TAKING ROUTE (LIMEHOUSE LINK)

This article reports how the construction of the Limehouse Link, to a rapid schedule of little more than seven years and high environmental standards, has at last provided the adequate road access that is essential to London Docklands. Previously, the only link was the A13, one of London's most heavily trafficked roads. Although the track planning and construction of the Limehouse Link was exceptionally fast, the debate about improved road access to Docklands continued for a longer time, and began while the London docks gradually closed down between 1967 and 1985. One of the strategic recommendations of the London Docklands Strategic Plan in 1976 was for a Docklands northern relief road. Because of the urgency of the road to service the new property developments in Docklands, the London Docklands Development Corporation, formed in 1981, incorporated the relief road into its own transport strategy, which aimed to produce an integrated public and private transport network. The Limehouse Link was one of three road schemes that effectively fulfilled the function of the original relief road, and it was the last major section to be completed. The option adopted for its construction was a land-based cut-and-cover tunnel. The final access route, a tunnel link to the A13, is scheduled for 1996. For the covering abstract see IRRD 860559.