The A312 is an

A road A roads may be *motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian). * main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B and sometimes lower c ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, running across west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

from

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

to Harrow. Its status varies from a local urban street to a major dual carriageway in

Hayes Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Hay ...

. Part the road has been diverted to make way for

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

, while another stretch was originally planned to be Ringway 3, one of four major ring motorways around London.

Route

The road is part

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 ...

, part non-primary, which reflects its status as a mix of local and regionally important traffic. The primary section of the road, under the name The Parkway (and part of it as Hayes Bypass), is a 5-mile

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 ...

trunk road with speed limits of 30 to 50 mph, running north–south from

Northolt Northolt is a town in West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing. It had a population of 30,304 at ...

's Target Roundabout to the A30 interchange in Hatton. The non-primary section is mostly a single carriageway and consist of urban roads, particularly the northern part, where it serves as the main road through Northolt and

South Harrow South Harrow is the southern part of the town of Harrow, located south-west of Harrow-on-the-Hill in the London Borough of Harrow. Its development originally spread south and west from the hamlet of Roxeth in the urbanisation process and eas ...

. The southern end goes through more residential areas and ends at the foot of

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

. The A308 to

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

and

Sunbury-on-Thames Sunbury-on-Thames (or commonly Sunbury) is a suburban town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, centred southwest of central London. Historically part of the county of Middlesex, in 1965 Sunbury and other ...

is a short distance to the south.

History

Originally, the middle section from Hatton to

ran via Harlington. This road from Hatton to Harlington (then a country road) was demolished in the 1940s during the construction of

- the northern half of the road in Harlington remains today as the A437, High Street. The A312 itself was rerouted from Hatton via a new road through Cranford to Hayes which opened c. 1959, again via today's A437 (North Hyde Road). Later, a new road called The Causeway was built, cutting between the two balancing reservoirs of Heathrow's

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. ...

control. The A312 no longer went via the centre of Hatton (by

Hatton Cross tube station Hatton Cross is a combined London Underground station and bus station. It is located on the Heathrow branch of the Piccadilly line. It is in Travelcard Zones 5 and 6 and stands between the Great South West Road ( A30) and the Heathrow Airport ...

) and joining the A30, instead going straight from Faggs Road via The Causeway to The Parkway.

London Ringways

The section of the road between Heathrow and Hayes was originally planned to be part of the Ringway 3 scheme, one of four concentric ring roads around London as part of 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 ...

project. In 1969, the

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 ...

widened the A312 north of the A30 near Heathrow to

. Named The Parkway, it was intended to eventually become Ringway 3. In November 1975, the Transport Minister John Gilbert announced that the sections of Ringway 3 in south and west London, including the Parkway, were cancelled. They would be replaced by the M25, running further away from London.

Hayes Bypass

The Hayes Bypass section of The Parkway was opened, after long delay, in September 1992, cutting through Bulls Bridge, Pump Lane Industrial Estate and

Yeading Yeading ( ) is a settlement in west London, forming part of the London Borough of Hillingdon, having been developed after the Second World War. Etymology Yeading is very early Saxon and was originally ''Geddingas'' or ''Geddinges'', meaning "the ...

. The A312 thus also no longer went through Yeading Lane, the main road of Yeading, and that was afterwards changed to a local road. The bypass also led to the creation of White Hart Roundabout, named after a pub nearby. At the time, the town centre of Hayes and Old Southall were heavily congested beyond its supply. This was partly because there was no direct link between the A40 Western Avenue at Northolt and the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

(which leads to Heathrow). Although supported by the local councils (

Hounslow Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...

Hillingdon Hillingdon is an area of Uxbridge within the London Borough of Hillingdon, centred 14.2 miles (22.8 km) west of Charing Cross. It was an ancient parish in Middlesex that included the market town of Uxbridge. During the 1920s the civ ...

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was his ...

) and the

, the Hayes Bypass was long delayed, and construction would not start until the late 1980s. The new trunk road provided relief to Hayes town centre and eventually led to it to be

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

Gallery

Playing Fields off Lower Road, Harrow - geograph.org.uk - 175024.jpg, A312 Lower Road, looking east towards West Street and

Harrow on the Hill Harrow on the Hill is a locality and historic village in the borough of Harrow in Greater London, England. The name refers to Harrow Hill, ,Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) and is located some half a mile south of the mod ...

South Harrow, Station Parade, Northolt Road - geograph.org.uk - 596260.jpg, A312 Northolt Road in South Harrow A312, Petts Hill (geograph 5890039).jpg, A312 Petts Hill, in

Pond, Minet Country Park - geograph.org.uk - 93303.jpg,

Minet Country Park Minet Country Park is a 36-hectare park on Springfield Road, Hayes in the London Borough of Hillingdon; it is situated between the A312 (Hayes by-pass) and the Uxbridge Road. History Awarded a Green Flag for the first time in 2009, Minet Countr ...

just off The Parkway in Hayes The Parkway passing over the Grand Union Canal, near to Bulls Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1178717.jpg, The Parkway bridge running over the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

near Hayes Hayes Bypass (A312) just prior to opening. Hayes, Middlesex - geograph.org.uk - 40562.jpg, The Hayes Bypass shortly before its opening in 1992, when the completed road was in use for the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit Hayes Town, Middlesex - geograph.org.uk - 36805.jpg, The A312 running through Hayes town centre in 1981, before the creation of the bypass to the east Hayes - The Parkway A312 (geograph 6624899).jpg, View of The Parkway in Hayes The Parkway Road near Cranford - panoramio.jpg, View of The Parkway near Cranford Road bridge and covered walkway over railway line - geograph.org.uk - 951124.jpg, The A312 Harlington Road East and a walkway running over the Waterloo-Reading rail line near

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston has been held by Labour Party ...

A312 in Hanworth (geograph 4530284).jpg, A312 Hampton Road West in

Hanworth Hanworth is a district of West London, England. Historically in Middlesex, it has been part of the London Borough of Hounslow since 1965. Hanworth adjoins Feltham to the northwest, Twickenham to the northeast and Hampton to the southeast, with ...

Longford River in Bushy Park - geograph.org.uk - 373825.jpg, The Pantile Bridge crossing the

Longford River The Longford River is an artificial waterway, a distributary designed to embellish a park, that diverts water from the River Colne at Longford near Colnbrook in England, to Bushy Park and Hampton Court Palace. Its main outlet is to the re ...

, across the very southern end of the A312 in Hampton

References

Citations Sources * *

External links

SABRE - A312
{{DEFAULTSORT:3-0312 Roads in England Streets in the London Borough of Ealing Streets in the London Borough of Harrow Streets in the London Borough of Hillingdon Streets in the London Borough of Hounslow Streets in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames