both directions, Vivian Avenue to The Vale |
| Friday 20 November | The same |
| Monday 4 January 2027 | A41 Hendon Way, both directions, Vivian Avenue to The Vale |
| Tuesday 5 January 2027 | The same |
| Wednesday 6, Thursday 7, Friday 8, Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 January 2027 | A406 North Circular, both directions, beneath Brent Cross Interchange, for concrete repairs |
The road layout changed on 29 October. Hendon Way shut on the nights of 29 and 30 October “to complete the change to the new road layout”, a contraflow across the flyover that keeps one lane each way. The westbound A406 lane closure is due to come off after the nights of 12 and 13 November, which is what those two closures are for.
TfL still says it may need more overnight closures and will publish them once confirmed, and that the work pauses from late November to early January for the Christmas trading season at Brent Cross Shopping Centre. It has not yet said which bus routes divert on the October and November Hendon Way nights; on the early October nights it was the 102, 113, 143, 186, 226, 324, 326, 643 and N113. The Brent Cross footbridge is still closed for repairs. Week-by-week changes around the borough are on our Barnet roadworks page.
Why the flyover is being rebuilt
TfL put a safety-critical 7.5-tonne weight restriction on the flyover in October 2022. The works are meant to strengthen the structure so that limit can come off once construction is finished (TfL project page).
TfL lists three jobs:
- strengthening the flyover structure
- replacing the safety barriers on the flyover and its approach ramps
- installing a new waterproofing system to extend the life of the structure
The Department for Transport has put £10.8 million into the programme. TfL says more than 120,000 vehicles use the wider Brent Cross Interchange every day.
TfL first announced a start date of 24 September, in a press release on 14 August. Its project page now gives the night of 30 September, and that is when the feed shows the first closure.
The dates to plan around
The lane restrictions come in three stages, according to TfL’s travel advice for the works:
| Dates | What changes |
|---|---|
| 1 to 28 October | A41 Hendon Way lane restrictions. The flyover and its approaches go down to one lane each way |
| 1 October to 13 November | One lane of the westbound A406 closed between Brent Street and the Brent Cross Interchange exit slip |
| From 29 October | A contraflow on the flyover, still one lane each way |
On top of that, TfL has booked these overnight closures. Each runs from 10pm to 5am.
| Night | Road closed |
|---|---|
| Thursday 1 October | A41 Hendon Way southbound, Vivian Avenue junction to The Vale junction |
| Friday 2 October | A41 Hendon Way southbound, same stretch |
| Monday 5 October | A41 Hendon Way northbound, The Vale junction to Vivian Avenue junction |
| Tuesday 6 October | A41 Hendon Way northbound, same stretch |
| Tuesday 13 October | A406 North Circular, both directions, beneath Brent Cross Interchange, for concrete repairs |
| Wednesday 14 October | The same |
| Thursday 15 October | The same |
| Thursday 12 November | A406 westbound, between the Brent Cross Interchange exit and entry slips, to lift the lane restriction |
| Friday 13 November | The same |
On the two November nights, traffic goes up and over the interchange. TfL says there will be signed diversions for every closure, and that it may need more overnight closures. It will publish those dates once they are confirmed.
Work then stops for Christmas. TfL says it will pause the job from late November to early January, to keep Brent Cross Shopping Centre open to visitors and businesses through the festive season.
Buses on the Hendon Way nights
On all four Hendon Way closure nights, TfL is diverting these routes between 10pm and 5am:
- 102, 113, 143, 186, 226
- 324, 326, 643
- the night bus N113
Some stops on or near Hendon Way will not be served. TfL says buses will stop on request anywhere along the diversion. Outside those nights buses keep serving Brent Cross, but TfL warns they may be slower because of the reduced road space.
The Brent Cross footbridge is also closed for repairs at the moment, TfL says.
What it means for you
- If you drive through Brent Cross, expect it to be slower for weeks. TfL expects longer journeys on the A41 and “surrounding roads, including parts of the A406 North Circular Road, A5 Edgware Road and A1”. Its advice to drivers who do not need to stop at Brent Cross, Staples Corner or Henlys Corner is to go another way.
- The Tube and trains are unaffected. TfL points to the Northern line at Brent Cross, Hendon Central and Golders Green, and to Thameslink at Hendon and Brent Cross West (train times from Barnet).
- Heavy goods vehicles stay banned from the flyover until the work is finished. The 7.5-tonne limit only comes off at the end.
- The M1 is closing at the same time. National Highways has the M1 northbound shut between junction 1 at Staples Corner and junction 5 tonight, 10pm to 5.30am, and on Friday night from 11pm to 6am. Do not plan to use it as your way round Brent Cross (National Highways closure report).
This is only the first phase. TfL says later phases of the wider Brent Cross Interchange programme are expected to include the mid-level roundabout and the A406 slip roads. It has not given dates.
Every live closure in the borough this week is on our Barnet roadworks page, which we update as the dates change.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Brent Cross flyover closed?
Not fully. The A41 flyover is open with one lane in each direction. It closes completely only on booked nights, 10pm to 5am: next on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 November, then 4 and 5 January 2027. The westbound A406 beneath it shuts on the nights of 12 and 13 November.
When did the Brent Cross flyover contraflow start?
TfL switched to the new layout over the nights of 29 and 30 October. The contraflow still gives one lane in each direction.
Can lorries use the Brent Cross flyover?
No. The 7.5-tonne weight restriction in place since October 2022 stays until the works are finished, which TfL says could take up to two years.
Are the Tube and trains affected?
No. TfL says local Tube and rail services are not affected; Brent Cross and Hendon Central on the Northern line and Brent Cross West on Thameslink are the alternatives.
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