Euston Road

Euston Road is an important thoroughfare in central London, England and forms part of the A501. It is part of the New Road from Paddington to Islington, and was opened as part of the New Road in 1756. It was London's first bypass, through the fields to the north of London in the 1740s, but it is now generally regarded as being in central London.

The New Road was intended to provide a route for sheep and cattle to be driven to Smithfield Market and for this reason the road terminated at Islington where it joined the existing St. Johns Street. The road also provided a quicker route for army units to exit London. Building of the New Road was opposed by the Duke of Bedford as it cut off his estate in what is now Bloomsbury from the countryside and construction required an enabling act of Parliament.

Strips of terrace houses developed along both sides of the Road and in 1832 Euston Station opened to the North of the New Road. The Fitzroy Family had become the main property owner in the area and in 1852 the Road was renamed as Euston Road after 'Euston Hall' their country house.

The area around the junction with Tottenham Court Road suffered significant bomb damage during the Second World War. Under the Greater London Plan of Patrick Abercrombie Euston Road was widened. In 1960 - 61 a major set of transport modifications resulted in the destruction of the entrance to Euston Station and the construction of the underpass at the junction with Tottenham Court Road.

During the 1960s office developments grew around this junction including the Euston Tower skyscraper that now forms part of Regent's Place, attracting a number of significant tenants, most notably the former ITV broadcaster Thames Television who had their corporate headquarters there from 1970 to 1993.

The road runs from west to east from Marylebone Road to Pentonville Road. It meets the northern end of Tottenham Court Road at a large junction where there is an underpass. Traffic runs in three lanes in each direction though this is currently restricted at the Eastern end due to ongoing site works at the King's Cross railway station and St Pancras railway station. The road is commonly clogged with traffic throughout much of the day.

The road is on the edge of the London congestion charge zone. This means that road users are not charged for using the road itself, but are charged if they turn south into the zone. The road also approximately marks the edge of Travelcard Zone 1 of Transport for London.

Notable architecture

King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations are at the eastern end of the road, the British Library is nearby, and Euston station is a little further to the west. Euston Tower is also on the road. Both the old and new headquarters of the Wellcome Trust are on the south side of the road. About half-way along, at the junction with Upper Woburn Place is St Pancras New Church. Almost opposite is the Euston Road fire station, built 1901-2, in an "Arts and Crafts" style. It was designed by Percy Nobbs (1875 - 1964). At 100-110 is the Shaw Theatre. It was built in honour of GB Shaw in 1971, and completely rebuilt in 1998. The new University College Hospital building is also on the south of the road.

Euston road appears on the London edition of the board game Monopoly.

Future Proposals

In 2002 the Greater London Authority commissioned a masterplan for the improvement of Euston Road from the prominent architectural firm Terry Farrell and Partners. The study is ongoing, with some minor changes to the streetscape already applied. The work was supplemented in 2007 with a parallel investigation by the postgraduate Architecture Design Studio 15 at the University of Westminster.

Major redevelopment works are ongoing at the East end of the road linking King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations with a new passenger concourse and access to Europe via High Speed 1.

West to East

Tube stations on Euston Road

Ordered from West to East:
*Regent's Park tube station
*Great Portland Street tube station
*Warren Street tube station
*Euston Square tube station
*Euston station
*King's Cross St. Pancras tube station

External links

* [http://www.terryfarrell.co.uk/projects/masterplanning/mp_maryleboneEuston.html Farrells Masterplan]
* [http://www.meroad.co.uk Westminster DS15 Masterplan study]

References

* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=45238]