North Circular Road

The North Circular Road is the northern part of a ring-road around Central London.[2] It has seen much more investment than the South Circular Road, and it runs on much wider roads. Existing houses were demolished for the North Circular Road.[3][4] The route has other names at some points. However, it is mostly called the North Circular for route planning purposes. The route is mostly grade-separated dual carriageway from the A40 at Hanger Lane to the A13 in Beckton except for the Drury Way/Brentfield Road junction, the Golders Green Road/Brent Street junction, Henlys Corner and the section from Bounds Green to Green Lanes.[5] In worse sections, the original names such as Gunnersbury Avenue and Bowes Road are used.

The North Circular Road has a lots of different junctions that connect to other roads. Some are complex and grade-separated, like at Charlie Brown's Roundabout near Woodford. Some are at-grade junctions with traffic lights. The original road only had at-grade junctions. Many of these were improved and grade separated in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[6]

Current junctions

Name	Destinations	Notes
Chiswick flyover	A315 / A4 / A205  – Chiswick, Kew, Brentford, Staines-upon-Thames, Hounslow
Gunnersbury Park	B4491 / A4000  – South Ealing, Shepherd's Bush, Acton
	A4020  – Ealing, Southall, Acton	The historic London – Oxford postal route at Ealing Common
Hanger Lane Gyratory	A40 / A4005  – Greenford, Perivale, Alperton, Park Royal, Acton Northolt
	A404  – Harrow, Wembley, Harlesden	Near Stonebridge Park station
	Brent Park, Superstores, Wembley Stadium, Industrial Estate
	A4088  – Willesden, Neasden, Kingsbury
Staples Corner	M1 / A5  – The NORTH, Watford, Harrow, Kilburn, Cricklewood, Edgware, West Hendon	A5 is the historic Watling Street from London to Wroxeter
Brent Cross	A41 to A1 – Kilburn, Cricklewood, Hendon, Hatfield
	A502 to A1  – Mill Hill, Golders Green, Hampstead
Henlys Corner	A1 to M1  – The NORTH, Watford, Mill Hill, Hendon	West end of merge with the A1
Henlys Corner	A598  – Finchley, Golders Green	A special pedestrian crossing for Jews to use on the Sabbath is located here[7]
Henlys Corner	A1  – Central London, Holloway	East end of merge with A1
	A1000  – North Finchley, East Finchley, Chipping Barnet	The historic Great North Road
Colney Hatch Junction	B550  – Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Retail Park
Hobart Corner	A109 / A1004  – New Southgate, Whetstone, Southgate
Bounds Green interchange	A1110 / B1452  – New Southgate, Southgate	A regular congestion hotspot where traffic must narrow to single carriageway and perform a 90 degree turn.[8] Transport for London have earmarked the junction for improvement.[9]
Clockhouse Junction	A105  – Palmers Green, Wood Green, Hornsey
Great Cambridge Road Roundabout	A10 to M25 / A111  – Central London, Dalston, Hertford, Enfield, Potters Bar, Ware, Royston, Cambridge
Crooked Billet Roundabout	A112  – Chingford, Walthamstow, Highams Park
Waterworks	A104 to A503 / M11 – Woodford, Leytonstone, Walthamstow
Charlie Brown's	A1400 / A113  – Gants Hill, Chigwell	Restricted access; eastbound exit and westbound entrance. The original Charlie Brown's was the roundabout underneath this junction. It was named after a pub next to the roundabout, which was demolished in 1972.[5][10]
Charlie Brown's	M11  – Stansted, Cambridge
Redbridge Roundabout	A12  – Central London, Stratford, Chelmsford, Romford	Also the location of Redbridge tube station
	A118  – Manor Park, Ilford	The historic Roman Road from London to Colchester
	A124  – East Ham, Barking, London
Beckton Roundabout	A13 / A1020 (North Circular) to M25 / A117  – Tilbury, Dartford Crossing, Woolwich Ferry, Central London, Blackwall Tunnel

Former junctions

Name	Destinations	Notes
Waterworks Corner	A104 / A503	To avoid Epping Forest, the original build of the North Circular met the A104 at a different location by a water works northeast of Walthamstow.[11]
Gants Hill	A12 / A123	Gants Hill Underground station is also at this location.

There are three bus routes where most of the route is on the North Circular Road:

• London Buses route 34: between Bounds Green and Walthamstow/South Chingford (Crooked Billet)[12]
• London Buses route 112: between Ealing (Hanger Lane) and Finchley (Henlys Corner)[13]
• London Buses route 232: in Brent Park/Neasden and between Staples Corner/Brent Cross and Palmers Green (Green Lanes)[14]

• A406 and Ringway 2 – North Circular on CBRD
• A406 traffic updates Archived 2022-01-07 at the Wayback Machine on londontraffic.org