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42-575: Western Avenue may refer to: United Kingdom [ edit ] Western Avenue (London) United States [ edit ] Western Avenue (Albany, New York) Western Avenue (Chicago) Western Avenue (Los Angeles) Western Avenue (Washington, D.C.) Western Avenue (Metra Milwaukee District) on the Milwaukee District/North Line, Milwaukee District/West Line, and North Central Service Western Avenue (Metra BNSF Railway) on

84-584: A climbing slip-road from Gloucester Terrace. Eastbound, one lane diverges from the mainline to a sliproad crossing the railway to Paddington station via Westbourne Bridge . The bridge once carried traffic from Harrow Road to Bishops Bridge Road but was blocked at the north end and appropriated for the Westway scheme. Continuing westward, the Westway runs parallel with the Great Western Main Line , before turning south-west at Westbourne Park and crossing

126-532: A densely populated area involved the clearance of a large number of buildings adjacent to the railway, particularly in the area west of Westbourne Park, where several roads were truncated or demolished to make way for the concrete structures. London County Council architect Hubert Bennett speculated that some sections of the road viaduct would pass within 20 feet (6.1 m) of people's homes. Compulsory purchases of properties began in 1962, with an estimated 3,356 people needing to be rehoused. Many properties on

168-538: A new school. In March 1971, it was announced that all 41 homes on Acklam Road would be demolished. By 1972, it had been estimated approximately 5,000 families had lost their homes for each mile of the Westway constructed. In 1974, the GLC announced 11.5 acres (4.7 ha) of land in Notting Hill to the north of the Westway would be compulsory purchased and redeveloped with new apartments and screening walls to reduce noise from

210-802: A roundabout, Western Circus became known as Savoy Circus, when the Savoy cinema opened at the junction in 1931. East of this point is the Westway , part of the A40 Central London link to Paddington . After Savoy Circus, the dual carriageway takes a bend towards North Acton , crossing the North London line and the Great Western Main Line . The first major junction is Gypsy Corner (with the A4000, 0.8 miles (1.3 km)), connecting northwards to Park Royal and Harlesden and southwards to Acton town centre. Starting with

252-525: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Western Avenue (London) Western Avenue is part of the A40 , a major road running in a north-westerly direction out of London. Western Avenue is approximately 10 miles (16 km) long from its junction with Old Oak Common Lane in East Acton . A notable landmark on Western Avenue at Perivale , near Greenford,

294-502: Is entitled "Westway". The Westway is referenced in Pete Doherty 's "Broken Love Song", in the line "By the Westway, Inside The Scrubs ", as he claimed to have once lived beside the Westway in a caravan. It is also featured on the front cover of A Weekend in the City by Bloc Party . The picture, part of A Modern Project was taken by German photographer Rut Blees Luxemburg . The Westway

336-541: Is the Art Deco Hoover Building , now a Tesco supermarket and 66 homes. The road was first proposed in 1912 as a bypass of Uxbridge Road, part of the historic coaching road from London to Oxford. Construction began in 1921 and continued throughout the 1920s and 30s. It was completed to Denham in 1943. When first constructed, all intersections with other roads were flat junctions with roundabouts , resulting in significant congestion at busy periods . In

378-651: The A312 , 6.5 miles (10.5 km)), a junction for Heathrow Airport ; and the Polish War Memorial junction (with the A4180, 7.5 miles (12.1 km)) for RAF Northolt . In the final few miles of the road, there are minor junctions with the A437 (Hillingdon Circus) to Ruislip and Hillingdon , and with the B467 (Swakeleys Roundabout) to Uxbridge , before the road ends at the junction with

420-754: The Hanger Lane Gyratory System (with the A406 and A4005 , 2 miles (3.2 km)); this is followed by a junction with the ( B452 ) at Perivale (4 miles (6.4 km)), connecting southwards to West Ealing and the River Thames at Kew Bridge ; the Greenford Roundabout (with the A4127, 5 miles (8.0 km)), connecting northwards to Harrow and southwards to Southall ; the Target Roundabout (with

462-626: The M40 at the Denham Roundabout , northwest of Uxbridge. Western Avenue borders RAF Northolt in South Ruislip . On Tuesday 13 August 1996, in a very unusual accident, a Lear Jet landing at the airfield overshot the runway and ended up crashing into a van that just happened to be passing on the A40. The van driver was not seriously injured, despite being trapped for 40 minutes. It was later determined that

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504-619: The Pink Fairies , played several free benefit and charity concerts underneath the motorway, pictures of which appeared on the inner sleeve of Hawkwind's second album In Search of Space . One such concert by the Pink Fairies under the Westway - disrupted by the police because a neighbour complained that was unable to hear his television over the noise - is referenced in the track "Right On Fight On" on their second album What A Bunch Of Sweeties . The opening track on Sky 's 1979 debut album

546-678: The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . At its eastern end, the Westway starts to the west of the Marylebone Flyover ( A501 ), which takes traffic over the junction of Edgware Road ( A5 ) and Marylebone Road (part of the London Inner Ring Road ). Between the Westway and the flyover, a section of surface-level road allows westbound traffic from the flyover to turn-off on to the Harrow Road ( A404 ) or eastbound traffic from

