M16 motorway

Last updated

UK-Motorway-M16.svg
M16
Route information
Length52 mi (84 km)
StatusCancelled
HistoryProposed 1960s; started construction in 1973; later used for part of the M25.
Location
Country United Kingdom
Constituent country England
Road network

The M16 motorway was the designation planned in the late 1960s and early 1970s for use on Ringway 3, a new motorway planned as part of the London Ringways Plan to run a circular route around London.

Construction of the first section of the M16 began in 1973 between South Mimms and Potters Bar in Hertfordshire and opened in September 1975 with the temporary general purpose road designation A1178. During construction of the first section of the motorway, the majority of the Ringways plan was cancelled and, in 1975 the plans for Ringway 3 were modified to combine it with parts of another motorway, Ringway 4, the outermost Ringway.

The M16 designation was dropped and the combined motorway was given the designation M25 which had originally been intended for the southern and western part of Ringway 4.The section of Ringway 3 west of South Mimms anti-clockwise around London to Swanley in Kent was cancelled and the section clockwise from Potters Bar to the Dartford Tunnel was constructed between 1979 and 1982. The section of Ringway 3 south of the river between Dartford and Swanley was constructed between 1974 and 1977.

The South Mimms junction was originally intended to be the end of a short spur connecting the A1 to the M16. The main alignment of the M16 would have continued south-west of the junction towards Radlett and Bushey. Evidence of this unbuilt alignment remains in the wide gap between the carriageways to the east of the South Mimms junction which would have been the point at which the spur would have separated from the continuing carriageway.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M25 motorway</span> Orbital motorway around Greater London

The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The 117-mile-long (188 km) motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the longest ring road in Europe upon opening. The Dartford Crossing completes the orbital route but is not classed as motorway; it is classed as a trunk road and designated as the A282. In some cases, including notable legal contexts such as the Communications Act 2003, the M25 is used as a de facto alternative boundary for Greater London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M11 motorway</span> Motorway in England

The M11 is a 55-mile-long (89 km) motorway that runs north from the North Circular Road (A406) in South Woodford to the A14, northwest of Cambridge, England. Originally proposed as a trunk road as early as 1915, various plans were considered throughout the 1960s, with final construction being undertaken between 1975 and 1980. The motorway was opened in stages, with the first stage between junctions 7 and 8 opening in June 1975, and the completed motorway becoming fully operational in February 1980. Running from Woodford to Girton, the motorway provides direct access to Harlow, Cambridge and since 2002, greatly improved access to London Stansted Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M4 motorway</span> Major motorway in England and Wales

The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely complete by 1980, though a non-motorway section around Briton Ferry bridge remained until 1993. On the opening of the Second Severn Crossing in 1996, the M4 was rerouted over it.

The A1, also known as the Great North Road, is the longest numbered road in the United Kingdom, at 410 miles (660 km). It connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. The numbering system for A-roads, devised in the early 1920s, was based around patterns of roads radiating from two hubs at London and Edinburgh. The first number in the system, A1, was given to the most important part of that system: the road from London to Edinburgh, joining the two central points of the system and linking the UK's (then) two mainland capital cities. It passes through or near north London, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Baldock, Letchworth Garden City, Biggleswade, Eaton Socon, Buckden, Peterborough, Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, Pontefract, York, Wetherby, Ripon, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M40 motorway</span> British motorway connecting London and Birmingham

The M40 motorway links London, Oxford, and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately 89 miles (143 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A2 road (England)</span> Road in southern England

The A2 is a major road in south-east England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. This route has always been of importance as a connection between London and sea trade routes to Continental Europe. It was originally known as the Dover Road. The M2 motorway has replaced part of the A2 as the strategic route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M23 motorway</span> Road in Surrey and Sussex, England

The M23 is a motorway in the United Kingdom, running from the south of Hooley in Surrey, where it splits from the A23, to Pease Pottage, south of Crawley in West Sussex where it rejoins the A23. The northern end of the motorway starts on what is effectively a 2-mile (3.2 km) spur north of junction 7 of the M25 motorway. From Hooley it runs for 17 miles (27 km) past Redhill, Gatwick Airport and Crawley. A spur runs from junction 9 to Gatwick Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Circular Road</span> Ring road around Central London, England

The North Circular Road is a 25.7-mile-long (41.4 km) ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting various suburbs and other trunk roads in the region. Together with its counterpart, the South Circular Road, it mostly forms a ring road around central London, except for crossing of the River Thames, which is done by the Woolwich Ferry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Circular Road, London</span> Major road in south London, England

