Gosford Green Island
Gosford Green Island | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
Location | |||
Coventry | |||
County | |||
Warwickshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Coventry | |||
Junction Type | |||
Roundabout | |||
Roads Joined | |||
A444, A428, B4110 | |||
Junctions related to the A444 | |||
Gosford Green Island is a roundabout which marks the southern end of Jimmy Hill Way, formerly Phoenix Way in Coventry.
History
The junction was first planned in the 1960s and would have provided the main connection between the North-South Motorway and Junction 3 of the Inner Ring Road. The short freeflowing route between these two roads was known as the Gosford Spur and would have been the intended route for traffic travelling between M6 J3 and the city centre. Plans at the time show a partial freeflow junction at Gosford Green with the mainline of the spur continuing eastwards onto Binley Road but the detail is rather vague and no large scale plans have been found.
By the 1970s two different layouts are known to exist. These plans from 1974 contain two options for the junction. One is a roundabout with full access to the North-South Motorway and the other has two sets of traffic lights with only north facing slips onto the motorway. There is no suggestion as to which option is the preferred but the former clearly offers the most potential.
All looks well so far but in 1981 the Gosford Spur was replaced with the Far Gosford Street Relief Road which is better known as Sky Blue Way. The roundabout immediately to the east of Junction 3 of the Inner Ring Road which was intended to be temporary was retained. The North-South Road which by now had long lost any chance of seeing blue signs was eventually built as the A444 in the 1990s. A simple roundabout now occupies the location where the original interchange was planned.
Plans to fill the missing section of the A444 southwards to Whitley Island now seem unlikely. By the late 1990s the council had deleted it from unitary development plans citing local opposition.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
(M6), Nuneaton, Bell Green, Stoke Heath | ||
(M1 South, M40), Warwick (A46), City Centre | ||
Rugby, Stoke Aldermoor, Binley | ||
Bilton Ind. Est, Whitley, Coventry Airport | ||
(M6), Nuneaton | ||
(M40), Warwick (A46) |