588-571: The BNSF Railway Line Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Western Avenue . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Avenue&oldid=1238658827 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Road disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

630-435: The GLC with a 25% grant from central government. The main contractor was John Laing & Sons , while the flyovers at the eastern end were engineered by Sir Bruce White and Partners. The road was planned to support three lanes in each direction, but was upgraded to include hard shoulders in 1966. The route was chosen to follow the easiest path from Western Avenue to Paddington which paralleled existing railway lines. To

672-570: The Harrow Road to access the flyover. Eastbound traffic from the Westway cannot exit here to reach the Edgware Road and continues on to the flyover. Heading west, the Westway rises as it passes Paddington Green and crosses the Grand Union Canal branch to Paddington Basin . As the road passes Westbourne Green on the north and Royal Oak Underground Station on the south, it gains a lane from

714-463: The West Cross Route was built with the capability to be extended once the planned northern continuation of the latter road was constructed to Harlesden . Two stubs on the roundabout's north side were built for the connection of slip roads and the alignment of the slip roads between the West Cross Route and the roundabout avoided the planned line of the road to the north. The Westway was funded by

756-431: The Westway, saying "a more inappropriate and negative use for the space could not be imagined". The North Kensington Amenity Trust (now Westway Development Trust ), was founded in 1971 to develop the land for local community use. Since 2000, local charity Urban Eye has initiated a programme of cleaning, painting, and lighting to improve the visual appearance and safety of the areas under the flyover structure. Because of

798-437: The Westway. Shortly after opening, a group of residents planned to blockade the motorway and stop traffic in protest at the excessive noise of the road. Eight houses on Walmer Road, North Kensington, severed by the construction of the Westway, were planned to be demolished and their residents re-homed, but there were no plans for other nearby properties. Until 1973, there was no legal obligation to compensate anyone living outside

840-499: The Westway. The land underneath the road was used as a setting for riots in the films Breaking Glass and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid . Episode Mangrove of the anthology series Small Axe features a time lapse visual effects montage of the Westway construction. Westway was a BBC World Service radio series that ran from 1997 until 2005. It featured the community surrounding the road. The Westway has featured in songs by several British rock bands. The Clash referred to

882-420: The boundaries of the highway, no matter how close their property was or what nuisance the road may have caused. On 9 August 1970, the Westway was closed for an hour after a group of 80 protesters marched along the road carrying placards. Four people were arrested. The following month, the GLC announced that a further 28 homes on Walmer Road would be compulsory purchased and the residents moved, in order to build

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924-835: The construction costs and public opposition of the Westway, most of the London Ringways scheme was cancelled in 1973. The Westway, the West Cross Route and East Cross Route in east London were the only significant parts to be built. Other parts of the Ringway network were later built as all-purpose roads , including the M11 link road from Hackney to Redbridge , which drew major protests and opposition . Westway lost its motorway status in May 2000 when responsibility for trunk roads in Greater London

966-540: The construction work in 1968, aged nineteen. The road was opened to traffic by the Minister of Transport John Peyton and junior transport minister Michael Heseltine on 28 July 1970 at a total cost of £30 million (£586 million in 2023), and classified A40(M). At its opening the road was the largest continuous elevated structure in Europe and was constructed with some advanced features, such as heating grids on slopes to control

1008-590: The crash may have been caused when the Spanish pilot and co-pilot were having a disagreement over who should handle the landing. There was only one passenger on the Lear Jet, an actress named Lisa Hogan, who was slightly injured. Citations Sources Westway (London) The Westway is a 2.5-mile (4 km) elevated dual carriageway section of the A40 trunk road in West London running from Paddington in

1050-592: The early 1960s, the Hanger Lane junction was improved, with an underpass built to take Western Avenue under the A406. Then, during the 1980s and early 1990s, the road was expanded, and all the junctions west of Hanger Lane were improved. A flyover was built at the Greenford Roundabout to take Western Avenue over the A4127; the other junctions take Western Avenue under the crossing road. The last junction to be improved

1092-532: The east to North Kensington in the west. It connects the London Inner Ring Road to the West London suburbs. The road was constructed between 1962 and 1970 to connect the proposed London Ringways motorway scheme to Paddington, and opened as the A40(M) . It was the first urban motorway project in London and attracted criticism for the lack of care over the environment, the well-being of local residents and communities, and

1134-582: The east, the GLC had purchased slums between Harrow Road and the Grand Union Canal for redevelopment, and the Westway was planned to run along the southern edge of this. An elevated road was cheaper to construct and required less land to be directly built on, and had worked well for previous road construction projects, such as elevated section of the M4 from Chiswick to Langley and the Five Ways interchange at Hendon . However, passing an eight lane elevated motorway through

1176-502: The eastern end of Western Avenue . From the elevated road between Westbourne Park and Ladbroke Grove, Trellick Tower is visible to the north; east of the roundabout, the site of Grenfell Tower is visible to the south. With the extension westward of the London Congestion Charge Zone between 19 February 2007 and 4 January 2011, the part of the road between Westbourne Park and the Westway roundabout that passed through

