127-605: Runnymede Bridge is a motorway, A-road, pedestrian, and cycle bridge, built in the 1960s and 1980s and expanded in the 2000s, carrying the M25 and A30 across the River Thames near the uppermost end of the Staines upon Thames and Egham reach of the river. It is oriented north–south and is southwest of Heathrow Airport . It consists of Runnymede Bridge and New Runnymede Bridge ; commonly referred to as one bridge. It
254-528: A Ministry of Transport report, The Highway Development Survey, 1937 , which reviewed London's road needs and recommended the construction of many miles of new roads and the improvement of junctions at key congestion points. Amongst their proposals was the provision of a series of orbital roads around the city with the outer ones built as American-style Parkways – wide, landscaped roads with limited access and grade-separated junctions. These included an eastern extension of Western Avenue, which eventually became
381-412: A 1-foot (0.30 m) pothole in the road and caused a 12-mile (19 km) tailback. The Minister for Transport John Hayes criticised the work and the resulting traffic problems. London Ringways#Ringway 3 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
508-403: A bridleway bridge. The road was closed completely for two other occasions that year, with a final two closures scheduled for 2025. The M25 is one of Europe's busiest motorways. In 2003, a maximum of 196,000 vehicles a day were recorded just south of Heathrow, between junctions 13 and 14. The stretch between the nearby junctions 14 and 15 consistently records the highest daily traffic counts on
635-545: A concentric series of anti-tank defences and pillboxes designed to slow down a potential German invasion of the capital during World War II . This was marked as the D Ring on Abercombie's plans. Following the war, 11 separate county councils told the Ministry of Transport that an orbital route was "first priority" for London. Plans stalled because the route was planned to pass through several urban areas, which attracted criticism. The original D Ring through northwest London
762-586: A dedicated control centre. There is an extensive network of closed-circuit television (CCTV) on the motorway so incidents can be easily identified and located. A number of 4×4 vehicles patrol the motorway, attempting to keep traffic moving where possible, and assisting the local police. They can act as a rolling roadblock when there are obstacles on the road. When completed, the M25 only had street lighting for 65 miles (105 km) of its 117-mile (188 km) length. Originally, low pressure sodium (SOX) lighting
889-450: A distributed network of traffic and weather sensors, speed cameras and variable-speed signs , that control traffic speeds with little human supervision. It has improved traffic flow slightly, reducing the amount of start-stop driving. After Labour won the 1997 election , the road budget was cut from £6 billion to £1.4 billion. However, the DfT announced new proposals to widen
1016-599: A formal objection to the widening scheme, and it was cancelled shortly afterwards. In 1994, the Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Appraisal published a report saying that "the M25 experience most probably does ... serve as an example of a case where roads generate traffic" and that further improvements to the motorway were counter-productive. In April 1995, the Transport Minister Brian Mawhinney announced that
1143-550: A main span of 450 metres (1,480 ft). Passage across the bridge or through the tunnels is subject to a charge between 6 am and 10 pm, its level depending on the kind of vehicle. The road is not under motorway regulations so that other traffic can cross the Thames east of the Woolwich Ferry ; the only crossing further to the east is a passenger ferry between Gravesend , Kent , and Tilbury , Essex . At junction 5,
1270-700: A motorway. Reports suggested between 15,000 and 80,000 Londoners would lose their homes as a result of the Ringways. The Treasury and the Ministry of Transport both came out against the scheme, primarily because of worries over the cost. The Chancellor of the Exchequer Roy Jenkins said he could not prevent the GLC from proposing the schemes, but assumed that the government could ultimately prevent them from being implemented. Despite this opposition,
1397-586: A new Lower Thames Crossing to add capacity to the Dartford Crossing, or create a new road and crossing linking to the M2 and M20 motorways. Plans for that stalled, and were cancelled in 2013 by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson , being replaced by a proposed Gallions Reach Crossing . Initially seen as a straight ferry replacement for the Woolwich Ferry , it was later mooted as a bridge or tunnel. By 2019,
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#17327809175081524-537: A period of several years and were subject to a continuing process of review and modification. Roads were added and omitted as the overall scheme was altered, and many alternative route alignments were considered during the planning process The plan was published in stages starting with Ringway 1 in 1966 and Ringway 2 in 1967. After the Conservatives won the GLC elections in the latter year, they confirmed that both Ringways would be constructed as planned. The plan
1651-491: A public inquiry was launched in 1974. The Department of Transport sent out 15,000 questionnaires about the preferred route, with 5,000 replies. A route was fixed in 1978, with objections delaying the start of construction in 1982. The southern section of what became the M25 through Surrey and Kent was first conceived to be an east–west road south of London to relieve the A25 , and running parallel to it, with its eastern end following
1778-540: A radius of 12 miles from St Paul's ". Between 1913 and 1916, a series of conferences took place, bringing all road plans in Greater London together as a single body. Over the next decade, 214 miles (344 km) of new roads were constructed, primarily as post-war unemployment relief. These included the North Circular Road from Hanger Lane to Gants Hill , Western Avenue and Eastern Avenue ,
1905-732: A ring that was distinctly box-shaped, and Ringway 1 was unofficially called the London Motorway Box . In 1963, Colin Buchanan published a report, Traffic in Towns , which had been commissioned by the Transport Minister, Ernest Marples . In contrast to earlier reports, it cautioned that road building would generate and increase traffic and cause environmental damage. It also recommended pedestrianisation of town centres and segregating different traffic types. The report
2032-636: A route further to the south where the road could be constructed with less destruction of local communities. Starting in the London Borough of Greenwich at the southern end of the new tunnel in Thamesmead, the planned route for the new southern section of Ringway 2 would have first interchanged with the A2016 then headed south, first through Plumstead towards Plumstead Common and then, via open land, to Shooters Hill Road ( A207 ). Controversially,
