The A1206, also known as the Isle of Dogs Distributor Road, is a crescent-shaped

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

around the

Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England. It includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Haml ...

, in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

. It is made up of Westferry Road, Manchester Road and Prestons Road and is the main road through the area, connecting parts of Tower Hamlets.

Route

From west to east, the road starts in Poplar, then changes from Westferry Road to Manchester Road at

Island Gardens Island Gardens is a public park located at the southern end of the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north bank of the River Thames. The park was formally opened on 3 August 1895 by Will Crooks, a prominent local polit ...

. At

Cubitt Town Cubitt Town is a district on the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs in London, England. This part of the former Metropolitan Borough of Poplar was redeveloped as part of the Port of London in the 1840s and 1850s by William Cubitt, Lord Mayor of L ...

it crosses the entrance to the

West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides, and warehouses built to import goods from, and export goods and occasionally passengers to, the British West Indies. Located on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first dock opened in 18 ...

via the Blue Bridge, a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

that allows ships to reach the docks. It then becomes Prestons Road, ending in Poplar. Several side roads and buildings along Westferry Road, such as Cuba Street and Spinnaker House, have names related to the historic connection the Isle of Dogs has with the shipping industry.

History

At the start of the 19th century, Westferry Road was called the Deptford and Greenwich Ferry Road. It began to be built up as the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Poplar developed. The first bridge over the West India Dock entrance opened concurrently with the docks in 1805. The current bridge is the sixth iteration and opened in 1969. St Paul's Presbyterian Church was on Westferry Road, opening in 1859. It escaped demolition in the 1980s and was converted into an arts centre. Millwall Fire Station was at No. 461 Westferry Road and opened in 1877. It was replaced by a later building in 1905. The road was originally classified as the A1206 only as far as the bridge over the entrance to

Millwall Docks Millwall Dock is a dock at Millwall, London, England, located south of Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs. History The scheme was developed speculatively by a partnership of John Kelk and John Aird & Co.'The Millwall Docks: The docks', in S ...

. The local area was transformed after the deterioration and closure of the docks and the development of areas such as the

Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is a financial area of London, England, located in the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The Greater London Authority defines it as part of London's central business district, alongside Central London. Alongside ...

financial estate in the 1980s. To the west, Westferry Circus opened in 1991 as the main traffic entrance for Canary Wharf. The Westferry Printing Works opened off Westferry Road to the north of Millwall Dock in 1984, and subsequently became one of the largest print works in Europe.

Traffic

Because the A1206 is the main road through the Isle of Dogs, incidents on it can cause serious congestion in the surrounding area. The proposed

Silvertown Tunnel The Silvertown Tunnel is a road tunnel, opened on 7 April 2025, beneath the River Thames in east London, England. The twin-bore tunnel runs between west Silvertown, east of the River Lea estuary, on the north side of the Thames and a portal adj ...

should help alleviate this. The occasional closures of Blue Bridge to vehicular traffic (to allow ships to reach the docks) create queues in both directions.

References

Citations Sources * {{coord, 51, 29, 14, N, 00, 00, 48, W, region:GB, display=title Ring roads in London Transport in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets