60-623: Dover Road may refer to: The former name of A2 road (Great Britain) Dover Road (Reisterstown) , a road in Reisterstown, Maryland A road in Dover, Singapore The Dover Road (play) , a play by A.A. Milne The Dover Road (film) , a 1934 American film adaptation of the Milne play Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with
120-415: A coach pulled by four horses, a penny for an unladen horse and ten pence for a drove of 20 cows. The trustees could call on a portion of the statute duty from the parishes, either as labour or by a cash payment. The trust applied the income to pay for labour and materials to maintain the road. They were also able to mortgage future tolls to raise loans for new structures and for more substantial improvements to
180-415: A contract of £4,436,869 given to A. Monk Ltd of Padgate , near Warrington . The dualled section replaced a single-carriageway three-lane road. It was a dualled three-lane section, with hard shoulders (hardened verge), with four grade-separated junctions. It was to finish in the summer of 1966. Leonard Fairclough & Son constructed the bridges. The section was opened at noon on Friday 29 July 1966, with
240-526: A disproportionate amount of damage to the road. The rate at which new trusts were created slowed in the early 19th century but the existing trusts were making major investments in highway improvement. The government had been directly involved in the building of military roads in Scotland following a rebellion in 1745, but the first national initiative was a scheme to aid communications with Ireland . Between 1815 and 1826 Thomas Telford undertook
300-714: A fifth of the roads in Britain; the majority being maintained by the parishes. A trust would typically be responsible for about 20 miles (32 km) of highway, although exceptions such as the Exeter Turnpike Trust controlled 147 miles (237 km) of roads radiating from the city. On the Bath Road for instance, a traveller from London to the head of the Thames Valley in Wiltshire would pass through
360-591: A longer road known as Wæcelinga Stræt ('Watling Street' in modern English). Rochester Bridge was rebuilt in stone in 1391 and the 'Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge' were created to maintain the bridge, the modern equivalent of which, the Rochester Bridge Trust , still manages the current crossing. By the 17th century, the road had fallen into disrepair and sections were converted into turnpike roads by various Turnpike Acts passed by Parliament . The section between Gravesend and Rochester
420-598: A major reorganization of the existing trusts along the London to Holyhead Road , and the construction of large sections of new road to avoid hindrances, particularly in North Wales. By 1838 the turnpike trusts in England were collecting £1.5 million per year from leasing the collection of tolls but had a cumulative debt of £7 million, mainly as mortgages. Even at its greatest extent, the turnpike system only administered
480-726: A rising volume of traffic, or in building new sections of road. During the first three decades of the 18th century, sections of the main radial roads into London were put under the control of individual turnpike trusts. The pace at which new turnpikes were created picked up in the 1750s as trusts were formed to maintain the cross-routes between the Great Roads radiating from London. Roads leading into some provincial towns, particularly in Western England, were put under single trusts and key roads in Wales were turnpiked. In South Wales,
540-550: A trust was ended, there were often great celebrations as the gates were thrown open. The assets of the trust, such as tollhouses, gates and sections of surplus land beside the road were auctioned off to reduce the debt, and mortgagees were paid at whatever rate in the pound the funds would allow. The legacy of the turnpike trust is the network of roads that still form the framework of the main road system in Britain. In addition, many roadside features such as milestones and tollhouses have survived, despite no longer having any function in
600-687: 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. Unlike the other single digit A-roads in Great Britain,
660-757: Is for the B255 and A296 for Bluewater , where Watling Street rejoins the A2. The A2 then bypasses Gravesend , before merging into the M2 at Three Crutches Interchange, near Strood . This latter section, from the Pepper Hill Interchange (near Northfleet and the Ebbsfleet International railway station ), to the Cobham Interchange underwent extensive works (2007–2009) to move the entire carriageway south to run parallel to
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#1732776097134720-585: Is not easy to identify and much of the original A2 does not exactly follow what is known of the Roman route (the straightness of many long stretches is misleading). A section of the modern A2 from Rochester to the Roman settlement of Vagniacae , modern Springhead , is believed to roughly follow the Roman route. The A2 starts at Borough in Central London, at a junction with the A3 , near the church of St George
780-588: The A28 meets the A2, although only westbound traffic can exit the A2 at this point. The A2050 rejoins the A2 at Bridge . Traffic for the Channel Tunnel and Folkestone leaves at the junction with the A260 , and shortly after this junction the A2 loses its dual carriageway status, regains it, and loses it again within a few miles. The A2 formerly ran through Lydden but was diverted in 1977. Now single carriageway,
