The A102 is a road that starts in Clapton, east London, and ends by merging into the A2 road just south of the Sun in the Sands roundabout in

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

, south-east London. The A102 was formerly a continuous route including two motorway sections classified as the A102(M), but road renumbering means that it is separated into two sections linked by the A106 and the A12, one consisting of non-primary urban roads and the other a

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

south of the river. The route includes the

Blackwall Tunnel The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, England, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. The northern portal lies just south ...

Route

North section

The A102 starts in Clapton at the junction of Lower Clapton Road and Urswick Road. It runs south along Urswick Road and continues east past 16th century Sutton House and into Homerton High Street. It next turns south and runs along Kenworthy Road and then east into Wick Road for a short distance before the road designation ends at the A106 just to the west of the

Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in east London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are sometimes a ...

interchange with the A12.

South section

South of the A12/A13 interchange with the adjacent landmark

Ernő Goldfinger Ernő Goldfinger (11 September 1902 – 15 November 1987) was a Hungarian-born architect and designer of furniture. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the Modernist architectural movement. He is most prom ...

designed

Balfron Tower Balfron Tower is a 26-storey residential building in Poplar, Tower Hamlets, East London. Built in a Brutalist style, it forms part of the Brownfield Estate, an area of social housing between Chrisp Street Market and the A12 northern approach ...

, the designation of the Blackwall Tunnel Approach reverts to the A102 through the Blackwall Tunnels and under the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

to Greenwich. The road continues south-east as Blackwall Tunnel Southern Approach with flyovers over Blackwall Lane ( A2203) and Woolwich Road (

A206 List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the ...

) before it heads south and climbs the hill to the Sun-in-the-Sands interchange with Shooters Hill Road ( A2/ A207) where it ends a short distance to the south of the junction as the road becomes the A2 road which joins from the roundabout above.

History

The section of the former A102 now designated as the A12 and the two sections of the A102(M) were all constructed in the mid- and late-1960s as part of the

East Cross Route East Cross Route (ECR) is a dual-carriageway road constructed in east London as part of the uncompleted Ringway 1 as part of the London Ringways plan drawn up the 1960s to create a series of high speed roads circling and radiating out from cen ...

which was intended to be the eastern section of the Ringway 1 (also known as the London Motorway Box), an ambitious and controversial

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

plan to surround London with high speed roads – known as the

London Ringways The London Ringways were a series of four ring roads planned in the 1960s to circle London at various distances from the city centre. They were part of a comprehensive scheme developed by the Greater London Council (GLC) to alleviate traffic con ...

– which was eventually cancelled. When the A12 extension was opened through

Wanstead Wanstead () is a town in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge, London, Redbridge to the east and Forest Gate to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is ...

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...

and

Leyton Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...

to meet the north end of the East Cross Route at the Lea Interchange (and prompting the

M11 link road protest The M11 link road protest was a campaign against the construction of the M11 link road in east London in the early to mid-1990s. "A12 Hackney to M11 link road", as it was officially called, was part of a significant local road scheme to connect t ...

), the northern section of the A102(M) and the A102 as far south as the A13 were renumbered A12. The southern section of the A102(M) was reclassified as a general purpose road when Transport for London was given control of trunk roads in Greater London in 1999.Richard M Green https://math.colorado.edu/~rmg/roads/a102m.html

References

External links

www.sabre-roads.org.uk - A102
{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0102 Roads in England Roads in London Streets in the London Borough of Hackney Streets in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Streets in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Transport in the London Borough of Hackney Transport in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Transport in the Royal Borough of Greenwich