A3 Portsmouth Road Traffic: Live Cameras & South-West London Guide | JamCams
Live cameras, peak hour guide, congestion hotspots and route planning tips — updated 2026-03-02.
The A3 Portsmouth Road is South-West London's principal arterial, running from Kennington Oval through Clapham, Tooting, Wimbledon and Kingston before heading to Guildford and Portsmouth. Within Greater London, it's one of the busiest commuter routes for traffic from Surrey, with a large proportion of drivers making daily journeys to central London from Guildford, Esher and Kingston. The A3 also passes through the major retail and residential areas of Wimbledon, making it busy at weekends for leisure and shopping traffic.
The A3 in London has several consistent bottlenecks. The Oval junction in Kennington, where the A3 meets the A202 Camberwell New Road and A23, is regularly congested from early morning. The Clapham area and the approach to Tooting are also slow during peaks. Further south, the Kingston bypass section is generally faster but backs up significantly near the A307 Kingston Hill junction and the approach to the Robin Hood roundabout (A3/A308). The Thursday evening and Friday evening southbound peak can be particularly severe as people head out of London for the weekend.
Morning peak: 07:30–09:30 · Evening peak: 16:30–19:00
Outside these windows, the A3 typically flows much more freely. Saturdays can be busy between 11:00–15:00.
These TfL JamCam feeds cover the A3 across London. Each image updates every 5 minutes — click any camera to see the full live feed and nearby cameras.
Showing 8 of 20 A3 cameras. Browse all cameras →
Typical congestion levels on the A3 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 | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ | ▓ |
A3 northbound clears relatively quickly after 09:30 — if you can delay a morning London trip by an hour, you'll notice a significant difference.
The A3/A308 Robin Hood roundabout backs up badly on Friday evenings — allow extra time or use the A240/A243 via Surbiton.
For London trips, South Western Railway from Wimbledon or Surbiton is often faster than the A3 during peak hours.
The Oval junction sets the tone for A3 northbound journeys — if cameras show stationary traffic there, the entire route to central London is likely slow.
If the A3 is heavily congested, these alternatives are worth considering:
The entire A3 within Greater London is inside the ULEZ. The northern section at Kennington/Oval is near or inside the Congestion Charge Zone boundary — check your specific journey at tfl.gov.uk. Non-compliant vehicles pay £12.50 per day for ULEZ. Check at tfl.gov.uk/ulez.
The Oval roundabout is close to but generally outside the Congestion Charge Zone boundary. Traffic travelling north from the Oval towards Vauxhall Bridge and central London will enter the CCZ. The A3 itself — from Kennington southwards — is outside the CCZ. Use TfL's CCZ checker for your specific route.
Wimbledon has a large retail area around the town centre and is a major tennis venue (during the Championships, the A3 approach to the All England Club is exceptionally congested in June and July). The combination of residential density, shopping traffic and the All England Club creates consistently busy weekend conditions, particularly on Saturday afternoons.
The A3 evening rush typically peaks between 17:30 and 18:30, with the Kingston bypass and Robin Hood roundabout area clearing around 19:15–19:30 on most weekdays. Fridays can take until 20:00 to clear, particularly southbound.
The A3 does not go directly to Heathrow. The most direct route from the A3 to Heathrow is via the M25 at Junction 10 (near Wisley), then M25 clockwise to Junction 14 for the Heathrow terminals. Alternatively, the A308 to Kingston and then the A308/A312 provides a slower but direct route.