History of motorways in London

3: County of London and Greater London Plans (1943-44)

The Second World War put a halt on London's sprawling growth. This provided something of a breathing space, in which a comprehensive plan could be developed to rebuild and control London after the war.

The County Of London Plan (1943)

J.H. Forshaw (architect to the London County Council) and Patrick Abercrombie (professor of Town Planning at UCL) were therefore commissioned to draw up such a plan for the old County of London. The authors saw London's four `major defects' as traffic congestion, depressed housing, inadequacy and maldistribution of open spaces, and the jumble of houses and industry ("indeterminate zoning"). We will concern ourselves with the first of these problems.

The road plan drawn up specified three classifications of road:

• Arterial roads -- these would not have any frontages, or access to side streets, but would have parallel service roads;
• Sub-arterial roads -- main roads in the built-up area. Frontages onto the streets would be permitted, but service roads should be provided wherever possible, and side streets blocked off;
• Local roads.

All through traffic would be directed onto a network of arterial roads, and it would generally not be possible to travel long distances by local roads, as they would be effectively blocked off from through traffic. Areas within the grid would be as self-contained as possible, to reduce the demand for travel.

Clicking on the thumbnail below will take you to a map of the proposed road schemes in the County of London Plan.

The arterial roads (shown as black on the map) would be:

1. The "B" ring-road for fast traffic. This would be the principal ring road around central London. From the NW corner (old A40(M)/M41 intersection) this would follow the line: Westway to Ladbroke Gr, then cut across in a straight line to Royal Oak, NE to Warwick Ave, Lord's, then along Prince Albert Rd (meeting radial X), across Camden Town to Agar Grove, then through Barnsbury to Highbury Cnr. Turns ESE here through De Beauvoir Town, to the south-western side of Victoria Park, then follows the canal and the A1205 through Mile End to Limehouse (meeting radial Y). The road would then proceed down the western side of the Isle of Dogs, plunging into a tunnel and emerging at Evelyn Street on the south bank of the Thames. From here, it would go in a straight line to Queens Road (Peckham) station, then follow the railway line through Denmark Hill to Brixton. From Brixton, the road would shoot across to Clapham Common, taking the north side, then abruptly turning northwards along the A3220 to Battersea Park Road, then following the West London Line back where we started.
2. Two perpendicular cross-routes (featured in earlier proposals) called "X" and "Y".
   • Route X would connect radial #5 at Swiss Cottage with radials #16 and #19 at the Elephant, using Waterloo Bridge. It would pass (approximately) along Adelaide Road to Chalk Farm, there turning south-east to follow the railway line, and then the A400 (Hampstead Rd) to Warren Street station. Here it would tunnel under the A ring (Euston Rd) and Bloomsbury to emerge just south of High Holborn. From here it would plough south to use Waterloo Bridge, and thence proceed to Elephant and Castle.
   • Route Y would connect radial #13 at Limehouse with the B ring at Battersea Bridge. The route would be (approximately) the current A1203 (The Highway and East Smithfield), Thames Street, Embankment. It would then tunnel under Whitehall and St James's Park to emerge at Ebury St, then go via Royal Hospital Rd to join the Chelsea Embankment.
3. The main radial roads, all of which would have a junction with the B ring

There would also be sub-arterial roads (shown as blue on the map):

1. The A Ring. Clicking on the thumbnail below shows its route -- roughly where the Inner Ring Road (and congestion charging boundary) is today. It would have linked the major railway termini, and formed "the boundary of the Empire, cultural and commercial core of London". There were to be sections in tunnel under Hyde Park and under the Thames east of Tower Bridge.
   
2. The C Ring (North and South Circulars). Largely following the route proposed by Bressey and Lutyens, but with a modification to prevent the demolition of a swathe of Hammersmith and Fulham. The Woolwich Ferry would be replaced with either a bridge or a tunnel.
3. Radial and connecting roads

The Greater London Plan (1944)

This dealt with the wider area, and was written by Abercrombie alone. For the area outside the County of London, he proposed:

1. Three rings:
   • The C ring: sub-arterial, following the line of the already extant North Circular Road, and adding its complement on the south;
   • The D ring: express-arterial, an almost entirely new route. This was intended to "girdle the general limits of the built-up area in London", in conjunction with the Green Belt. Starting from the west, alignment similar to A312 up to Northolt. Then proceeds to Ruislip, Pinner Green, Bushey Heath, joining the Barnet Bypass at Well End. Then across along the alignment of the M25 to Waltham Cross. Here it turns south-east, and is `carefully' routed across Epping Forest to pass between Loughton and Buckhurst Hill to Chigwell. From here, it follows the west side of Hainault Forest, then passing between Chadwell Heath and Romford to the Dartford Tunnels. South of the river, the D ring follows the A282 / M25 as built to Swanley. Here it turns west via Chelsfield and, skirting Selsdon and Sanderstead, would be carried on an 80 ft viaduct from the Purley Downs towards Croydon Airport. Then between Ewell and Epsom to Hook, through Esher and crossing the Thames on a new bridge from Walton to Sunbury.
   • The E ring: sub-arterial, being a revised version of the North and South Orbital Roads. This would be a parkway, with frequent laybys and picnic areas. Note that the E ring did not join up across the Thames.
2. Ten principal radial routes, of express-arterial standard

Clicking on the thumbnail below will show a map of the proposed schemes.

Abercrombie's express-arterial roads were effectively equivalent to motorways: they were for motor vehicles only, and would have a low number of (fully grade-separated) junctions.