2159-750: A small part of 15 are in Hillingdon , Greater London, 15–16 are in Buckinghamshire , 17–24 are in Hertfordshire , 25 is in Enfield , Greater London and 26–31 are in Essex . Policing of the road is carried out by an integrated group made up of the Metropolitan , Thames Valley , Essex , Kent , Hertfordshire and Surrey forces. Primary destinations signed ahead on the motorway include
2286-479: A starting point and reused many of his proposals in the outlying areas but scrapped the plans in the inner zone. Abercrombie's A Ring was scrapped as being far too expensive and impractical. The innermost circuit, Ringway 1, was approximately the same distance from the centre as the B Ring. It used some of Abercrombie's suggested route, but it was planned to use existing transport corridors, such as railway lines, much more than before. The location of these lines produced
2413-633: A time, temporarily designated as part of the M11. At its eastern end, Ringway 2 was planned to have crossed the River Thames at Gallions Reach in a new tunnel between Beckton and Thamesmead . Although this tunnel was never built, the utility of an additional river crossing in this area continued to be recognised during the decades after the Ringway Scheme's cancellation and various proposals for an East London River Crossing have been developed,
2540-575: A total of fourteen traffic lanes, and also has a pedestrian pavement on its eastern side. M25 motorway 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
2667-888: A viaduct. It continued along the North London line through Hackney and Homerton , leading to a junction with the East Cross Route at Hackney Wick . The whole of the East Cross Route was built. It runs south from Hackney Wick as the A12 (previously designated as the A102(M) and A102 ) to Bow Road , then, as the A102, under the River Thames via the Blackwall Tunnel to the Sun in the Sands roundabout at Blackheath , then as
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#17327809175082794-666: Is one of three bridges which carry motorways across the Thames, the others being the M3 Chertsey Bridge and the M4 Thames Bridge, Maidenhead . (The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge at the Dartford Crossing is not classified as part of the M25 .) Runnymede Bridge is a multi-span arch bridge at the uppermost end of the Staines upon Thames and Egham Reach of the River Thames : above Penton Hook Lock and below Bell Weir Lock . It opened in 1961 to carry
2921-586: Is the only fixed vehicle crossing of the Thames east of Greater London. It is also the busiest crossing in the United Kingdom, and consequently puts pressure on M25 traffic. Users of the crossing do not pay a toll, but rather a congestion charge. The signs at the crossing are the same as those deployed over the London congestion charge zone. In 2009, the Department for Transport published options for
3048-563: The County of London Plan in 1943. The Ringways originated from these earlier plans, and consisted of the main four ring roads and other developments. Certain sections were upgrades of existing earlier projects such as the North Circular, but much of it was new-build. Construction began on some sections in the 1960s in response to increasing concern about car ownership and traffic. The Ringway plans attracted vociferous opposition towards
3175-523: The A1 east and south to the current junction 3 with the M20 ) was to be built and connected to the southern and western section of Ringway 4 to create the M25. The remaining parts of the two rings became redundant. The South Mimms to Potters Bar section (junction 23 to junction 24) was opened in 1975, temporarily designated as an A-road ( A1178 ). The remaining sections of the northern Ringway 3 were constructed over
3302-656: The A2 to Kidbrooke , meeting the South Cross Route. The South Cross Route ran beneath Blackheath Park in a tunnel, following railways as much as possible for its route though Peckham , Brixton , where it was planned to connect with the " South Cross Route to Parkway D Radial " a motorway running south-east to Ringway 3, and Clapham to Nine Elms . There was then a link to the West Cross Route and Ringway 2 at Wandsworth . The West Cross Route followed
3429-542: The A30 's Staines Bypass. Designs for the bridge were completed by 1939 by Sir Edwin Lutyens in concert with consulting engineer H Fitzsimons. World War II intervened, delaying construction by 20 years; Lutyens having died in 1944, his colleague George Stewart served as consulting architect, adopting the 1939 design. The bridge has a single span of 173.5 feet (52.9 m) across the Thames with 18 encased steel arches bearing
3556-637: The Chalfont Viaduct railway bridge, completed in 1906, which carries the Chiltern Main Line . Red kites can often be seen overhead to the north of this, up to junction 21. The northern section of the M25 passes close to All Saints Pastoral Centre near London Colney , Waltham Abbey and Copped Hall . This section also features two cut-and-cover tunnels , including the Bell Common Tunnel . The north-eastern section of
3683-547: The Conservatives won in every constituency that the motorway passed through, in particular gaining Thurrock from Labour . Coach tours were organised for a trip around the new road. However, it quickly became apparent that the M25 suffered from chronic congestion. A report in The Economist said it "had taken 70 years to plan [the motorway], 12 to build it and just one to find it was inadequate". Thatcher rebuked
3810-409: The Dartford Crossing , Sevenoaks , Gatwick Airport , Heathrow Airport , Watford , Stansted Airport and Brentwood . To the east of London the two ends of the M25 are joined to complete a loop by the non-motorway A282 Dartford Crossing of the River Thames between Thurrock and Dartford . The crossing consists of twin two-lane tunnels and the four-lane QE2 (Queen Elizabeth II) bridge , with
3937-679: The Great West Road bypassing Brentford , and bypasses of Kingston , Croydon , Watford and Barnet . In 1924, the Ministry of Transport proposed another circular route, the North Orbital Road. This ran further out from London than the North Circular and was planned to be around 70 miles (110 km) long, running from the A4 at Colnbrook to the A13 at Tilbury . In May 1938, Sir Charles Bressey and Sir Edwin Lutyens published
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4064-632: 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. There had been plans to construct new roads around London to help traffic since at least the 17th century. Several were built in the early 20th century such as the North Circular Road , Western Avenue and Eastern Avenue , and further plans were put forward in 1937 with The Highway Development Survey , followed by
