 | |
| Author | Patrick Abercrombie and J.H. Forshaw |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Urban planning |
| Publisher | Macmillan and Company Ltd |
Publication date | 1943 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 188 |
TheCounty of London Plan was an urban planning proposal prepared for theLondon County Council in 1943 by John Henry Forshaw (1895–1973) andSir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (1879–1957), with foreword fromCharles Latham, leader of the council. Its main purpose was to point out the main directions of development and reconstruction ofLondon, which in the past decades had faced large changes and irregular growth. It was prepared in anticipation of the end ofWorld War II and the reconstruction after bomb damage and large movements of population.
It focused on five problems, for which it proposed solutions:
One of the solutions was to create ring roads around the capital.[1] Construction would have involved considerable disruption, even through parts of the city damaged by bombs, and the roads were not built, but the "C Ring" (the third ring out from the city centre) was to include what is now theSouth Circular Road. The plan to build a high-quality road was not realised, but the semi-circular route was assigned to existing roads through the southern suburbs. A similar plan was reintroduced in the 1960s under the name of theLondon Ringways.
In 1905, theRoyal Commission on London Traffic issued a report recommending improvements to road, tram and rail services including a "circular road about 75 miles in length at a radius of 12 miles from St Paul's".
In 1937, theMinistry of Transport publishedThe Highway Development Survey by SirEdwin Lutyens and SirCharles Bressey, which reviewed London's road needs and recommended the construction of many miles of new roads and the improvement of junctions at key congestion areas. Among the proposals was a series of orbital roads around the city with the outer ones built as American-styleparkways, which are wide, landscaped roads with limited access and grade-separated junctions.
The report recommended electrification of all rail routes and removal ofelevated viaducts, with the elimination of railway bridges crossing the Thames being a key priority.[1] It was hoped that the removal of the river bridges would enable the redevelopment of theSouth Bank.
The proposals included a highly ambitious system of two-track bored rail tunnels in loop-shaped routes beneath built-up areas, large enough to handle mainline trains.[1] These tunnels would provide atube-like service, but without the need to change from a mainline train to a tube train. As a result, some tube routes would be transformed into freight-only routes, with the northern portion of theCircle line specifically mentioned in this consideration.
The proposed railway tunnels would have been as follows:[1]
An “Inner Ring” and an “Outer Ring” of freight-only railways was also proposed:[1]
These proposals were further reported on in May 1946 by the Railway (London Plan) Committee, which had been appointed by the Minister of War Transport in February 1944. It was chaired bySir Charles Inglis. The committee concluded that the cost and time required to carry out the recommendations of the London plan meant that the proposals would not be achievable in a short period of time and could not be carried out until adequate alternative capacity could be provided. Of the four central proposals the one supported by the committee was the North-South Tunnel. The 1946 report recommended a dozen new routes totalling over 100 miles, estimated to cost £230m and take at least 30 years to build. Among them were 'route 8', fromEast Croydon toFinsbury Park, in tunnel fromNorbury viaStreatham,Brixton and theVictoria line route, except Victoria-Hyde Park Corner-Bond St-Euston.[2]