The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

In article , John Rowland
writes
The slip road is too big a piece of land to lie unused in
this expensive part of London without a reason. Has it seen any use since
the M1 was extended?

I couldn't tell you when, but it was used at least once when the normal
exit was blocked for overnight maintenance work.

--
Clive D.W. Feather, writing for himself | Home:
Tel: +44 20 8495 6138 (work) | Web: http://www.davros.org
Fax: +44 870 051 9937 | Work:
Written on my laptop; please observe the Reply-To address

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

"Clive D. W. Feather" wrote in message
...
In article , John Rowland
writes

The slip road is too big a piece of land to lie unused in
this expensive part of London without a reason.
Has it seen any use since the M1 was extended?

I couldn't tell you when, but it was used at least once when
the normal exit was blocked for overnight maintenance work.

Thanks. Its existence can't be crucial, though, because AFAIK the comparable
n/b slip no longer exists, even though if it did exist it could still be
used for n/b traffic when the normal *entrance* was blocked for maintenance
work (obviously the s/b traffic would have to be diverted via the s/b slip
as well). Oh, hang on, do you mean the exit at *Junction 2* was closed?

AFA the southbound slip is concerned, I'm beginning to wonder why it it was
closed at all. It would be very useful for people living in Hendon if it was
reopened permanently and called Junction 3. Either that or build on it, but
at the moment its just a waste of land.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

In message m, Martin
Underwood writes

I hadn't realised that the extension south to Staples Corner was built as
late as 1977. Whereabouts was the bit further south that was never built?

It would have continued to parallel the railway for another couple of
miles south (roughly to West Hampstead) where it would have joined the
infamous North Cross Route:

http://www.btinternet.com/~roads/lon...ans/ncross.jpg
--
Paul Terry

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

"Paul Terry" wrote in message
...
In message m, Martin
Underwood writes

I hadn't realised that the extension south to Staples Corner was built as
late as 1977. Whereabouts was the bit further south that was never built?

It would have continued to parallel the railway for another couple of
miles south (roughly to West Hampstead) where it would have joined the
infamous North Cross Route:

http://www.btinternet.com/~roads/lon...ans/ncross.jpg

Blimey - a sort of inner-London M25! I'd no idea that there were ever plans
for this! It would have made life hell for all the people who live near the
route, wouldn't it? At least the M25 mostly avoids populated areas.

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

In message m, Martin
Underwood writes

Blimey - a sort of inner-London M25! I'd no idea that there were ever plans
for this!

The original Abercrombie plan (dating back to the 1940s) was for five
ringways. The innermost was Ringway A and roughly on the alignment of
the current inner ring road.

Then came Ringway B, slicing through Kilburn, Hampstead and Islington in
the north, Kensington and Chelsea in the west, crossing the river to
Battersea. It would then have demolished large parts of inner south
London, gone through the Blackwall tunnel and eventually have joined up
with the northern part to form what later became known as the "Motorway
Box". A few parts of this were actually built and still had motorway
numbering until 2000 (e.g. the tiny bit of west-cross route down to
Shepherds Bush, and both approaches to the Blackwall tunnel).

Ringway C was to roughly follow the alignment of the North Circular to
the north of London, and the South Circular as far as Putney. (When I
moved to Sheen in 1976 there were still occasional reserved plots beside
the South Circular for its expansion). After Putney it would have
careered through Wimbledon and other places south of the S.Circular,
eventually crossing the river at Thamesmead before wreaking havoc on
West Ham and eventually joining up with the N. Circular part.

Ringway D was to be mainly just inside the current route of the M25,
while Ringway E was to be a little further out (I think the North
Orbital Road is a remnant of the latter).

The GLC revived the Abercrombie scheme in 1960s. It was found to be
totally uneconomic as well as totally unacceptable, and so the proposals
for routes A and C were abandoned, and routes D and E were combined (the
latter eventually becoming the M25). This just left route B, the
motorway box, which was eventually abandoned in 1973, after some bits
had already been started.

It would have made life hell for all the people who live near the
route, wouldn't it?

And it would have meant rehousing tens of thousands of people. The plan
was not only unaffordable but it was also the cause of the "homes before
roads" protests of the early 70s, which I remember well since I was
living close to the west-cross route in Kensington at the time. It was
also the cause of much planning blight for some years in areas around
the route.

Since few areas of London would have been spared colossal demolition
work and dislocation, most GLC councillors started to get very worried
about the vociferous feedback they were receiving from their
constituents, and so abandonment of the proposals eventually became
inevitable.
--
Paul Terry

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 12:17:09 +0000, Paul Terry wrote:

In message m, Martin
Underwood writes

Blimey - a sort of inner-London M25! I'd no idea that there were ever plans
for this!

The original Abercrombie plan (dating back to the 1940s) was for five
ringways. The innermost was Ringway A and roughly on the alignment of
the current inner ring road.

Tim Moore's book "Don't Stop at Go" (the one where he does the Monopoly
board around London) has got a lot to say about this plan, IIRC.

There was supposed to be a big roundabout around Centre Point too.

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

"John Rowland" wrote in message ...
"Clive D. W. Feather" wrote in message
...
I couldn't tell you when, but it was used at least once when
the normal exit was blocked for overnight maintenance work.

Thanks. Its existence can't be crucial, though, because AFAIK the comparable
n/b slip no longer exists, even though if it did exist it could still be
used for n/b traffic when the normal *entrance* was blocked for maintenance
work (obviously the s/b traffic would have to be diverted via the s/b slip
as well). Oh, hang on, do you mean the exit at *Junction 2* was closed?

The exit at Junction 2 was closed for a good while (several months)
around 1996-7, but the slip wasn't opened for that. Never worked out
why.

AFA the southbound slip is concerned, I'm beginning to wonder why it it was
closed at all. It would be very useful for people living in Hendon if it was
reopened permanently and called Junction 3. Either that or build on it, but
at the moment its just a waste of land.

True. When I worked in Colindale it was a right pain trekking far
enough east to be able to hit the A1 northbound and get onto the M1.
Often the best way was to take the A1 southbound and find a place to
make a U-turn.

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

"Alistair Bell" wrote in message
om...
"John Rowland" wrote in message
...

AFA the southbound slip is concerned, I'm beginning
to wonder why it it was closed at all. It would be very
useful for people living in Hendon if it was reopened
permanently and called Junction 3. Either that or build
on it, but at the moment its just a waste of land.

True. When I worked in Colindale it was a right pain
trekking far enough east to be able to hit the A1
northbound and get onto the M1. Often the best way
was to take the A1 southbound and find a place to
make a U-turn.

There aren't any places to make U-turns until the Holders Hill Road
junction. Your best route from Colindale would have been Aerodrome Road -
Greyhound Hill - Church End - Church Road - Sunny Gardens Road - A1 - M1.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 20:04:45 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:


There aren't any places to make U-turns until the Holders Hill Road
junction. Your best route from Colindale would have been Aerodrome Road -
Greyhound Hill - Church End - Church Road - Sunny Gardens Road - A1 - M1.

Mornington Crescent.

The abandoned M1 slip north of Junction 2
 

"Richard Buttrey" wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 20:04:45 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:


There aren't any places to make U-turns until the Holders Hill Road
junction. Your best route from Colindale would have been Aerodrome Road -
Greyhound Hill - Church End - Church Road - Sunny Gardens Road - A1 - M1.

Mornington Crescent.

lol

audience cheers