The South Circular Road in south London, England, is a major road that runs from the Woolwich Ferry in the east to the Chiswick Flyover in the west via Eltham, Lee Green, Catford, Forest Hill, Dulwich, Tulse Hill, Clapham Common, Clapham Junction, Wandsworth, Putney, Barnes, Mortlake and Kew Bridge. Together with the North Circular Road and Woolwich Ferry, it makes a complete ring-road around Central London and is a former boundary of the Ultra Low Emission Zone. The South Circular is largely a sequence of urban streets joined together, requiring several at-grade turns, unlike the mostly purpose-made carriageways of the North Circular. As a result, it is frequently congested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M26 motorway</span> Motorway in England

The M26 is a motorway in Kent, England. It is a short link between the M25 at Sevenoaks and the M20 near West Malling, which provides connectivity between southern England and the Channel ports in Kent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A1081 road</span> Road in the south of England

The A1081 is a road in the south of England. It starts at Luton Airport in Bedfordshire and runs to High Barnet in Greater London via Harpenden, St Albans and London Colney, a distance of around 20.5 miles (33.0 km). For most of its length, the A1081 follows the route of the original A6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M2 motorway (Northern Ireland)</span> Motorway in Northern Ireland

The M2 is a motorway in Belfast and County Antrim in Northern Ireland. It is in two sections, the southern section running from north Belfast to Antrim and the northern section acts as a bypass of Ballymena, with the A26 road linking the two sections. In total it is 22 miles (36.2 kilometres). The M2 has the busiest sections of any road or motorway in Northern Ireland. The M2 is one of Northern Ireland's most important motorways, forming most of the main route from Belfast city to both Belfast International Airport and less than a quarter of the way to Derry. It forms part of the unsigned European route E01, E16 and E18 roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M15 motorway (Great Britain)</span> Cancelled road in the United Kingdom

The M15 motorway was the designation planned in the late 1960s and early 1970s for use on the North Circular Road (A406) after it had been upgraded to motorway standard. The upgrade was part of the London Ringways Plan to build motorways throughout London to ease congestion in the central area. Under the Ringways Plan, the North Circular Road was the northern section of Ringway 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Cross Route</span> Dual carriageway section of the A3220 route in central London

The West Cross Route (WCR) is a 0.75-mile-long (1.21 km) segment of dual carriageway of the A3220 route in West London running north–south between the northern elevated roundabout junction with the western end of Westway (A40) and the southern Holland Park Roundabout. It runs through Shepherd's Bush to its west and Notting Hill to its east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Cross Route</span> Road in East London

East Cross Route (ECR) is a dual-carriageway road constructed in east London as part of the uncompleted Ringway 1 as part of the London Ringways plan drawn up the 1960s to create a series of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London. The road was constructed between 1967 and 1973 and runs from Hackney Wick in north-east London, through the Blackwall Tunnel, to Kidbrooke in south-east London. The ECR was initially designated as part of the A102, but has, subsequently, been partially renumbered so that sections of it are now the A2 and A12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Ringways</span> Series of proposed ring roads around London

The London Ringways were a series of four ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the Greater London Council (GLC) to alleviate traffic congestion on the city's road system by providing high-speed motorway-standard roads within the capital, linking a series of radial roads taking traffic into and out of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Cross Route</span>

North Cross Route (NCR) was a planned motorway-standard road which would have formed the northern section of Ringway 1 and would have formed the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network. The six-lane dual carriageway with grade separated junctions to an extended M1 motorway was planned during the late 1960s along with the rest of the Ringway scheme. It was never constructed due to large-scale opposition from many quarters.

South Cross Route (SCR) was the designation for the southern section of Ringway 1, the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network, a complex and comprehensive plan for a network of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London designed to manage and control the flow of traffic within the capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M12 motorway (Great Britain)</span> Planned road in England

The M12 motorway was a planned motorway starting in north-east London and joining the A12 road in Essex. The 1960s scheme would have started at a junction with the M11 motorway and North Circular and ended near Brentwood, Chelmsford, or at the proposed new Maplin Sands airport; the motorway was part of the ambitious London Ringways plan to build motorways throughout London. Although most of the Ringways plan was cancelled in 1969 the M12 motorway project was still included in the Roads for Prosperity white paper published in 1989 along with major proposed developments to the A12 road. It was not formally cancelled until 30 March 1994 by the Secretary of State for Transport, John MacGregor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A3220 road</span> Road in west London

The A3220 is a primary A road in London, England. It runs north from Clapham Common to the A40 Westway at Ladbroke Grove.

References

    51°41′10″N0°12′04″W / 51.68607°N 0.20119°W / 51.68607; -0.20119