Marylebone Flyover

Image: © Stephen McKay Taken: 26 Apr 2007

This easily-missed plaque is fixed to the side of the Marylebone Flyover which carries the A501 over the A5 (Edgware Road), just before it becomes the A40(M) Westway. The plaque dates from a time when such a structure was considered a matter for civic pride, rather than an ugly monstrosity; the unattractive white building in the background does nothing for the aesthetics of the scene either. Desmond Plummer was leader of the GLC between 1967 and 1973 - effectively the equivalent of the modern-day mayor. He was a strong advocate of urban motorways, and this flyover was intended to be part of a 'motorway box' - a series of concentric motorways that would have ringed London. The scheme involved the compulsory purchase and demolition of a large number of houses and was deeply unpopular - contributing to the defeat of the Conservatives at the GLC elections in 1973 shortly after which Plummer left politics and the motorway box was never completed.

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