North Circular Road

The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a 25.7-mile-long (41.4 km) ring road around the northern half of inner London. It runs from Chiswick in the west to North Woolwich in the east via suburban north London, connecting various suburbs and other trunk roads in the region. Together with its counterpart, the South Circular Road, it mostly forms a ring road around inner London, except for crossing of the River Thames to the east, which is done by the Woolwich Ferry. The road was constructed in the Interwar period to connect local industrial communities and by pass London. It was upgraded after World War II, and was at one point planned to become a motorway as part of the controversial and ultimately cancelled London Ringways scheme. In the early 1990s, the road was extended to bypass Barking and meet the A13 north of Woolwich, though without a direct link to the ferry. The road's design varies from six-lane dual carriageway to urban streets; the latter, although short, cause traffic congestion in London and are regularly featured on local traffic reports, particularly at Bounds Green. The uncertainty of development has caused urban decay and property blight along its route, and led to criticism over its poor pollution record. Several London Borough Councils have set up regeneration projects to improve the environment for communities close to the road.