840-623: The Bishop of Rochester , David Say , who said a prayer, and George Harris, the managing director of Monk Ltd. The Rochester Way Relief Road, bypassing Kidbrooke and Eltham , was opened in 1988. The M20 motorway to Folkestone was constructed in stages from the 1960s and provided a faster route to Dover following extensions built in the early 1990s, after which traffic levels on the M2 and A2 reduced. The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge opened in 1991. A new flyover for A2 westbound to M25 northbound traffic
900-597: The British Empire (Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and South Africa) and in the United States. Turnpikes declined with the coming of the railways and then the Local Government Act 1888 gave responsibility for maintaining main roads to county councils and county borough councils. The term "turnpike" originates from the similarity of the gate used to control access to
960-631: The Post–World War I recession . It was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1924 and is now named Princes Road. It is estimated that the project provided 63,500 days work to local unemployed people. The Dartford Crossing opened as a single tunnel in 1963, then a second tunnel opened in 1980 for additional traffic on the A2, and the M2 Motorway opened in stages between 1963 and 1965 providing an alternative faster route for long-distance traffic avoiding
1020-718: The River Medway ; Dartford ( River Darent ) and Crayford ( River Cray ). The Romans paved the road and constructed the first Rochester Bridge across the Medway. Access to London was via London Bridge which was first constructed by the Romans in AD 50. The road appeared in the Antonine Itinerary , a contemporary map of Roman roads in Britain, as 'Item a Londinio ad portum Dubris'. In Anglo-Saxon times it became part of
1080-656: The Shooter's Hill Interchange with the A102 near Greenwich . A section of the Roman road has been identified running through Greenwich Park on an alignment with Vanbrugh Park. At Shooter's Hill, Watling Street and the A2 part company, as Watling Street continues along the A207 . At this point the A2 joins a dual carriageway , the Rochester Way Relief Road (the carriageways to the north of this junction being
1140-467: The 14th century. These grants were made by letters patent , almost invariably for a limited term, presumably the time likely to be required to pay for the required works. Tudor statutes had placed responsibility on each parish vestry to maintain all its roads. This arrangement was adequate for roads that the parishioners used themselves but proved unsatisfactory for the principal highways that were used by long-distance travellers and waggoners. During
1200-399: The 17th century, the piecemeal approach to road maintenance caused acute problems on the main routes into London. As trade increased, the growing numbers of heavy carts and carriages led to serious deterioration in the state of these roads and this could not be remedied by the use of parish statute labour. A parliamentary bill was tabled in 1621/22 to relieve the parishes responsible for part of
1260-625: The 1870s it was feasible for Parliament to close the trusts progressively without leaving an unacceptable financial burden on local communities. From 1871, all applications for renewal were sent to the Turnpike Trust Commission. This arranged for existing acts to continue, but with the objective of discharging the debt, and returning the roads to local administration, which was by then by highway boards . The Local Government Act 1888 gave responsibility for maintaining main roads to county councils and county borough councils. When
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#17327760971341320-641: The A102 Blackwall Tunnel Approach) with a speed limit of 50 mph (80 km/h). The A2 meets traffic lights at Kidbrooke ; this is the last set of traffic lights out of Greater London (the lights only apply to traffic turning right onto the A2213). Shortly after here, the A2 crosses the A205 South Circular Road and becomes a motorway in all but name, with 3 lanes and a hard shoulder in each direction. Within
1380-590: The A2 across the River Thames was improved with the completion of Tower Bridge (1894), Blackwall Tunnel (1897) and the Rotherhithe Tunnel (1908). The road was given the reference A2 within the Great Britain road numbering scheme in the 1920s. The Dartford Southern By-pass, which relieved chronic congestion on the old route through Dartford, provided considerable local employment during
1440-512: The A2 continues east in an almost straight line, for it is still along the alignment of Watling Street at this point. At Ospringe it passes the Maison Dieu , now a museum of Roman artifacts but originally a wayside hospital commissioned by Henry III in 1234. The A2 continues to Faversham, but does not (and never has) go through the town, but almost bypasses it to the south. A mile (1.6 km) later, it arrives at Brenley Corner, junction 7 of