4191-550: The London County Council announced the London Ringways plan, to consist of four concentric motorway rings around London. The following year, the transport minister Barbara Castle announced that the D Ring would be essential to build. The component parts of what became the M25 came from Ringway 3 / M16 motorway in the north and Ringway 4 in the south. The Ringways plan was controversial owing to
4318-536: The London Underground . The GLC attempted to hold on to the Ringway plans until the early 1970s, hoping that they would eventually be built. By 1972, in an attempt to placate the Ringway plan's vociferous opponents, the GLC removed the northern section of Ringway 1 and the southern section of Ringway 2 from the proposals. In January 1973, the enquiry recommended that Ringway 1 be built, but that much of
4445-507: The M20 motorway (then also being planned) near Wrotham in Kent and ran west as motorway around the capital to Hunton Bridge near Watford. From Watford, the road was to head east until it met Ringway 3 near Navestock in Essex . Construction began on the first section of the motorway between Godstone and Reigate (junctions 6 to 8) in 1973, and included a junction with the M23 motorway which
4572-527: The M40 motorway to the 1970s North Orbital Road construction (junctions 16 to 17) opened in January 1985. The route under the Chalfont Viaduct meant the motorway was restricted to a width of three lanes in each direction. The Prime Minister , Margaret Thatcher , officially opened the M25 on 29 October 1986, with a ceremony in the section between junctions 22 to 23 ( London Colney and South Mimms ). To avoid
4699-654: The North Downs close to several historic buildings such as Chevening , Titsey Place , Hever Castle and Chartwell . The interchange with the M23 motorway near Reigate is a four-level stack ; one of only a few examples in Britain. Past this, the M25 runs close to the Surrey Hills National Landscape . To the west, the M25 passes close to the edge of Heathrow Airport, and within sight of Windsor Castle . North of this, it goes under
4826-856: The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe . The E15 , which runs from Inverness to Algeciras , follows the M25 and A282 clockwise from the A1(M) at junction 23 to the M20 at junction 3; while the E30 Cork to Omsk route runs from the M4 at junction 15, clockwise to the A12 at junction 28. The United Kingdom is formally part of the E-roads network but, unlike in other countries, these routes are not marked on any road signs. The M25
4953-794: The West London line , with a bridge over the Thames near Chelsea Basin. There was a planned interchange with Cromwell Road ( A4 ) at Earl's Court and with Holland Park Avenue at Shepherd's Bush . The section north Shepherd's Bush to the Westway was constructed as planned. North of the Westway, it would have continued to follow the West London line, crossing the Great Western railway and the Grand Union Canal , linking with
5080-412: The Westway . Bressey's plans called for significant demolition of existing properties, that would have divided communities if they had been built. However, he reported that the average traffic speed on three of London's radial routes was 12.5 miles per hour (20.1 km/h), and consequently their construction was essential. The plans stalled, as the London County Council were responsible for roads in
5207-519: The cabinet cancelled funding and hence the project. Ringway 1 was the London Motorway box, comprising the North , East , South and West Cross Routes. Ringway 1 was planned to comprise four sections across the capital forming a roughly rectangular box of motorways. These sections were designated: Much of the scheme would have been constructed as elevated roads on concrete pylons and
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5334-453: The 17th century. Various select committees were established in the late 1830s and early 1840s in order to establish means of improving communication and transport in the city. The Royal Commission on London Traffic (1903–05) produced eight volumes of reports on roads, railways and tramways in the London area, including a suggestion for "constructing a circular road about 75 miles in length at
5461-515: The 1930s. South of the river, Ringway 2 would have headed roughly toward the North Circular Road at Chiswick , though there was no definite proposed route. Much of the Ringway, particularly the southern section where a new route was required, would have been placed in cuttings to mitigate disruption to local residents. The North Circular Road was to have been improved to motorway standard along its existing route. Some plans refer to
5588-427: The 2013 reconstruction of Walton Bridge , this was the first single-span bridge (i.e. without piers) over the Thames upstream, there being none in London or the estuary. New Runnymede Bridge, forming its eastern half, was designed by Ove Arup and Joanna Kennedy and built in 1978 to complement the earlier western half of the crossing, also simply named Runnymede Bridge . It is a single arch bridge of approximately
5715-418: The BBC. In 1996, Kenneth Noye murdered Stephen Cameron in a road rage incident while stopped at traffic lights on an M25 junction in Kent. He was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released in June 2019. In November 2014, during overnight roadworks, a 16-foot (4.9 m) piece of road surface near junction 9 at Leatherhead failed to set correctly due to rain. This created
5842-467: The British Road Federation surveyed 2,000 Londoners, 80% of whom favoured more new roads being built. In contrast, a public enquiry was held to review the GLDP in a climate of strong and vocal opposition from many of the London Borough councils and residents associations that would have seen motorways driven through their neighbourhoods. The Westway and a section of the West Cross Route from Shepherd's Bush to North Kensington , opened in 1970. It showed
5969-526: The British strategic road network, with the average flow in 2018 being 219,492 vehicles (lower than the record peak measured in 2014 of 262,842). Traffic on the M25 is monitored by Connect Plus Services on behalf of National Highways. The company operates a series of transportable CCTV cameras that can be easily moved into congestion hotspots, allowing operators to have a clear view of the motorway and so assess what might be done to tackle particular areas of congestion. Prior to its liquidation in 2018, Carillion
6096-474: The GLC continued to develop its plans, and began the construction of some of the parts of the scheme. The plan, still with much of the detail to be worked out, was included in the Greater London Development Plan, 1969 (GLDP) along with much else not related to roads and traffic management. In 1970, the GLC estimated that the cost of building Ringway 1 along with sections of 2 and 3 would be £1.7 billion (approximately £33.2 billion as of 2023). In 1970,
6223-422: The GLC expected the 25-mile (40 km) long southern ring to cost £305m, including £63m for property purchases. It would require 1,007 acres (4.08 km ) and affect 5,705 houses. Ringway 3 was a new road, the north section of which became part of the M25 from South Mimms to Swanley via the Dartford Crossing . It was intended for traffic bypassing London, and was a central government scheme outside of
