PLANNED works to a second bridge in South Norwood are set to cause traffic chaos in the coming months.
Works to the Tennison Road bridge are expected to start next week and could last for up to 16 months.
The Network Rail project will coincide with at least the final month of works on another South Norwood bridge, on Penge Road, which have been running since August.
And Wayne Lawlor, Labour councillor for South Norwood, believes the timing of the works has been mismanaged.
He said: "They've made a right dog's dinner of the whole thing really. The works only seem to be happening at times when people want to use the roads around it.
"The works have a knock-on effect on the rest of the area.
"I have never come across anywhere with as many roadworks as South Norwood. Ever since the Goat House (Penge Road) bridge debacle, people have been giving South Norwood a wide berth because there is so much disruption.
"It's just not good enough and it could have been done quicker than this."
The Tennison Road bridge, which dates back to 1920, will be replaced by a new structure which is expected to last 120 years.
Although pedestrian access will be maintained at all times during the improvements, there is set to be a big impact on traffic in the surrounding area.
Signs on the bridge warn of the impending disruption and Croydon Council has been working with Network Rail to plan the shortest diversions.
Susan Papas, headteacher of Heavers Farm Primary School, which is right next to the bridge, is concerned how the works will affect pupils' journeys to school.
She added: "It's already bad with the works on the Goat House bridge but this could make it a lot worse. We've already suspended late marks for kids because it is hard to expect them to arrive on time with all the traffic.
"We have informed parents to park on the other side and walk their children over instead."
But Richard Hough, who uses the bridge every day to get to work, said the mile-long journey to his business in Station Road from his Birchanger Road home currently takes him more than half an hour every morning.
He added: "For a lot of people, there's no other way round. South Norwood might as well be shut at the moment."
Phil Vincent, 53, of Selhurst Road, said he would be using his bike to get to work in Addiscombe during the lengthy disruption.
He said: "It's a pain because it should be such a quick journey but it's just not worth waiting in the traffic."
The Tennison Road works are scheduled to finish by spring 2015 while contractors hope to have finished the Penge Road works by February 21. Network Rail says the work is absolutely necessary and is trying to do as much as possible to minimise disruption.