1500-551: The A2 does not form a zone boundary . The boundary between Zones 1 and 2 is the River Thames . The route of the current A2 follows a similar route to that of a Celtic ancient trackway . It was an important route for the Romans linking London with Canterbury and the three Channel ports of Rutupiae (now Richborough ), Dubris (now Dover) and Portus Lemanis (in modern Lympne ). It had river crossings at Rochester over
1560-828: The A2 forms the Dover bypass. It meets the A256 for Sandwich and Ramsgate at a briefly dualled section, before reverting to single carriageway for the final time. The A2 breaks through the cliffs above Dover Docks before turning 180 degrees by way of a pigtail bridge and "touching down" on land again at the entrance to the Eastern Docks, where both it and the A20 terminate. [REDACTED] Media related to A2 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons Turnpike trust Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament , with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining
1620-604: The A2 reaches the junction with the A2018, the speed limit increases to the national speed limit (70 mph, 112 km/h) as the road crosses the Greater London boundary to head eastwards into Kent towards Dartford , bypassing the town to the south and cutting through Dartford Heath. The next junction links the road to the M25 London Orbital Motorway at Dartford ; the next, (Bean Interchange),
1680-456: The A2 through Rochester and Chatham. The three-lane stretch of the A2 between Falconwood and Cobham was built in stages from around 1963 until 1973. A section of Ringway 3 (part of the proposed M16 motorway linking to the A2, which later formed part of the M25 motorway opened between 1974 and 1977. The Strood to Swanscombe dualling was constructed from 1 June 1964, being seven miles, with
1740-504: The A5) in the 1820s reduced the journey time of the London mail coach from 45 hours to just 27 hours, and the best mail coach speeds rose from 5-6 mph (8–10 km/h) to 9-10 mph (14–16 km/h). McAdam and his sons were employed as general surveyors (consultant engineers) to many of the main turnpike trusts in southern England. They recommended the building of new sections of road to avoid obstructions, eased steep slopes and directed
1800-554: The Channel Tunnel Rail Link , so as to move the road away from residential housing – and continue using four lanes in each direction, with grade separated junctions. The A2 reverts to a non-primary single carriageway road at this point. The M2 now parts company to bypass the Medway Towns , while the A2 heads into them. It enters Strood before crossing the River Medway into Rochester . The A2 bypasses
1860-554: The Great North Road by imposing a scale of tolls on various sorts of traffic. The toll revenue was to be used in repairing the road, however, the bill was defeated. During the following forty years, the idea of making travellers contribute to the repair of roads was raised on several occasions. Many parishes continued to struggle to find funds to repair major roads and in Hertfordshire , way wardens on behalf of
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1920-609: The London section the left hand lane is used for local traffic. At Falconwood, the road becomes the East Rochester Way ;– this point was once the westbound terminus of the dual carriageway. There are exits for Bexleyheath , Black Prince (at Bexley ), and other south east London suburbs. Motorists should be aware that the section between the Blackwall Tunnel Approach and Dartford Heath is monitored using average speed cameras . Just before
1980-511: The M2. At Brenley Corner, the A2 once again becomes a primary dual carriageway. Straight after the interchange, Dunkirk and Boughton are bypassed as the A2 continues towards Canterbury and Dover. Formerly it went through Canterbury city centre, this has now been bypassed and the original route is now called the A2050 . It breaks off from the A2 at Harbledown – just after Gate Services – taking all Canterbury traffic with it. At Wincheap,
2040-590: The Martyr . The remains of a small Roman temple was excavated at Tabard Square in 2003. The A2 at this point is named Great Dover Street, and is the only part of the A2 within the congestion charging zone . At the end of the road, it meets the London Inner Ring Road and becomes a primary route. The A2 heads along Old Kent Road towards New Cross , where the A20 breaks away. The A2 continues east through Deptford and Blackheath until it arrives at
2100-411: The existing highway. The trusts applied some funds to erecting tollhouses that accommodated the pikeman or toll-collector beside the turnpike gate. Although trusts initially organised the collection of tolls directly, it became common for them to auction a lease to collect tolls. Specialist toll-farmers would make a fixed payment to the trust for the lease and then organise the day-to-day collection of
2160-425: The highway passed, augment this with tolls from users from outside the parishes and apply the whole to the maintenance of the main highway. This became the pattern for the turnpiking of a growing number of highways, sought by those who wished to improve flow of commerce through their part of a county. The proposal to turnpike a particular section of road was normally a local initiative and a separate Act of Parliament