6350-424: The Heathrow link roads would be scrapped. In 1995, a contract was awarded to widen the section between junctions 8 and 10 from six to eight lanes at a cost of £93.4 million, and a Motorway Incident Detection and Automatic Signalling (MIDAS) system was introduced from junction 10 to junction 15 in 1995, at a cost of £13.5M. That was extended to junction 16 in 2002, at a cost of £11.7M. The system consists of
6477-447: The London Borough of Greenwich, the motorway crossed to Baring Road (the A2212 ) near Grove Park station . After this, there was a cut-and-cover tunnel underneath playing fields at Whitefoot Lane, followed by an elevated section over Bromley Road ( A21 ). West of Bromley Road, Ringway 2 remained on an elevated alignment towards Beckenham Hill station . From here, it continued through more open land towards Lower Sydenham station where
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#17327809175086604-445: The M25 and A3 around junction 10 in November 2022. The project is intended to limit congestion at the junction and allow traffic to proceed more safely. However, these plans caused concerns about the amount of woodland that would be required. In March 2024, National Highways announced the first all-day closure of the M25 in its operational history. The motorway was closed between junctions 10 and 11 from 15–18 March in order to remove
6731-547: The M25 are Clacket Lane between junctions 5 and 6 (in the south-east) and Cobham between junctions 9 and 10 (in the south-west). Those directly accessible from it are South Mimms off junction 23 (to the north of London) and Thurrock off junction 31 (to the east of London). As is common with other motorways, the M25 is equipped with emergency ("SOS") telephones. These connect to two National Highways operated control centres at Godstone (for junctions 1 to 15 inclusive) and South Mimms (for 16–31). The Dartford Crossing has
6858-461: The M25 as the boundary in requiring a proportion of television programmes to be made outside the London area; it states a requirement of "a suitable proportion of the programmes made in the United Kingdom" to be made "in the United Kingdom outside the M25 area", defined in Section 362 as "the area the outer boundary of which is represented by the London Orbital Motorway (M25)". Sections of the M25 form part of two long-distance E-roads , designated by
6985-430: The M25 from six to eight lanes, between junctions 5 and 6, and 16 to 30, as part of a Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) project. A shortlist of contractors was announced in October 2006 for the project, which was expected to cost £4.5 billion. Contractors were asked to resubmit their bids in January 2008, and in June 2009 the new transport minister indicated that the cost had risen to £5.5 billion and
7112-573: The M25 had the potential to attract office and retail development along its route, negating the proposed traffic improvements and making Central London a less desirable place to work. None of the motorway was prevented from being built by objections at the public inquiries. However, as a consequence of the backlash against the Ringways, and criticism at the public inquiries, the motorway was built with environmental concerns in mind. New features included additional earth mounds, cuttings and fences that reduced noise, and over two million trees and shrubs to hide
7239-406: The M25 than it was designed for. The congestion has led to traffic management schemes that include variable speed limit and smart motorway . Since opening, the M25 has been progressively widened, particularly near Heathrow Airport . The M25 almost completely encircles Greater London and passes briefly through it, in the east and west. Junctions 1A–5 are in Kent , 6–13 are in Surrey , 14 and
7366-450: The North Cross Route at Willesden Junction. Ringway 2 was an upgrade of the North Circular Road (A406) and a new motorway to replace the South Circular Road (A205). The North Circular Road was largely a coherent route (see "Background" above), but the South Circular Road was merely a signposted route through the suburbs of South London on pre-existing sections of standard roads, involving twists and turns, selected by route planners in
7493-425: The North Downs Action Group (DANDAG) argued that the link was unnecessary, it would damage an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it would be primarily used by local traffic as a bypass for the old A21 road between Farnborough and Sevenoaks. After a length inquiry process, chaired by George Dobry QC , the transport minister Kenneth Clarke announced the motorway would be built as proposed. The section from
7620-415: The Ringways as a complete scheme, protesters against specific parts of it in different areas were able to unite against a common goal, which led to the Layfield Inquiry successfully challenging the proposals. The Labour party made large gains in the GLC elections of April 1973 with a policy of fighting the Ringways scheme. Given the continuing fierce opposition across London and the likely enormous cost,
7747-483: The Ringways were re-used for other road schemes in the 1980s and 1990s, most significantly the M25 , which was created out of two different sections of Ringways joined together. The project caused an increase in road protesting and an eventual agreement that new road construction in London was not generally possible without huge disruption. Since 2000, Transport for London has promoted public transport and discouraged road use. London has been significantly congested since
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#17327809175087874-489: The UK, without holding a public inquiry . Friends of the Earth claimed the real reason for the widening was to support Terminal 5. The decision was again deferred. A ten-lane scheme was announced in 1998, and the £148 million 'M25 Jct 12 to 15 Widening' contract was awarded to Balfour Beatty in 2003. The scheme was completed in 2005, with dual-five lanes between junctions 12 and 14 and dual-six lanes from junctions 14 to 15. In 2007, junction 25 (A10/Waltham Cross)
8001-414: The West Cross Route between North Kensington and Shepherd's Bush was opened by John Peyton and Michael Heseltine in 1970, simultaneously with Westway , to protests; some residents hung a huge banners with 'Get us out of this Hell – Rehouse Us Now' outside their windows and protesters disrupted the opening procession by driving a lorry the wrong way along the new road. The East Cross Route, incorporating
8128-417: The agreed Highways Agency 2013–14 business plan. In June 1992, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced a proposal to widen the section close to Heathrow Airport to fourteen lanes by way of three additional link roads. That attracted fierce opposition from anti-motorway protesters who were critical of the Newbury Bypass and other schemes, but also from local authorities. Surrey County Council led
