MT 106/93
West Cross route: Westway to Holland Park Avenue
| Date range | 1958-1963 |
| Location | National Archives (see all files stored here) |
| Catalogue | See entry |
| File base | Series MT, subseries MT 106 |
Note: the dates given for this file are inaccurate; its contents span from the 1930s until the 1960s.
Context
Just like its partner in crime MT 106/54, this file has little to do with the West Cross Route and everything to do with the Western Avenue Extension, known to us as Westway. It covers the same ground (and in places contains the same documents) as that file, from the 1930s through to the mid-1960s, but contains some additional points of interest that make it worth a look.
The 1930s scheme that was most favoured was to use existing streets in Kensington; specifically, a dual carriageway continuation of Western Avenue would have passed under the railway and then used Walmer Road and Silchester Road as a dual carriageway, with a little bit of roadbuilding beyond there to allow Cornwall Road and Blenheim Crescent to form the next part of the route.
By 1959 there were several plans in preparation; one was a modest idea to provide a square roundabout at Wood Lane and then a bridge over the railway from where Silchester Road would be widened to form the new route into London. Other plans, also dated 1959, show an elevated motorway running a little to the south of the modern Westway. These have a simple diamond interchange at Wood Lane.
Most interestingly, the latest versions of the 1959 plan show a new junction just east of the railway line - a trumpet interchange, from which a new dual carriageway labelled 'West Cross Route' runs south to a crossroads on Holland Park Avenue. Ironically, if that had been built - without provision for extension north or south - it would have been a much more sensible plan for the road network we ended up with decades later.
- MT 57/147 Hackney to White City; line of route and variations. Ordnance Survey plan (1926)
- MT 106/54 London CC West Cross Route: plans (1963)
People with camera copies
Chris Marshall has a partial copy.
