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South Cross Route
South Cross Route (SCR) was the designation for the southern section of Ringway 1, the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network, a complex and comprehensive plan for a network of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London designed to manage and control the flow of traffic within the capital.
The SCR was planned during the late 1960s along with the rest of the Ringway scheme but was never constructed due to large scale opposition from many quarters. The construction work required to pass a six-lane dual carriageway with grade separated junctions through the congested streets of south London would have been enormous and devastating to the communities through which it passed.
The SCR would have started in Battersea at the south-west corner of Ringway 1 where it would have had a junction with the West Cross Route coming south-east across the River Thames from Earl's Court. The junction was planned to be located on the triangle of land between the railway lines around Falcon Park and crossing Latchmere Road (A3220). The junction would also have had a connection westwards to a feeder motorway to the planned terminus of the M3 motorway and the actual terminus of the M4 motorway at Gunnersbury. It is possible that this motorway would have been designated as a continuation of the M4.
In the mid-1960s the Ringways plan also included a motorway, known as the Balham Loop, heading south-west from the triangular junction through Clapham Junction station, then south towards Balham and east to Tulse Hill. This route was omitted from the plans in 1967.
Heading east, the SCR would have followed the route of the National Rail main line heading into Waterloo station crossing the tracks south-west of Queenstown Road station. Here the SCR would have had a junction with Queenstown Road (A3216) and passed over the railway and industrial land there to head south-east towards Heathbrook Park and Wandsworth Road station. The SCR would then have followed the south side of the line, requiring the demolition of most of the east side of Edgeley Road, then past Clapham High Street station to a junction with Clapham High Street (A3).
Continuing east, the SCR would have claimed much of the north side of Ferndale Road as well as most, if not all, of Dolman, Glendall and Bythorn Streets, three short cul-de-sacs between Ferndale Road and the railway tracks. The SCR would have next reached a difficult section through Brixton town centre where a complexity of railway tracks branching and crossing above one another to follow different routes, Brixton station and the narrow shopping streets would have needed considerable demolition to make a route for the elevated SCR. In conjunction with the road scheme, the Greater London Council proposed a scheme for the almost total clearance and reconstruction of the town centre including the construction of more than a dozen 50-storey blocks of flats as well as widespread low-rise residential and commercial projects. Just as the road itself attracted objections, the redevelopment of the town centre met with considerable local opposition and virtually none of the proposals were implemented.
For a while, the destruction planned for Brixton town centre would have been even greater. It was intended to locate a junction here to connect the SCR to a motorway running south-east along the railway line to Herne Hill and then to South Norwood and a probable terminal on Ringway 3 at or near Addington. This motorway, known to the road planners as the "South Cross Route to Parkway D Radial" was still part of the Ringways Plan in 1969 but had been cancelled by 1972 along with the southern section of Ringway 2.
East of Brixton Road (A23), the SCR would have followed Coldharbour Lane and passed the north side of the Moorland Estate where the council block on the north side, Southwyck House, is a relic of the GLC redevelopment scheme and was designed to present a barrier to protect the estate beyond from the noise of the elevated motorway. [1]
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South Cross Route AI simulator
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South Cross Route
South Cross Route (SCR) was the designation for the southern section of Ringway 1, the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network, a complex and comprehensive plan for a network of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London designed to manage and control the flow of traffic within the capital.
The SCR was planned during the late 1960s along with the rest of the Ringway scheme but was never constructed due to large scale opposition from many quarters. The construction work required to pass a six-lane dual carriageway with grade separated junctions through the congested streets of south London would have been enormous and devastating to the communities through which it passed.
The SCR would have started in Battersea at the south-west corner of Ringway 1 where it would have had a junction with the West Cross Route coming south-east across the River Thames from Earl's Court. The junction was planned to be located on the triangle of land between the railway lines around Falcon Park and crossing Latchmere Road (A3220). The junction would also have had a connection westwards to a feeder motorway to the planned terminus of the M3 motorway and the actual terminus of the M4 motorway at Gunnersbury. It is possible that this motorway would have been designated as a continuation of the M4.
In the mid-1960s the Ringways plan also included a motorway, known as the Balham Loop, heading south-west from the triangular junction through Clapham Junction station, then south towards Balham and east to Tulse Hill. This route was omitted from the plans in 1967.
Heading east, the SCR would have followed the route of the National Rail main line heading into Waterloo station crossing the tracks south-west of Queenstown Road station. Here the SCR would have had a junction with Queenstown Road (A3216) and passed over the railway and industrial land there to head south-east towards Heathbrook Park and Wandsworth Road station. The SCR would then have followed the south side of the line, requiring the demolition of most of the east side of Edgeley Road, then past Clapham High Street station to a junction with Clapham High Street (A3).
Continuing east, the SCR would have claimed much of the north side of Ferndale Road as well as most, if not all, of Dolman, Glendall and Bythorn Streets, three short cul-de-sacs between Ferndale Road and the railway tracks. The SCR would have next reached a difficult section through Brixton town centre where a complexity of railway tracks branching and crossing above one another to follow different routes, Brixton station and the narrow shopping streets would have needed considerable demolition to make a route for the elevated SCR. In conjunction with the road scheme, the Greater London Council proposed a scheme for the almost total clearance and reconstruction of the town centre including the construction of more than a dozen 50-storey blocks of flats as well as widespread low-rise residential and commercial projects. Just as the road itself attracted objections, the redevelopment of the town centre met with considerable local opposition and virtually none of the proposals were implemented.
For a while, the destruction planned for Brixton town centre would have been even greater. It was intended to locate a junction here to connect the SCR to a motorway running south-east along the railway line to Herne Hill and then to South Norwood and a probable terminal on Ringway 3 at or near Addington. This motorway, known to the road planners as the "South Cross Route to Parkway D Radial" was still part of the Ringways Plan in 1969 but had been cancelled by 1972 along with the southern section of Ringway 2.
East of Brixton Road (A23), the SCR would have followed Coldharbour Lane and passed the north side of the Moorland Estate where the council block on the north side, Southwyck House, is a relic of the GLC redevelopment scheme and was designed to present a barrier to protect the estate beyond from the noise of the elevated motorway. [1]