A13 Commercial Road Traffic: Live Cameras & East London Guide | JamCams
Live cameras, peak hour guide, congestion hotspots and route planning tips — updated 2026-03-02.
The A13 Commercial Road is one of East London's most important freight and commuter routes, running from Aldgate in the City of London through Stepney, Limehouse, Poplar, Barking and Dagenham to the Thurrock area. It serves as a key lorry route to London Gateway container port, the DFDS Tilbury ferry terminal and the industrial areas of the Thames estuary. The A13 also carries large volumes of commuter traffic from East London and Essex, making it heavily used throughout the day.
The A13's worst congestion occurs at the Canning Town flyover interchange (A13/A1011/A117) where multiple routes converge near the Blackwall Tunnel approach. This junction backs up severely during incidents and during peak hours. The Commercial Road section through Stepney and Limehouse is persistently slow, carrying heavy volumes of lorries, buses and local traffic in both directions. The approach to the A13/A406 (Beckton) junction is another regular bottleneck, particularly for westbound morning traffic.
Morning peak: 07:30–09:30 · Evening peak: 16:30–19:00
Outside these windows, the A13 typically flows much more freely. Saturdays can be busy between 11:00–15:00.
These TfL JamCam feeds cover the A13 across London. Each image updates every 5 minutes — click any camera to see the full live feed and nearby cameras.
Typical congestion levels on the A13 by hour. Green = free-flowing, red/orange = heavy delays.
| 00–05 | 05–07 | 07–08 | 08–09 | 09–10 | 10–12 | 12–14 | 14–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–21 | 21–24 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon–Thu | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ |
| Friday | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ |
| Saturday | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ |
| Sunday | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ |
The A13 carries substantial HGV traffic throughout the day to and from the Thames ports — congestion is more evenly spread here than on most London roads.
A13 westbound builds from around 07:00 due to shift workers at Tilbury and Gateway — earlier than most London roads.
For Stratford and Hackney destinations, the A12 via the Bow interchange avoids the A13 Limehouse section.
The Canning Town junction cameras give the best early warning of A13 conditions — incidents here can back traffic up for miles.
If the A13 is heavily congested, these alternatives are worth considering:
The entire A13 within Greater London is inside the ULEZ. Parts of the western end (Commercial Road/Whitechapel) are close to or inside the Congestion Charge Zone boundary. Check your specific journey at tfl.gov.uk. Non-compliant vehicles pay £12.50 per day ULEZ charge. Check at tfl.gov.uk/ulez.
Canning Town is a major junction where the A13, A1011 (towards the Blackwall Tunnel approach) and A117 converge. The area underwent major redevelopment, but the underlying road geometry still forces large traffic volumes through a limited number of signalised junctions. Blackwall Tunnel diversions frequently overload this section when the tunnel is congested or closed.
Yes — the A13 is designated as a key lorry route for HGV traffic heading to and from London Gateway, Tilbury Docks and the Thames Estuary industrial areas. This means lorry movements are significant throughout the day, not just at peak hours, and contribute to the consistently slower speeds compared to roads carrying mainly passenger cars.
The A13 has varying speed limits along its length — 30 mph in the urban Commercial Road section, 40 mph on the dual-carriageway Newham Way section, and 50 mph on some stretches near the M25. Speed cameras are present throughout. Always observe posted signs as limits change frequently.
The A13 connects to the M25 at Junction 30/31 near Lakeside/Thurrock. This is one of the busiest motorway junctions in the UK, particularly on weekends when Lakeside shopping centre generates large volumes of traffic.