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TheWest Cross Route (WCR) is a 0.75-mile-long (1.21 km) segment of thedual carriageway of theA3220 route inWest London running north–south between the northern elevatedroundabout junction with the western end ofWestway (A40) and the southernHolland Park Roundabout. The WCR runs throughShepherd's Bush to its west andNotting Hill to its east.
The WCR opened in 1970, together with Westway. It was formerly the M41 motorway; its status was downgraded to anA-road in 2000 when responsibility fortrunk roads inGreater London was transferred from theHighways Agency to theGreater London Authority. Although the road no longer has motorway status,[citation needed] pedal cycles are prohibited by a sign at Holland Park roundabout. Approximately halfway along the road's length a new junction was built to serve theWestfield London shopping development. Administratively the road is within theRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea with a small part being shared with bordering boroughHammersmith and Fulham.
The WCR and the other roads planned in the 1960s forcentral London had developed from early schemes prior to theSecond World War throughSir Patrick Abercrombie'sCounty of London Plan, 1943 andGreater London Plan, 1944 to a 1960sGreater London Council (GLC) scheme that would have involved the construction of many miles of motorway-standard roads across the city and demolition on a massive scale. Due to the huge construction costs and widespread public opposition, most of the scheme was cancelled in 1973 and the WCR,Westway and theEast Cross Route in east London were the only significant parts to be built.
The WCR was originally the designation for the western section ofRingway 1, the innermost circuit of theLondon Ringways network, a complex and comprehensive plan for a network of high-speed roads circling centralLondon designed to manage and control the flow of traffic within the capital. The road would have run fromBattersea toHarlesden and would have paralleled theNational RailWest London Line as an elevated road.
At the northern end, had the road been built in full, the entry and exit ramps to and from the elevated roundabout with the Westway would have been slip roads. The main route would have continued north beneath the roundabout intoNorth Kensington and on to the junction with theNorth Cross Route atHarlesden. The alignment of the slip roads leaves a wide space between for the unbuilt carriageway. On the north side of the roundabout, two short stubs indicate the starting point of the slip roads that would have been provided for traffic joining or leaving the northern section of the WCR.
South of the Holland Park roundabout, which the WCR would have passed above on a flyover, the route would have continued along the alignment of the West London Line passing overKensington (Olympia) station to a westbound-only interchange with theA4 at Talgarth Road. It would then have been elevated overEarls Court Exhibition Centre, skirted the western edge ofBrompton Cemetery, and passed byStamford Bridge stadium before an eastbound-only interchange along Lots Road to meetCheyne Walk. Next the WCR would have crossed theRiver Thames on a new bridge and entered Battersea where it would have had a junction with theSouth Cross Route.
On 13 July 1996,[1] around 6,000 protesters took over part of the elevated motorway for over eight hours from around midday, played sound-systems and danced in a protest organised by the direct action collectiveReclaim the Streets. Sand was placed on the motorway for young children to play on,[2] and a banner carrying theSituationist International slogan "The Society That Abolishes Every Adventure Makes Its Own Abolition the Only Possible Adventure" was raised.[3] Hidden underneath dancers walking on stilts and wearing huge, wire-supported dresses, environmental activists drilled holes in the tarmac and planted trees.[4][5]
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51°30′47″N0°13′15″W / 51.51306°N 0.22083°W /51.51306; -0.22083