1218-419: The flow of traffic. This plan had developed from early schemes prior to World War II through Patrick Abercrombie 's County of London Plan , published in 1943, and the following year's Greater London Plan, to a 1960s Greater London Council (GLC) scheme that would have involved the construction of motorway-standard roads across the city, requiring substantial demolition. The elevated roundabout junction with

1260-419: The formation of ice. After completion a corridor of wasteland remained below the motorway, which the government had no plans to develop. The Westway was planned and constructed in an era before environmental impacts were routinely considered, and it caused controversy at the time for the effects it and the vehicles it carried had upon the local community and the environment. At the opening ceremony, Heseltine

1302-452: The handling of those whose homes would be demolished. Road protests increased following its opening. In 2000, the Westway was downgraded to an all-purpose road after the formation of Transport for London . The road has become a significant London landmark and has been noted in several works of popular culture. The road is 2.5 miles (4 km) long and is located in the City of Westminster and

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1344-404: The line of the route were put on short-term rental or left derelict. The local area was disrupted by the flow of heavy goods traffic moving materials to the construction site and taking spoil away. The road was mostly constructed from pre-stressed and post-tensioned concrete, which was cast offsite and moved into position as required. Tensioning cables were then passed through conduits cast into

1386-411: The motorway. The project has since been condemned for the negative effect it had on local communities and housing, and contributed to the increased interest in anti-road protesting. The British Road Federation called the Westway "one of the insensitive and socially unacceptable examples of motorways." The North Kensington Playspace Group was established in 1966 by Adam Ritchie, who strongly criticised

1428-459: The protagonist couple in the song are "lost on the Westway", and the road is mentioned in two other songs by the band, " Fool's Day " and " Under the Westway ". Dirty Pretty Things refer to the Westway in the song "Truth Begins"; the opening lyrics are "The Westway walls so tall and bleak / Reflect the words we dare not speak". Local groups from the Ladbroke Grove scene, notably Hawkwind and

1470-502: The railway to run immediately adjacent to London Underground 's Hammersmith & City line as far as Ladbroke Grove station . The road then returns to an east–west alignment to the elevated roundabout junction with the West Cross Route ( A3220 ) and flyover above this, crossing the Central line and Wood Lane ( A219 ) before returning to ground level and continuing to the junction with Old Oak Common Lane where Westway connects end-on to

1512-609: The road in " London's Burning ", and the group's Joe Strummer described their music as "the sound of the Westway". The group's documentary Westway to the World is named after the road. Swiss post-punk group Chin Chin used the same turn of phrase for the title of their 1985 LP The Sound of the Westway. The cover for The Jam 's 1977 album This Is the Modern World was taken under the Westway. Blur 's 1993 song " For Tomorrow " mentions that

1554-485: The sections and tightened to achieve the bearing capacity necessary to carry the weight of traffic. Joints between sections were minimised in order to provide a smoother journey. The road was designed with a main speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) aside from the sliproads, which were designed for 30 miles per hour (48 km/h). All elevated sections of the road were designed to support HA loading plus 45 units of HB loading in any direction. Prince Charles visited

1596-489: The zone was designated as a "free through route" that allowed vehicles to cross the zone without paying the charge. The Westway was built as an extension of Western Avenue to form a link from Paddington to Ringway 1 , the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network, part of a complex and comprehensive plan for a network of high speed roads circling and radiating out from central London designed to manage and control

1638-561: Was Hillingdon Circus. Here, the work diverted Western Avenue to the north of the old line of the road, taking it under both the A437 and the Uxbridge branch of the Metropolitan line ; Hillingdon London Underground Station was rebuilt as part of the work. Further expansion plans in the late 1990s resulted in the demolition of more than 100 houses along the eastern part of the road. However, these plans were ultimately never realised. Originally

1680-572: Was jeered by protesters armed with placards. A group of squatters moved into vacant houses on Freston Road near to those demolished for the Westway, forming a so-called "independent state" of Frestonia . Residents on Acklam Road, which ran parallel to the Westway between Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park, draped a large banner across several houses reading "Get us out of this hell! Rehouse us now!" Locals complained about having to use Westbourne Terrace and Gloucester Terrace , both residential streets with several listed buildings, as access roads for

1722-542: Was set in a junction between motorways, one of which is the Westway. In the novel, the protagonist has an accident on the road while speeding and is consequently stranded in waste ground between motorways with nobody able to help. The 1997 murder mystery A Certain Justice by P. D. James was set in an area being demolished for the Westway, referring to houses "rising in great choking clouds of ochre dust". Chris Petit 's 1979 road movie Radio On includes several shots of

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1764-617: Was transferred from the Highways Agency to the Greater London Authority . In 2013, the Mayor of London , Boris Johnson , announced parts of the Westway would be reconstructed to allow a separated cycleway to be built on it. The space required would be provided by reducing vehicle capacity. These plans were abandoned in 2016. The Westway is referred to in J. G. Ballard 's 1973 novel Crash . The following year's Concrete Island

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