London Colney Roundabout
London Colney Roundabout | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
View from the footbridge over the North Orbital Road to the roundabout | |||
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Location | |||
London Colney | |||
County | |||
Hertfordshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Hertfordshire | |||
Junction Type | |||
Roundabout | |||
Roads Joined | |||
A414, A1081 | |||
Junctions related to the A1081 | |||
London Colney Roundabout is a busy roundabout connecting the North Orbital Road to routes between St Albans and the M25.
History
There was originally only one road in the vicinity of the junction, the former A6 running between St Albans and London Colney and the area was rural.
The North Orbital Road was built in the 1930s and a roundabout was built where it crossed the the existing St Albans to London Colney road. Some ribbon development started taking place around the same time with some smart inter war houses appearing along the A6.
1958 saw the A6 bypassing London Colney. This caused the A6 and North Orbital Road to meet slightly to the east of the existing roundabout so a new one was built. The former roundabout can still be made out on aerial images where the dualled North Orbital Road cuts through the middle of it.
In 1974 following the cancellation of the Ringways it was proposed to build a new section of motorway between Hunton Bridge and South Mimms to form a complete ring around London, the M25. Several routes were looked at in detail and one of these would have been an online upgrade of the North Orbital Road between Park Street Roundabout and Bell Roundabout which would remain an all-purpose road. At London Colney the 1960s roundabout would have been altered slightly with the North Orbital Road passing over the junction and the A405, now A414, to Hatfield would have joined to the east at a large limited access junction with the then A6 continuing to Bignells Corner.
An alternative to the above would have been a full motorway upgrade which would have ran parallel to the North Orbital Road between Park Street Roundabout and London Colney Roundabout before merging into what was the A6 towards Bignells Corner. Traffic from the west wanting to travel to Hatfield would have to leave at Part Street Roundabout and use the existing A405 and pass through London Colney Roundabout.
Eventually in the 1980s the M25 was built to the south on an entirely new alignment so no alterations were made to the junction at London Colney. The only changes since then has been the installation of traffic lights in the 1990s.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
Hemel Hempstead, Motorways M10, M1 | was A405 | |
Hatfield | was A405 | |
St Albans | was A6 | |
(M25), London, Hypermarket | was A6 | |
London Colney, Hertfordshire Business Centre | original A6 route |
London Colney Roundabout | ||||
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