Written and presented by the ever-entertaining Jay Foreman, I’ve rather enjoyed this video about the 1970s motorway-crazed London ‘Ringways’ project that – thankfully – never fully came to life.
A Westway for SW9
Brixton was going to be particularly blighted by one of these proposed ring road schemes, with an elevated motorway planned to tower above Coldharbour Lane – see the proposed plans here.
Although the scheme was eventually abandoned, work on the daunting Barrier Block had already started, which explains why the centre of Brixton ended up with a building that rather looks like a prison.
If you’ve not seen Foreman’s work before, be sure to check out his equally amusing piece on the Northern Line extension that never was.
[London: Roads to nowhere (Independent)]
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