Sunbury Cross

Sunbury Cross was a major meeting of several roads near Sunbury railway station, but it is now better known as junction 1 of the M3.

The construction of the Staines Reservoirs Aqueduct divided the junction. The clock tower and Running Horse pub were landmarks at the junction.

The area was totally demolished with the construction of the M3.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
M3	The SOUTH WEST, (M25)
A308	Staines
A308	Kingston, Kempton Park
A316	C. London, Richmond, Heathrow Airport, Feltham
	Sunbury Station	no through road. Station Road
	Lower Sunbury	7.5 Ton weight limit. Green Street. Direct, albeit unsigned, route to Shepperton and Walton Bridge.
	Feltham Young Offenders Establishment	Vicarage Road
A305	London, Richmond, Feltham
R3	The NORTH, The WEST (M4, M40, M1), Heathrow Airport, Uxbridge, Hounslow
R3	(A3, A24, A23), Kingston, Sutton, Croydon

History

Sunbury Cross in the 1920s

Originally a five-way junction at the southern end of the A305, on the A308, Sunbury Cross has been proposed as the beginning of a new radial out of London since the 1920s (though, admittedly, the A305 was planned to be bypassed further in by the New Chertsey Road and upgraded through Hanworth).

Sunbury Cross in the 1937 plan

In the 1930s, plans continued for a route to head South East from here, joined by a new plan for a route to terminate on that route just to the west of Sunbury Cross.

Initial proposal for the junction with Ringway 3

In the early 1960s, the route to the South West had become the M3, and the route to the north was planned to become a motorway too and extended south east from the junction towards Croydon. The proposed junction would consist of two roundabouts with slip roads alongside the M3 joining the two.

Later design with freeflowing turns

By 1966, it was recognised there would be a lot of turning traffic between the two motorways and therefore a freeflow design with west facing turns only for Ringway 3 was recommended. There would be no access to the M3 for local traffic.

Three level stacked roundabout

An alternative to the above allows all movements to be provided at a large roundabout.

It should be noted that no final layout appears to be have chosen before the Ringway 3 plans were abandoned after 1973. The eastern of the two roundabouts was built as planned when the M3 opened in 1974 which by default leaves provision for the R3 component to be added later.