I regularly make a journey via the A40, and coming off of the White
City flyover there was always a queue of traffic, sometimes backing up
onto the flyover itself, to lights roughly he
http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap...180893&A=Y&Z=1
.. Then several weeks ago the lights were out of action with cones
blocking off the other roads at the junction. These have since gone
and the lights are back in action. Pleasingly, the huge queues which
usually developed seem to have gone. Have these lights been rephased?
Or is this just some strange coincidence? Makes my journey far more
pleasent and speedy, though I doubt the rose seller is very happy!

That junction is, I think, called Scotch Corner, and is a terrible
bottleneck for Westbound traffic, partly because the Eastbound
carriageway has a longer green to allow right-turning, and partly
because the carriageway reduces from 3 lanes to 2 shortly after.

That the traffic there has improved may possibly be due to the
re-opening of the Hammersmith Flyover, which means less traffic is
diverting onto the A40, and that it is holiday season.

"Richard J." wrote in message
...

No, it's Savoy Circus (junction of the A40 with Old
Oak Common Lane / Old Oak Road at East Acton).

All of the official plans for improving this junction called it "Western
Circus". I've never heard of Savoy Circus.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

John Rowland wrote:
"Richard J." wrote in message
...

No, it's Savoy Circus (junction of the A40 with Old
Oak Common Lane / Old Oak Road at East Acton).

All of the official plans for improving this junction
called it "Western Circus". I've never heard of Savoy
Circus.

What officialdom call something and what people call it are not always the
same thing. Originating from west London I've only ever heard it referred to
as Savoy Circus which name is derived from the cinema that formerly stood on
the south-east corner of the junction.

Cast_Iron wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
"Richard J." wrote in message
...

No, it's Savoy Circus (junction of the A40 with Old
Oak Common Lane / Old Oak Road at East Acton).

All of the official plans for improving this junction
called it "Western Circus". I've never heard of Savoy
Circus.

What officialdom call something and what people call it are not
always the same thing. Originating from west London I've only ever
heard it referred to as Savoy Circus which name is derived from the
cinema that formerly stood on the south-east corner of the junction.

London Buses seem to be confused about this junction. Spider maps show
separate bus stops called Western Circus and Savoy Circus on some routes.
They seem to be on opposite sides of the same junction. You can even get a
route planned from one to the other usng the TfL Journey Planner.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

AstraVanMan wrote:

Also, as someone mentioned it - Scotch Corner is *not* the junction of
Knightsbridge and Brompton Road (also Sloane Street) on the A4 -
that's Scotch House. Scotch Corner is quite a distance from there -
it's the Junction up the A1 and the A66 just South of Darlington -
around 240 miles away from Scotch House. I've heard Scotch House
wrongly called Scotch Corner quite a number of times on traffic news
though!

Scotch House used to be the shop at that junction (now Burberrys). The
junction itself may once have been known as Scotch House Corner, but it *is*
now known as Scotch Corner.
The BBC site has a traffic cam called "A4 Knightsbridge / Scotch Corner",
and it's also mentioned at the Visit London (ex London Tourist Board) site:
"Opposite, on Scotch Corner, you'll find Burberry"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/j...ps/040261.html
http://www.visitlondon.com/html/inde...pgd=59&rcd=329

--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)

Also, as someone mentioned it - Scotch Corner is *not* the junction of
Knightsbridge and Brompton Road (also Sloane Street) on the A4 -
that's Scotch House. Scotch Corner is quite a distance from there -
it's the Junction up the A1 and the A66 just South of Darlington -
around 240 miles away from Scotch House. I've heard Scotch House
wrongly called Scotch Corner quite a number of times on traffic news
though!

Scotch House used to be the shop at that junction (now Burberrys). The
junction itself may once have been known as Scotch House Corner, but it
*is*
now known as Scotch Corner.
The BBC site has a traffic cam called "A4 Knightsbridge / Scotch Corner",
and it's also mentioned at the Visit London (ex London Tourist Board)
site:
"Opposite, on Scotch Corner, you'll find Burberry"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/j...ps/040261.html
http://www.visitlondon.com/html/inde...pgd=59&rcd=329

Maybe so. I still reckon they're all wrong :-) My A-Z still calls it
Scotch House (and that's the 2003 edition as well).

Anyway, it doesn't bother me, as I always cut through Beauchamp Place/Pont
Street/Chesham Place/Belgrave Square/Chapel St, and then up around Hyde Park
Corner when heading into Central London on the A4 - saves all that queuing
up to Scotch Corner (or whatever it's called). Even though there's an
underpass at the end of all the queues I still find it quicker on the vast
majority of occasions to go via Belgave Square.

Peter

Though this practice of naming junctions after the names of local
businesses
is rather vulnerable to them changing their name. The Nags Head on
Holloway
Road (at the A1/A503 junction) was renamed to some Irish-themed name a few
years ago despite the old name appearing on road signs and bus timetables.

It was a particular pain in the ass when the Spaghetti factory near Junction
6 on the M6 changed from producing Spaghetti to Fettuccine.

Peter

In message , Grebbsy McLaren
writes

Or long-departed undertakers in the case of Chalker's Corner (where the
A316 crosses the South Circular in Mortlake).

Chalkers were still there within my memory (i.e. the last ten years or
so, when I was at school in the area...)

You must have only just missed their demise, which was in 1993 as I
recall. The corner shop became a veterinary surgery in 1994. But I
predict that the junction will continue be known as Chalker's Corner for
many years to come in traffic reports - Medivet's Corner doesn't have
quite the same ring to it!

--
Paul Terry

nmtop40 wrote:
London Buses seem to be confused about this junction. Spider maps
show separate bus stops called Western Circus and Savoy Circus on
some routes. They seem to be on opposite sides of the same junction.
You can even get a route planned from one to the other usng the TfL
Journey Planner.

There is a signpost as you approach the junction Westbound which does
tell you what the name of the junction is.

Result of site visit: The signposts on all approaches to the junction (A40
Westway and Old Oak Common Lane) call it Savoy Circus, as does the Ordnance
Survey street atlas. The bus stops are split about 50-50 between Savoy
Circus and Western Circus.
--
Richard J.
(to e-mail me, swap uk and yon in address)