British car manufacturing doubled between 1953 and 1960.The Ringway plan took Abercrombie's earlier schemes as a starting point and reused many of his proposals in the outlying areas but scrapped the plans in the inner zone.

real-world solutions, and more. York escaped – there was uproar about a vast dual carriageway cheek by jowl with the city walls. It turns out this was the plan; a small part of a monumental undertaking.Roads enthusiast Chris Marshall is a Ringways expert: "The Motorway Box plan alone came with a price tag of billions of pounds – tens of billions in today's prices – and was put before the Cabinet as a single scheme. Please The plan, still with much of the detail to be worked out, was included in the In 1970, the British Road Federation surveyed 2,000 Londoners, 80% of whom favoured more new roads being built.The GLC attempted to hold on to the Ringway plans until the early 1970s, hoping that they would eventually be built.Much of the scheme would have been constructed as elevated roads on concrete pylons and the routes were designed to follow the alignments of existing railway lines to minimise the amount of land required for construction. Ringway 1 was expected to cost £480 million (£7.48 billion today) including £144 million (£2.18 billion today) for property purchases. The Greater London Council's (GLC) final assault on traffic jams was drawn up in secret and eventually published in 1966.There were to be four concentric ring roads. try again, the name must be uniquePlease

It was the dream of every child with a Meccano kit and a Hornby train set. The South Cross Route was to have swept past on stilts, bashing its way through Brixton town centre, all of which was to be razed and replaced with 50 tower blocks.The Barrier Block was constructed to deflect road noise, protecting houses behind it. The planned route started at a junction with the Construction began on the first section of the motorway between Whilst the construction of the first section was in progress, the plan for Ringways 3 and 4 was modified considerably. It seems impossible to believe now, but the city council proudly dubbed Leeds the "Motorway City of the Seventies".But it was Britain's Motown – the even more car-crazy Birmingham – that got the most new urban highways of all.

Ringway 1 was planned to comprise four sections across the capital forming a roughly rectangular box of motorways. The London Motorway Box and Abercrombie's names were out, replaced by Ringway 1, Ringway 2 and Ringway 3. But the innermost, Ringway 1 – dubbed the "Motorway Box", even though it looked more like a parcel the postman had squashed to fit through a letter box – was the real Trojan Horse: four interconnected motorways that would have caused 100,000 people to be evicted, and changed the lives of millions of Londoners. Over the interminable din of traffic, I listen to Mike Slocombe's words from earlier in the day.

The cost of the construction works needed to upgrade the existing London streets and roads to Because of post-war funding shortages, Abercrombie's plans were not intended to be carried out immediately. try again, the name must be unique This is the old East Cross Route (now the A12) – the most complete portion of the Motorway Box built. Imagine walking through Camden Town. Broadly speaking, the northern and eastern section of Ringway 3 (from the current junction 23 of the The South Mimms to Potters Bar section (junction 23 to junction 24) was opened in 1975, temporarily designated as an A-road (One part of Ringway 3 in west London was eventually built as The Parkway/Hayes Bypass (Despite its name, the route of Ringway 4 did not make a complete circuit of London. the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. In 1971, opposition movements coalesced into the London Motorway Action Group. The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to It would require 1,007 acres (4.08 kmRingway 3 was planned to link the capital's outer suburbs linking areas such as Whilst the construction of the first section was in progress, the plan for Ringways 3 and 4 were modified considerably.
Chris Marshall notes: "What I find most impressive is the way in which the public fought the GLC. From Hackney Wick station I cross a wobbly footbridge towards Victoria Park, and look down on the river of cars. The Wallington M23 Action Group campaigned for the motorway to be formally cancelled, as the inability to develop land along the line of the proposed M23 had led to planning blight in the area.The M23 to Streatham was briefly revived in 1985 by the GLC after the government had announced plans to spend £1.5 billion on trunk roads in London.Some of the radial routes that were planned to connect to the Ringway system were built much as planned, including the The feedback and complaints from the Ringway plans led to an increased interest towards The Ringway plans were largely made in secret, and in some cases no definitive route was made, which has made it difficult to work out its exact route and impact.