This is the key unbuilt length of the M23, which came surprisingly close to construction in about 1972 before being pushed back and ultimately abandoned.
Publication of orders
Interestingly, the section of M23 that exists, Hooley-Crawley, was built under a set of legal orders that also included the unbuilt section to the north. As a result the legal paperwork already exists for the M23 almost all the way to its planned northern terminus – unless it has since been partially revoked, to remove the legal status of the unbuilt length. This possibility hasn’t been investigated.
Publication of the legal orders for the M23 “Mitcham to Crawley” happened in May 1968. The start point of this scheme was “70 yards north west of the junction of Bolstead Road with Oakleigh Way, and 300 yards south west of the junction of Beechholme Avenue with Edgehill Road, Mitcham”. That description places the start of the scheme two thirds of the way up the railway from Mitcham Common towards the motorway’s terminus at Streatham Vale, roughly the point at which sliproads would start diverging for its northern terminal interchange1.
The terminal interchange itself, and the connecting length of Ringway 2 between the A23 and A24 which was also to be built by the MOT/DOE, also had orders published2.
References
- Legal orders for the M23, Mitcham to Crawley, as published in May 1968, including the SI itself and line diagrams for the full route, are held at GLC/DG/PTI/P/05/050 ↩︎
- Side road orders with accompanying plans for the “Delta” interchange are held at GLC/DG/PTI/P/05/055 ↩︎