2220-441: The highway. These officers were paid by the trust. Trustees were not paid, though they derived indirect benefits from the better transport, which improved access to markets and led to increases in rental income and trade. The first action of a new trust was to erect turnpike gates at which a fixed toll was charged. The Act gave a maximum toll allowable for each class of vehicle or animal – for instance one shilling and six pence for
2280-499: The jurisdiction of seven trusts, paying a toll at the gates of each. Although a few trusts built new bridges (e.g. at Shillingford over the Thames), most bridges remained a county responsibility. A few bridges were built with private funds and tolls taken at these (e.g., the present Swinford Toll Bridge over the Thames). The quality of early turnpike roads was varied. Although turnpiking did result in some improvement to each highway,
2340-576: The justices in other counties in England and Wales. An example is the first Turnpike Act for Surrey, the Surrey and Sussex Highways Act 1696 ( 8 & 9 Will. 3 . c. 15), during the reign of William III for enhanced repairs between Reigate in Surrey and Crawley in Sussex. The act made provision to erect turnpikes , and appoint toll collectors; also to appoint surveyors, who were authorized by order of
2400-477: The justices to borrow money at five per cent interest, on security of the tolls. The first scheme that had trustees who were not justices was established through a Turnpike Act in 1706 ( 6 Ann. c. 4) for a section of the London- Chester road between Fornhill (near Hockliffe ) and Stony Stratford . The basic principle was that the trustees would manage resources from the several parishes through which
2460-413: The local justices of the peace powers to erect toll-gates on a section of the road, between Wadesmill , Hertfordshire; Caxton , Cambridgeshire ; and Stilton , Huntingdonshire for 11 years, the revenues so raised to be used for the maintenance of the road in their jurisdictions ( 15 Cha. 2 . c. 1). The toll-gate erected at Wadesmill was the prototype in England. Parliament then gave similar powers to
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2520-404: The money, leaving themselves with a profit on their operations over a year. The powers of a trust were limited, normally to 21 years, after which it was assumed that the responsibility for the now-improved road would be handed back to the parishes. However, trusts routinely sought new powers before this time limit, usually citing the need to pay off the debts incurred in repairing damage caused by
2580-450: The old High Street, heading instead along Corporation Street alongside the railway lines. It crosses the old High Street, climbs Star Hill and heads east into Chatham where it meets the A230 and A231 . There used to be one way ring road but it was changed to two way running in 2006 and was partially closed to all but buses and taxis in 2009, meaning the ring road was no more. The A2 heads to
2640-531: The old road has been turned into Cyclopark , with footpaths, cycle paths and an equestrian route along the old road. A new Lower Thames Crossing down river from the Dartford Crossing linking to the A2 has been proposed by the Department for Transport in 2009. Its original alignment roughly followed a mix of the ancient Celtic route and the turnpike road to Dover. The Roman alignment, however,
2700-458: The principal roads in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. At the peak, in the 1830s, over 1,000 trusts administered around 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of turnpike road in England and Wales, taking tolls at almost 8,000 toll-gates and side-bars. During the early 19th century the concept of the turnpike trust was adopted and adapted to manage roads within
2760-650: The relaying of existing road-beds with carefully graded stones to create a dry, fast-running surface (known as Macadamising ). Coach design improved to take advantage of these better roads and in 1843 the London-to- Exeter mail coach could complete the 170-mile (270-km) journey in 17 hours. The introduction of toll gates had been resented by local communities which had freely used the routes for centuries. Early Acts had given magistrates powers to punish anyone damaging turnpike property, such as defacing milestones, breaking turnpike gates or avoiding tolls. Opposition
2820-471: The renewal acts for the earlier trusts incorporated a growing list of powers and responsibilities. The Kent Roads Act 1743 ( 17 Geo. 2 . c. 4), the Turnpike Roads Act 1766 ( 7 Geo. 3 . c. 40) and the Turnpike Roads Act 1773 ( 13 Geo. 3 . c. 84) made statutory provision for the erection of milestones along the turnpike roads indicating the distance between the main towns on the road. Users of
2880-632: The result was that toll gates were dismantled and the trusts abolished in the six counties of South Wales , their powers being transferred to a roads board for each county. These are incomplete lists of trusts by county. By the early Victorian period toll gates were perceived as an impediment to free trade. The multitude of small trusts were frequently charged with being inefficient in use of resources and potentially suffered from petty corruption. The railway era spelt disaster for most turnpike trusts. Although some trusts in districts not served by railways managed to increase revenue, most did not. In 1829,
