Possible North London Radial
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Of all the proposed roads that are documented on these pages, the PNLR is among the most vague and uncertain (rivalled only by the virtually ethereal M13). It initially appeared on one very early GLC planning document showing outline proposals for major roads in North London; literally a series of pencil lines drawn on a blank page. This referred to it with the name we favour, the Possible North London Radial - here abbreviated to PNLR. It is the only radial route that was invented by the GLC; all others followed existing corridors or had been in planning for years.
Since then, it has also turned up in the consultant's report for the North Cross Route, where the layout of the interchange between the two roads was detailed, though it was made clear that the PNLR proposal was very distant at that time. The consultants referred to it as either the North London Radial Route or the Kings Cross Radial, and allowed two possibilities: either it could terminate on the North Cross Route, which matches the GLC planning diagram, or it could continue south of there to terminate on the A501 Euston Road next to Kings Cross Station.
At this stage, it is not possible to say how long the idea was entertained, what stage it reached in the planning process or whether it was a real part of the Ringway plan or just an idea. It is included here for completeness.
Probable continuation to A1(M)
Spur to A111 and A110 at Cockfosters
Possible local connections to Southgate and Oakleigh Park
Probable connection to R2 North Circular Road
Possible local connections to Wood Green & Muswell Hill
Spur to A10 Great Cambridge Road
Possible local connections to Holloway & Finsbury
R1 North Cross Route (possible terminus)
A501 Euston Road
The route
In the only plan we have so far (shown right; click to enlarge), this radial route appears to commence on the A1081 near the entrance to Dyrham Park. This is rather an odd place to finish a radial motorway, but in the 1960s this road was still the A6, and it's less than a mile from that point to the A1 and Ringway 3's Northern Section at South Mimms. One short linking section of motorway would connect the PNLR to the A1(M) motorway towards Stevenage, which - as things stand - has no continuation in to London. The PNLR was probably, therefore, the new route for the A1 or A1(M) in to the central area.
The motorway would curve gently south-eastward, north of Old Ford Manor Golf Club and across Monken Hadley Common to join the East Coast Main Line (ECML) railway towards London. There is not enough detail on the plan diagram of the PNLR to be able to tell which side of the railway it was intended to run.
Travelling south through Barnet, a junction would be provided on the A110 at New Barnet Station. Another, near the B1453 Russell Lane, would connect to a spur which would have run north-west to the A111 Cockfosters Road, about halfway between the A110 roundabout and the Piccadilly Line underground station.
Continuing south, the PNLR would have interchanged with the Ringway 2 North Circular Road at New Southgate, then the A504 south-east of Alexandra Palace, from where the local roads would have been substantially improved to join the southern end of the A10 dual carriageway to the east. From this point onwards, the PNLR would have carried A10 traffic toward the central area. A final local junction would have been provided on the A503 at Finsbury Park.
Just south of Caledonian Park, where the ECML passes under the North London Line railway, a free-flowing junction would have linked the motorway to the Ringway 1 North Cross Route. The consultants' report for the North Cross Route considerately plotted the layout of this junction, should it ever be needed, allowing for the two possibilities that the motorway would either terminate here or continue further south.
Proposed junction with the North Cross Route at Kings Cross. Click to enlarge
Had it continued, the motorway would have followed the east side of the ECML's last mile, terminating on the A501 Euston Road immediately outside Kings Cross station, though there is nothing to suggest what this junction might look like or how it might have affected Kings Cross and St Pancras stations.