8255-542: The architect/planner Lord Esher and Michael Thomson, a transport economist at the London School of Economics , calculated that costs had been enormously underestimated and would show marginal economic returns. They predicted large quantities of additional traffic that would be generated purely as a result of the new roads. Access to the new roads would soon be overwhelmed even before the rings and radial roads were near capacity, while about 1 million Londoners would find their lives blighted by living within 200 yards of
8382-416: The benefit to cost ratio had dropped considerably. In January 2009 the government announced that plans to widen the sections from junctions 5 to 7 and 23 to 27 had been 'scrapped' and that hard shoulder running would be introduced instead. However, widening to four lanes was reinstated in the 2013–14 Highways Agency Business Plan. In 2009, a £6.2 billion M25 DBFO private finance initiative contract
8509-414: The capital had been suggested in 1913, and was re-examined as a motorway route in Sir Charles Bressey's and Sir Edwin Lutyens' The Highway Development Survey, 1937 . Sir Patrick Abercrombie's County of London Plan, 1943 and Greater London Plan, 1944 proposed a series of five roads encircling the capital. The northern sections of the M25 follow a similar route to the Outer London Defence Ring ,
8636-436: The capital, and could not find adequate funding. The Ringway plan had developed from early schemes prior to the Second World War through Sir Patrick Abercrombie's County of London Plan , 1943 and Greater London Plan , 1944 . One of the topics that Abercrombie's two plans had examined was London's traffic congestion, and The County of London Plan proposed a series of ring roads labelled A to E to help remove traffic from
8763-565: The central area. Even in a war-ravaged city with large areas requiring reconstruction, the building of the two innermost rings, A and B, would have involved considerable demolition and upheaval. The cost of the construction works needed to upgrade the existing London streets and roads to dual carriageway or motorway standards was considered significant; the A ring would have displaced 5,300 families. Because of post-war funding shortages, Abercrombie's plans were not intended to be carried out immediately. They were intended to be gradually built over
8890-400: The clockwise carriageway of the M25 is routed off the main north–south dual carriageway onto the main east–west dual carriageway with the main north–south carriageway becoming the A21 . In the opposite direction, to the east of the point where the M25 diverges from the main east–west carriageway, that carriageway becomes the M26 motorway . From here to junction 8, the M25 follows the edge of
9017-411: The current M25 junction 23 with the A1 clockwise to the current junction 3 with the M20). Two additional sections of motorway were added to the plan to join the two original sections and the remaining parts of the two rings were cancelled. The south-eastern section of Ringway 4 between Wrotham and Sevenoaks was redesignated as the M26 . Except for a deviation from the original plan around Leatherhead,
9144-710: The current M26 and the M25 between junctions 5 and 19 mostly follow the planned Ringway 4 route. One short section of the dual-carriageway portion of Ringway 4 was constructed in Hoddesdon linking the town to the A10 . In the central London area, only the East Cross Route and part of the West Cross Route of Ringway 1 were constructed together with the elevated Westway which links Paddington to North Kensington . These were all begun and completed before
9271-506: The destruction required for the inner two ring roads, ( Ringway 1 and Ringway 2 ). Parts of Ringway 1 were constructed (including the West Cross Route ), despite stiff opposition, before the overall plan was postponed in February 1972. In April 1973, the Greater London Council elections resulted in a Labour Party victory; the party then formally announced the cancellation of the Ringways running inside Greater London. This did not affect
9398-438: The early 1960s, and by 1966, planning had started on two projects, Ringway 3 to the north and Ringway 4 to the south. By the time the first sections opened in 1975, it was decided the ringways would be combined into a single orbital motorway. The M25 was one of the first motorway projects to consider environmental concerns and almost 40 public inquiries took place. The road was built as planned despite some protests that included
9525-780: The easiest alignment, the Ringway continued towards a junction with the A24 at Colliers Wood . An elevated section alongside the Sutton Loop Line between Tooting and Haydons Road took it up to the Wandle Valley. It crossed the South West Main Line to meet the A3 at a major junction in Wandsworth . From here, it continued to Putney alongside railways, before meeting the northern section at Chiswick. In 1970
9652-437: The end of the decade over the demolition of properties and noise pollution the roads would cause. Local newspapers published the intended routes, which caused an outcry among local residents living on or near them who would have their lives irreversibly disrupted. Following an increasing series of protests, the scheme was cancelled in 1973, at which point only three sections had been built. Some traffic routes originally planned for
9779-457: The first section of the motorway between South Mimms and Potters Bar in 1973 and the motorway was initially designated as the M16 motorway before its opening. While the construction of the first section was in progress, the plan for Ringways 3 and 4 were modified considerably. Broadly speaking, the northern and eastern section of Ringway 3 (from the current junction 23 of the M25 motorway with
9906-483: The junction of the North Circular Road and the A10 was only completed in 1990 after several other schemes had been blocked. At the western end of the North Circular Road a new section of motorway would have been constructed to take the route of Ringway 2 eastwards from the junction with the M4 at Gunnersbury along the course of the railway line through Chiswick to meet and cross the River Thames at Barnes . This section
10033-644: The junctions 27 (M11) to 30 (A13) section to dual four lanes also started in July 2009. The junction 27 to 28 (A12) section was completed in July 2010, and the junction 28 to 29 (A127) in June 2011, and finally the junction 29 to 30 (A13) section opened in May 2012. Work to introduce smart motorway technology and permanent hard shoulder running on two sections of the M25 began in 2013. The first section between junctions 5 (A21/M26) and 7 (M23) started construction in May 2013 with
10160-421: The load of a concrete deck. There are two smaller spans, on land, at the abutments, taking the total length to 415 feet (126 m). As built, it had a width of 100 feet (30 m). The architectural treatment of the bridge was considered of great importance because of its proximity to Runnymede (the water-meadow ) and the structure is finished with hand-made brick facings, white cement and Portland stone. Until