2940-447: The road were obliged to follow what were to become rules of the road, such as driving on the left and not damaging the road surface. Trusts could take additional tolls during the summer to pay for watering the road in order to lay the dust thrown up by fast-moving vehicles. Parliament also passed a few general Turnpike Acts dealing with the administration of the trusts and restrictions on the width of wheels – narrow wheels were said to cause
3000-473: The road, to the barriers once used to defend against attack by cavalry (see cheval de frise ). The turnpike consisted of a row of pikes or bars, each sharpened at one end, and attached to horizontal members which were secured at one end to an upright pole or axle, which could be rotated to open or close the gate. Pavage grants, originally made for paving the marketplace or streets of towns, began also to be used for maintaining some roads between towns in
3060-614: The roads of complete counties were put under single turnpike trusts in the 1760s. A further surge of trust formation occurred in the 1770s, with the turnpiking of subsidiary connecting roads, routes over new bridges, new routes in the growing industrial areas and roads in Scotland . About 150 trusts were established by 1750; by 1772 a further 400 were established and, in 1800, there were over 700 trusts. In 1825 about 1,000 trusts controlled 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of road in England and Wales. The acts of Parliament for these new trusts and
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#17327760971343120-669: The south of Gillingham , where the A289 Medway Northern Bypass joins it. The A278 departs from the A2 to head south to meet the M2, whereas the A2 goes through Rainham and Newington before entering green country for the first time since Three Crutches. The road meets the A249 , now dualled, to the west of Sittingbourne , before going through the town itself (bypassing the now-pedestrianised High Street, as it does in Rochester and Chatham). Leaving Sittingbourne,
3180-537: The technologies used to deal with geological features, drainage, and the effects of weather, were all in their infancy. Road construction improved slowly, initially through the efforts of individual surveyors such as John Metcalf in Yorkshire in the 1760s. 19th-century engineers made great advances, notably Thomas Telford and John Loudon McAdam . The engineering work of Telford on the Holyhead Road (now
3240-469: The title Dover Road . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dover_Road&oldid=592002321 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages A2 road (Great Britain) The A2
3300-563: The vestries stood frequent trial at quarter sessions for their failure to keep the Old North Road in a good state of repair. In 1656 the parish of Radwell, Hertfordshire petitioned their local sessions for help to maintain their section of the Great North Road. Probably as a result judges on the Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire circuit represented the matter to Parliament, it then passed an act that gave
3360-584: The year before the Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened, the Warrington and Lower Irlam Trust had receipts of £1,680 but, by 1834, this had fallen to £332. The Bolton and Blackburn Trust had an income of £3,998 in 1846, but in 1847 following the completion of a railway between the two towns, this had fallen to £3,077 and, in 1849, £1,185. The debts of many trusts became significant; forced mergers of solvent and debt-laden trusts became frequent, and by
3420-472: Was completed in late 2007. In 2008, a section of the A2 beside Gravesend was widened to 3 or 4 lanes between Pepperhill (a suburb of Northfleet) to Cobham. It was also rerouted away from the houses of Gravesend/Singlewell to make room for the new lanes and reduce the amount of noise and pollution from the widened roads. The old route of the A2 (the Roman road) has been made into a combined footpath and cycle path. The new road section opened in 2009. A section of
3480-506: Was particularly intense in mountainous regions where good routes were scarce. In Mid Wales in 1839, new tolls on old roads sparked protests known as the Rebecca Riots . There were sporadic outbursts of vandalism and violent confrontation by gangs of 50 to 100 or more local men, and gatekeepers were told that if they resisted they would be killed. In 1844, the ringleaders were caught and transported to Australia as convicts. However,
3540-416: Was required to create each trust. The Act gave the trustees responsibility for maintaining a specified part of the existing highway. It provided them with powers to achieve this; the right to collect tolls from those using the road was particularly important. Local gentlemen, clergy and merchants were nominated as trustees and they appointed a clerk, a treasurer and a surveyor to actually administer and maintain
3600-489: Was turnpiked in 1712 and that from Chatham to Canterbury in 1730; the section from there to Dover was only turnpiked in the 19th century by which time it was known as the Great Dover Road. Rochester Bridge was rebuilt in cast iron in 1856 (and rebuilt again in 1914 with a second bridge in 1970). The London, Chatham and Dover Railway completed a railway route from London to Dover in the 1860s. Access to London from
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