MT 106/293

`D' Ring Road and South Orbital Motorway: Esher Bypass inquiry; Dartford and Purfleet Tunnels

Date range	1965-1969
Location	National Archives (see all files stored here)
Catalogue	See entry
File base	Series MT, subseries MT 106

Context

This file deals with the planning process for the "D" Ring Road - i.e., what became Ringway 3 - south of the Thames. Given the file dates, it deals only with advance planning for this road at a time when its construction was thought to be some twenty years hence and does not actually stretch to the point where consultants were engaged to begin plotting it out. Therefore, at the time the paperwork here was generated, the road in question existed only as a line on various county development plans that was known to be out of date and in need of revision.

Most of this is chatter and a lot of correspondence about where it might go. Can it avoid Orpington? Will it affect Sevenoaks? When will the Dartford Tunnel be duplicated? What's the excess capacity on the A2? If we took on consultants what might the brief be? The word of the day is "premature". That word keeps cropping up. Everything anyone suggests would be "premature". Everything needs to be thought about a bit more and things must take their due course.

There's some useful information about the GLC's slow and steady progress in considering alternative routes around Kingston, some surprisingly close to Hampton Court Palace, and some more background detail on the fiasco that appears in MT 120/169 regarding planning permission for some houses near Sunbury. The papers also usefully fill in some background on how some parts of this road had been protected from development and appeared in various County Development Plans following the war.

Finally, there are some papers and memoranda discussing the phasing of construction for Ringway 3, expected traffic flows, and an overview map that shows not just the "D" Ring Road but also a sketchy dotted line for the North Orbital right the way from Watford to Navestock. Such things are rare and precious.

People with camera copies

Chris Marshall has a partial copy.