10287-471: The most recent of which was the Thames Gateway Bridge , cancelled in 2008. The South Circular Road was in the 1960s, and remains still, little more than an arbitrary route through the southern half of the city following roads that are mainly just single carriageway. The road planners considered the existing routing unsuitable for a direct upgrade so a new replacement motorway was planned for
10414-674: The motorway passes close to North Ockendon , the only settlement of Greater London situated outside the M25. It then runs close to the Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve before reaching the northern end of the Dartford Crossing. In 2004, following an opinion poll, the London Assembly proposed aligning the Greater London boundary with the M25. "Inside the M25" and "outside/beyond the M25" are colloquial, looser alternatives to "Greater London" sometimes used in haulage. The Communications Act 2003 explicitly uses
10541-399: The motorway would have turned south to run alongside the railway line past New Beckenham station . It then rose to an interchange with Elmers End Road ( A214 ). Continuing along the railway line south-west of Birkbeck station , near Cambridge Road there was a proposed interchange with another of the GLC's planned motorways, the "South Cross Route to Parkway D Radial" coming south-east along
10668-511: The motorway, designed for a maximum of 88,000 vehicles per day, was carrying 200,000. At that time, the M25 carried 15% of UK motorway traffic and there were plans to add six lanes to the section from junctions 12 to 15, as well as widening the rest of the motorway to four lanes. In parts, particularly the western third, that plan went ahead. Again, however, plans to widen further sections to eight lanes (four each way) were scaled back in 2009 in response to rising costs. The plans were reinstated in
10795-467: The negative response, calling it "carping and criticism". Traffic levels quickly exceeded the maximum design capacity. Two months before it opened, the government admitted that the three-lane section between junctions 11 and 13 was inadequate and that it would have to be widened to four. In 1990, the Secretary of State for Transport announced plans to widen the whole of the M25 to four lanes. By 1993
10922-634: The new 'eastern bore' of the Blackwall Tunnel opened in 1967, was completed in 1979. The North Cross Route began south of Willesden Junction and followed the North London line eastwards then passed under the Midland main line and Metropolitan line at West Hampstead , where it was intended to meet a planned extension of the M1 motorway with a link to Finchley Road . It diverged away from
11049-475: The next 30 years. The subsequent austerity period meant that very little of his plan was carried out. The A Ring was formally cancelled by Clement Attlee 's Labour government in May 1950. After 1951, the County of London focused on improving existing roads rather than Abercrombie's proposals. By the start of the 1960s, the number of private cars and commercial vehicles on the roads had increased considerably from
11176-413: The next eleven years: the M25 motorway was completed in 1986 with the opening of the Ringway 4 to Ringway 3 linking section from Micklefield to South Mimms (junction 19 to junction 23). One part of Ringway 3 in west London was eventually built as The Parkway/Hayes Bypass ( A312 ). Unlike many other Ringway proposals it was favourably viewed by local residents, for it solved serious congestion problems. It
11303-546: The number before the war. British car manufacturing doubled between 1953 and 1960. The Conservative government, led by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan , had strong ties to the road transport industry, with more than 70 members of parliament being members of the British Road Federation . Political pressure to build roads and improve vehicular traffic increased, which led to a revival of Abercrombie's plans. The Ringway plan took Abercrombie's earlier schemes as
11430-547: 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. In the 1944 Greater London Plan , Patrick Abercrombie proposed an orbital motorway around London. This evolved into the London Ringways project in
11557-418: The plan was cancelled. With its elevated roadway on concrete pylons flying above the streets below at rooftop height, the Westway provides a good example of how much of Ringway 1 would have appeared had it been constructed. The East Cross route was the only part to be built in its entirety and it includes a permanently unfinished junction at Hackney Wick with the proposed North Cross Route. Another relic of
11684-745: The plans had changed, with the Docklands Light Railway to be extended to Thamesmead instead. On 11 December 1984, nine people died and ten were injured in a multiple-vehicle collision between junctions 5 and 6. Twenty-six vehicles were involved when dense fog descended suddenly. On 16 December 1988, several vehicles were stolen and used as getaway for acts of murder and robbery, using the M25 to quickly move between targets. The M25 Three , including Raphael Rowe , were tried and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1990. Their convictions were overturned in 2000 and Rowe, who studied journalism while in prison, became an investigative journalist for
11811-487: The public what the Ringways would be like for local residents and what demolition would be required, and led to increased complaints over the scheme. The GLDP received 22,000 formal objections by 1972. The GLC realised that the South Cross Route might be impractical to build, and looked instead at integrating public transport through a new park-and-ride scheme at Lewisham that would serve a new Fleet line on
11938-461: The railway and passed through Hampstead in a cut-and-cover tunnel owing to local geography, and over British Rail 's goods depot at Camden Town , where there was to be an interchange with the proposed Camden Town bypass. It again followed the North London line to the north of St Pancras and King's Cross , then ran in a tunnel through Highbury , and crossed Kingsland High Street in Dalston on
12065-503: The railway line from Ringway 1 at Brixton and heading to Ringway 3. Like Ringway 2 this road was never built. Ringway 2 took another elevated route crossing the railway by Goat House Bridge, before running in a cutting by South Norwood and Thornton Heath . It then passed under the Brighton Main Line up to a major junction with the M23 coming north from Mitcham . This area would have required extensive demolition. Taking
12192-522: The remit of London County Council. The route was roughly based on the earlier "D" ring designed by Patrick Abercrombie . The southern section was never planned in detail, so a specific route does not exist. The section in west London was eventually built to a lower standard as the A312 . Ringway 3 was planned to link the capital's outer suburbs linking areas such as Croydon , Esher , Barnet , Waltham Cross , Chigwell and Dartford . Construction began on
