Magic Roundabout | |
---|---|
Plough Roundabout | |
Location | |
Hemel Hempstead, England | |
Coordinates | 51°44′46″N00°28′23″W / 51.74611°N 0.47306°W |
Roads at junction | |
Construction | |
Type | Roundabout |
Constructed | 1973 [1] |
"The Magic Roundabout" in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, is the familiar name given to the Plough Roundabout . The familiar name comes from the children's television programme, and is also used for a similar junction in Swindon, the M40 junction in Denham, and the Magic Roundabout in Colchester. The official name relates to a former public house, called The Plough Inn, which was between the junction of what is now Selden Hill and St Albans Road. It has also been known as the Moor End Roundabout as it is adjacent to the part of Boxmoor nearest the town. Before Hemel Hempstead became a new town the roads met in a simple junction which was then replaced by a standard roundabout.
Constructed in 1973, the "Magic Roundabout" in Hemel Hempstead was voted the UK's second-worst roundabout in a 2005 poll held by an insurance company (the winner being its Swindon counterpart). [1]
In 2011 the roundabout was voted the best in Britain by motorists in a competition organised by a car leasing service. [2]
The roundabout is unusual in that traffic flows both clockwise (the standard flow direction of British roundabouts) and anticlockwise. Drivers approaching the roundabout from any junction can choose to turn left or right, and they are free to make U-turns using any of the mini roundabouts at the junction. Effectively, the junction should be treated as six individual roundabouts - right of way must be given on the approach of each new mini roundabout.
The original magic roundabout had six exits in total, with the BP building spanning "Marlowes", the road leading to the town centre, in the approximate position of the earlier railway viaduct. The BP building was found to be unstable due to defective reinforced concrete and the exit had to be closed. The building was demolished but the original route was not restored, although a newer side exit from the roundabout replaced the junction with Marlowes off a side road.[ citation needed ]
A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.
The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Newport, Whitchurch, Chester and Ellesmere Port.
The M40 motorway links London, Oxford, and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately 89 miles (143 km).
Hemel Hempstead is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England. It is located 24 miles (39 km) north-west of London; nearby towns include Watford, St Albans and Berkhamsted. The population at the 2021 census was 95,961.
The A40 is a trunk road which runs between London and Goodwick (Fishguard), Wales, and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road (A40) in all legal documents and Acts. Much of its length within England has been superseded by motorways, such as the M40, and has lost its trunk road status, though it retains it west of Gloucester, including its length within Wales. It is approximately 260 miles (420 km) long. The eastern section from Denham, Buckinghamshire to Wheatley, Oxfordshire is better served by the M40 and its former function of linking London with Cheltenham and Gloucester has been taken by the M4, A419 and A417 via Swindon.
The A4 is a major road in England from Central London to Avonmouth via Heathrow Airport, Reading, Bath and Bristol. It is historically known as the Bath Road with newer sections including the Great West Road and Portway. The road was once the main route from London to Bath, Bristol and the west of England and formed, after the A40, the second main western artery from London.
Magic Roundabout may refer to:
The Magic Roundabout in Swindon, England, is a ring junction constructed in 1972 consisting of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. Located near the County Ground, home of Swindon Town F.C., its name comes from the popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout. In 2009, it was voted the fourth-scariest junction in Britain.
The Nickey line is a disused railway that once linked the towns of Hemel Hempstead and, initially, Luton but later Harpenden via Redbourn, in Hertfordshire, England. The course of most of the railway has been redeveloped as a cycle and walking path, and is part of the Oxford to Welwyn Garden City route of the National Cycle Network. It is approximately nine miles (14 km) long.
Western Avenue is part of the A40, a major road running in a north-westerly direction out of London. Western Avenue is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long from its junction with Old Oak Common Lane in East Acton.
The Denham Roundabout is a road junction in Denham, Buckinghamshire. It was originally opened in 1943 in conjunction with the completion of the new Western Avenue route into west London. The Western Avenue took over the classification of the A40, with the previous route to London, via Uxbridge and Ealing, being reclassified as the A4020. The roundabout also included a new link to A412 that formed part of the outer London orbital route.
The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands and northern South East England, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, Kettering and Corby which are the three principal destinations on the A43 route. The A43 also links to the M1 motorway.
Hemel Hempstead Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974.
The A452 is a road in England, which runs from Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire to Brownhills in the West Midlands. It is the major link to the M6 motorway for both Leamington and Warwick in addition to serving as Leamington's link to the M40 motorway and to Coventry.
The A505 is a road in the East of England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 Abington Interchange North in Cambridgeshire.
The Greenstead roundabout is a large roundabout junction in Colchester, Essex, England.
Transport in Swindon, England, and the surroundings has directly contributed to the town's growth and the ingress of businesses and industries.
The Magic Roundabout in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, is similar to the complex roundabouts in Hemel Hempstead and other places. It is located on the junction of the A40 and A404 roads.
The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales. The A40 in London starts in the City of London and passes through six London Boroughs: Camden, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon, to meet the M40 motorway junction 1 at Denham, Buckinghamshire.
The A4010 is an important primary north–south road in Buckinghamshire, Southern England. It runs from High Wycombe at Junction 4 of the M40 motorway to Stoke Mandeville, near Aylesbury on the A413.