A117
A117 | |||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||
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From: | Aldersbrook (TQ418862) | ||||||
To: | Woolwich Ferry (TQ431796) | ||||||
Distance: | 5.1 miles (8.2 km) | ||||||
Meets: | A116, A118, A124, A13, A1020, A112, Woolwich Ferry | ||||||
Primary Destinations | |||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||
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Route
The A117 is an urban A-road in east London. It once formed part of the under-capacity eastern end of the North Circular, until the late 1980s when the South Woodford - Barking relief road opened as far as the A13. Now only its southernmost section, the Woolwich Ferry approach road, still has this role.
Aldersbrook - Woolwich Ferry
At its northern end, the A117 starts at a mini-roundabout on the A116, the western half of which road also formed a North Circular Road section. Then heads south past Manor Park Station (GER), and crosses the A118 just to the south. The road is now East Ham High Street North, and passes as you'd expect through East Ham, though the plethora of shops large and small causes massive congestion. This was partly alleviated at the southern end of High Street North (where it meets A124 Barking Road) by diverting traffic onto a more westerly alignment (Ron Leighton Way, completed some years back), and only having northbound buses use the High Street (special gates exist to stop non-authorised vehicles).
The A117 reaches traffic lights on the A124; to get back to the A117 alignment, you have to turn left onto the A124 and then right at the next set of lights by East Ham Town Hall. Here the A117 becomes High Street South, less commercial, more residential, and less congested. It reaches the A13 and passes under the newly built D3 Beckton Flyover, and now becomes the impressively styled Woolwich Manor Way, though it's bog-standard S2! It passes through East Beckton, and then meets the A1020 Royal Docks Road at the Gallions Reach roundabout - the A1020 forms the North Circular Road from south of the A13 junction.
Lesson
After this bridge the A117 then bends to the west on its way to North Woolwich, before meeting the A112 end-on just to the north of the Woolwich Ferry northern quay. The A117 TOTSOs left to continue as far as the ferry ramps. What happens to the ferry if the Thames Gateway Crossing opens is anyone's guess.