12319-511: The rest of the Ringway schemes be abandoned. The project was submitted to the Conservative government for approval and, for a short period, it appeared that the GLC had made enough concessions for the scheme to proceed. A report around this time commissioned by planning lawyer Frank Layfield showed that the GLDP was too dependent on roads for its transport plans. Because the GLC had proposed
12446-526: The road, draped with large banners reading "Not Epping Likely". As a consequence of this, the Bell Common Tunnel that runs in this area is twice as long as originally proposed. The most controversial section of the M25 was that between Swanley and Sevenoaks (junctions 3 to 5) in Kent across the Darenth Valley , Badgers Mount and the North Downs . An 1,800-member group named Defend Darenth Valley and
12573-470: The route of what is now the M26 . It was originally proposed as an all-purpose route, but was upgraded to motorway standard in 1966. It was the first section of the route announced as M25 from the beginning. The first section from Godstone to Reigate (junctions 6 to 8) was first planned in 1966 and opened in February 1976. A section of Ringway 3 south of the river between Dartford and Swanley (junctions 1 to 3)
12700-521: The route was then planned to cross the ancient woodland of Oxleas Wood and the adjacent Shepheardleas Wood to connect to the "Rochester Way Relief Road" ( A2 ) at a junction at Falconwood . Heading south from the A2, Ringway 2 would have crossed Eltham Warren Golf Course and Royal Blackheath Golf Club to reach the A20 at Mottingham where its next junction would have been constructed. Next, heading west out of
12827-521: The routes that would become the M25, because they were planned as central government projects from the outset. There was no individual public inquiry into the M25 as a whole. Each section was presented to planning authorities in its own right and was individually justified, with 39 separate public inquiries relating to sections of the route. The need for the ministry to negotiate with local councils meant that more junctions with local traffic were built than originally proposed. A report in 1981 showed that
12954-627: The routes were designed to follow the alignments of existing railway lines to minimise the amount of land required for construction, including the North London line in the north, the Greenwich Park branch line in the south, and the West London line to the west. Ringway 1 was expected to cost £480 million (£9.38 billion today) including £144 million (£2.74 billion today) for property purchases. It would require 1,048 acres (4.24 km ) and affect 7,585 houses. Only two parts of Ringway 1 were completed and opened to traffic. Part of
13081-450: The same form, but is made up of a series of parallel concrete frames: these allow light to penetrate upwards underneath and transfer loads vertically to avoid disturbing the foundations of the westerly bridge companion. In the first decade of the 21st century, the motorway bridge was widened to five lanes each way, becoming the widest in Britain. In addition, the A30 has two lanes each way, making
13208-690: The scheme being completed and opened in April 2014. The second section, between junctions 23 (A1/A1(M)) and 27 (M11), began construction in February 2013 and was completed and opened in November 2014. In December 2016, Highways England completed the capacity project at junction 30 (Thurrock) as part of the Thames Gateway Delivery Plan. The £100 million scheme included widening the M25 to four lanes, adding additional link roads, and improvements to drainage. Work began to widen
13335-473: The section between junction 12 (M3) and junction 15 (M4) to 12 lanes. At the Heathrow Terminal 5 public inquiry, a Highways Agency official said that the widening was needed to accommodate traffic to the proposed new terminal, but the transport minister said that no such evidence had been given. Environmental groups objected to the decision to go ahead with a scheme to create the widest motorways in
13462-541: The section in east London as the M15 , but this was not planned to refer to the entire road. Since the Ringways Plan was cancelled, most of the route has been upgraded, some of it close to motorway standard, but this has been done piecemeal. In places, the road is a six-lane dual carriageway with grade separated junctions, while other parts remain at a much lower standard. In some cases this has been because of protests;
13589-403: The section over the North Downs and around Epping Forest which required an extension of the Bell Common Tunnel . Although the M25 was popular during construction, it quickly became apparent that there was insufficient traffic capacity. Because of the public inquiries, several junctions merely served local roads where office and retail developments were built, attracting even more traffic onto
13716-501: The slip roads at busy periods, particularly traffic from the clockwise M25 joining the northbound A12. In 2018, a new scheme was proposed, because the junction had reached capacity, accommodating over 7,500 vehicles per hour. The scheme involved building a two-lane link road between the M25 and the A12. The work was expected to be completed around 2021/22. In 2006, the Highways Agency proposed widening 63 miles (101 km) of
13843-714: The south-east and Hunton Bridge to Potters Bar in the north-west. The section of Ringway 3 west of South Mimms anti-clockwise around London to Swanley in Kent was cancelled. The section from Potters Bar to the Dartford Tunnel was constructed in stages from June 1979 onwards, with the final section between Waltham Cross (junction 25) to Theydon Garnon (junction 27) opening in January 1984. This section, running through Epping Forest , attracted opposition and protests. In 1973, local residents had parked combine harvesters in Parliament Square in protest against
13970-432: The threat of road protesters, the ceremony was held a quarter of a mile from the nearest bridge. The total estimated cost of the motorway was around £1 billion. It required 2 million tonnes (2.2 million short tons) of concrete, 2.5 million tonnes (2.8 million short tons) of asphalt and involved the removal of 49 million cubic metres (1,700 million cubic feet) of spoil. Upon completion, it
14097-586: The view of the road. Construction of parts of the two outer ring roads, Ringways 3 and 4, began in 1973. The first section, between South Mimms and Potters Bar in Hertfordshire (junctions 23 to 24) opened in September 1975. It was provisionally known as the M16 and was given the temporary general-purpose road designation A1178 . A section of the North Orbital Road between Rickmansworth and Hunton Bridge
14224-435: Was awarded to Connect Plus to widen the sections between junctions 16 to 23 and 27 to 30, and maintain the M25 and the Dartford Crossing for a 30-year period. Work to widen the section between junctions 16 (M40) and 23 (A1(M)) to dual four lanes started in July 2009 at an estimated cost of £580 million. The junction 16 to 21 (M1) section was completed by July 2011 and the junction 21 to 23 by June 2012. Works to widen
14351-522: Was constructed between May 1974 and April 1977. In 1975, following extensive opposition to some parts of Ringway 3 through Middlesex and South London, the transport minister John Gilbert announced that the north section of Ringway 3 already planned would be combined with the southern section of Ringway 4, forming a single orbital motorway to be known as the M25, and the M16 designation was dropped. This scheme required two additional sections to join what were two different schemes, from Swanley to Sevenoaks in
14478-596: Was hugely ambitious, and almost immediately attracted opposition from several directions. Ringway 1 was designed to be an eight-lane elevated motorway running through the middle of many town centres such as Camden Town , Brixton and Dalston . A principal problem was the route of Ringway 2 in south London, given that the South Circular Road was largely an unimproved series of urban streets and there were fewer railway lines to follow. Parts would be built with four lanes in each direction, and in some cases there
14605-451: Was intended to be a simple upgrade of streets. In 1951, Middlesex County Council planned a route for the orbital road through the county, passing through Eastcote and west of Bushey , connecting with the proposed M1 motorway , but it was rejected by the Ministry two years later. An alternative route via Harrow and Ealing was proposed, but this was abandoned after the council revealed the extent of property demolition required. In 1964,
14732-469: Was never well planned and did not have an exact proposed alignment. The route of the eastern section of the North Circular Road south from its junction with the M11 at South Woodford to the junction with the A13 (the "South Woodford to Barking Relief Road" ) was built on the planned motorway alignment, opening in 1987. The section between South Woodford and Redbridge roundabout ( A12 junction) was, for
14859-414: Was no other plan than to destroy whatever urban streets were in the way of the new road. At Blackheath , the road would have run in a deep-bored tunnel to avoid any impact on the local area, at an estimated cost of £38 million. However, until around 1967, the opposition was more towards specific proposals instead of the concept of Ringways generally. The report Motorways in London , published in 1969 by
14986-533: Was one of the few major road schemes approved by the GLC after Labour took control in 1981. Ringway 4 was more commonly known by the names "North Orbital Road" and "South Orbital Road", and was first mentioned in Bressey's report. The southern section became part of the M25 and M26 from Wrotham Heath to Hunton Bridge . Sections of the A405 and A414 through Hertfordshire follow its proposed route. The road
15113-449: Was originally built mostly as a dual three-lane motorway. Much of this has since been widened to dual four lanes for almost half, to a dual five-lanes section between junctions 12 and 14 and a dual six-lane section between junctions 14 and 15. Further widening is in progress of minor sections with plans for smart motorways in many others. Two motorway service areas are on the M25, and two others are directly accessible from it. Those on
15240-404: Was planned as a combination of motorway and all-purpose dual carriageway , connecting a number of towns around the capital including Tilbury , Epping , Hoddesdon , Hatfield , St Albans , Watford , Denham , Leatherhead and Sevenoaks . Despite its name, the route of Ringway 4 did not make a complete circuit of London. It was, instead, C-shaped. The planned route started at a junction with
15367-453: Was proposed in 1966, with detailed planning in 1971. The North Orbital Extension was given the go-ahead in January 1973, from Maple Cross. It was 6.2 miles, and was to cost £6.5m. The road was constructed to motorway standards and opened on Thursday 26 February 1976, as a section of the A405 . It eventually became part of the M25's route. The section to the south, from Heathrow Airport to Rickmansworth had five separate routes proposed when
15494-537: Was published by Penguin Books and sold 18,000 copies. Several key ideas in the report would later be perceived as being correct as road protesting grew from the 1980s onward. The London Traffic Survey was published the following year, and concluded that the Ringways should be built in order to cater for future network traffic, instead of Traffic in Towns which said if a road was not built, there would be no demand along that route anyway. The 1960s plans were developed over
15621-449: Was remodelled to increase capacity. The nearby Holmesdale Tunnel was widened to three lanes in an easterly direction, and an additional left-turn lane added from the A10 onto the motorway. The total cost was £75 million. Work to widen the exit slip-roads in both directions at junction 28 ( A12 / A1023) was completed in 2008. That was designed to reduce the amount of traffic queuing on
15748-428: Was subcontracted to manage traffic on the M25, delivering live alerts from body-worn cameras via 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi. Since 1995, sections of the M25 have been equipped with variable speed limits, which slow traffic in the event of congestion or an obstruction, and help manage the traffic flow. The scheme was originally trialled between junctions 10 and 16, and was made a permanent fixture in 1997. The Dartford Crossing
15875-495: Was the longest orbital motorway in the world at 117 miles (188 km). At the opening ceremony, Thatcher announced that 98 miles (158 km) had been constructed while the Conservative Party were in office, calling it "a splendid achievement for Britain". A 58-page brochure was published, commemorating the completion of the motorway. The M25 was initially popular with the public. In the 1987 general election ,
16002-438: Was the most prominent technology used, but this has been gradually replaced with high-pressure sodium (SON) lighting. As of 2015 the motorway has more than 10,000 streetlights. The M25 has a number of pollution control valves along its length, which can shut off drainage in the event of a chemical or fuel spill. The idea of a general bypass around London was first proposed early in the 20th century. An outer orbital route around
16129-411: Was under construction at the same time. This opened in 1976; the remaining sections of the southern Ringway 4 were constructed over the next ten years. While the construction of the first section was in progress, the plan for Ringways 3 and 4 was modified considerably. Broadly speaking, the motorway section of Ringway 4 was to be built and connected to the northern and eastern section of Ringway 3 (from
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