The A217 is a

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It runs north–south. It runs from

Kings Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, crosses the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

Wandsworth Bridge Wandsworth Bridge crosses the River Thames in west London. It carries the A217 road between the area of Battersea, near Wandsworth Town Station, in the London Borough of Wandsworth on the south of the river, and the areas of Sands End and Par ...

, then passes through

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

Earlsfield Earlsfield is an area within the London Borough of Wandsworth, London, England. It is a typical south London suburb and comprises mostly residential Victorian terraced houses with a high street of shops, bars, and restaurants between Garratt Lan ...

, Summerstown,

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...

, Rosehill and

Sutton Common Sutton Common is the name of former common land and a district and neighbourhood located in Sutton, London. The area is mostly located within the London Borough of Sutton, with some of the streets to the north and west of Sutton Common Park ...

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

, then

Cheam Cheam () is a suburb of London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is divided into North Cheam, Cheam Village and South Cheam. Cheam Village contains the listed buildings Lumley Chapel and the 16th-century Whitehall. It is adjacent to t ...

. Then, widened as a dual carriageway, comes Belmont, a suburban district built on a slope rising southward. On the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

the road then skirts past

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

and through its late 19th century offspring villages particularly

Burgh Heath __NOTOC__ Burgh Heath ( or, especially amongst older residents, ) is a residential neighbourhood with a remnant part of the Banstead Commons of the same name. Immediately north of Upper Kingswood on the A217 road, it adjoins part of Banste ...

and

Kingswood, Surrey Kingswood or Kingswood with Burgh Heath is a residential area on the North Downs in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Part of the London commuter belt, Kingswood is just to the east of the A217 road, A217 separating it from ...

. It then crosses the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major ring road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 th ...

at Junction 8, then, returning to single carriageways, passes through the castle town of

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

. It then cuts through the green buffer farmland of two rural villages and terminates at the road network at

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...

's northern perimeter.

Route

Fulham to Tooting

The A217 starts as a non-primary A-road named Wandsworth Bridge Road,

in the

London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 as the London Borough of Hammersmith from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs ...

and runs for 0.8 miles (1.3 km) before crossing over the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

. The road enters the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and

London borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in South West (London sub region), South West London, England. It forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main communities are Battersea, Balham, P ...

. The road turns right at a roundabout on to Swandon Way, becoming a primary route for a short stretch (as a continuation of the A3205), before passing

Wandsworth Town railway station Wandsworth Town railway station is in the London Borough of Wandsworth, in south London, in Travelcard Zone 2. It is down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway. History The station opened ...

. It is briefly called Fairfield St before meeting the A3 (Wandsworth High St.). The road reverts to non-primary status, and changes name to

Garratt Lane Garratt Lane is a long street (numbered to 1085) in the London Borough of Wandsworth, part of the A217 road. It connects Wandsworth High Street to Tooting Broadway and is approximately long. It passes through the Earlsfield and Summerstown nei ...

, passing Southside shopping centre, before it heads out of Wandsworth and into

. It passes the B234 shortly before reaching

Earlsfield railway station Earlsfield railway station is on the South West Main Line serving Earlsfield in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South London. The station is in Travelcard Zone 3, from and situated between and . It is operated by South Western Railway, as ...

. It continues through Summerstown as Garratt Lane and the road passes the B229 (Burntwood Lane) before it reaches Streatham Cemetery. In Lower

, it meets Tooting Broadway, a busy junction with the

A24 A24 Films LLC, commonly referred to as A24, is an American Privately held company, independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. The studio is based in Manhattan. The company ...

and

tube station The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

, before becoming Mitcham Road and passing the B241 (Rectory Lane). It passes

Tooting railway station Tooting is a railway station serving Tooting in South London; it is within Travelcard Zone 3. The station is located in the London Borough of Merton but fronts onto the London Borough of Wandsworth where Tooting is actually located. The stat ...

and this is where the road exits the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Mitcham to Belmont

It becomes London Road as it enters the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a London borough in London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...

. It continues through the one-way system at Mitcham and passes Mitcham tram station before becoming Bishopsford Road. The road enters the St Helier Estate, firstly in the Morden area before the Carshalton part in the London Borough of Sutton. The road reaches Rosehill, which contains a busy 6-way roundabout, before becoming a primary class A-road as it becomes Reigate Avenue (effectively the

by-pass.) As the

by-pass, the road passes the B279 (Sutton Common Road) and

area, which changes name to Oldfields Road and passes the Tesco superstore in the Kimpton Park commercial and industrial area on the edge of Sutton Common. It passes a crossroads with Gander Green Lane and becomes St Dunstans Hill before reaching a junction in

with the A232 (High St and Ewell Road). It becomes Belmont Rise and goes past a crossroads with Northey Avenue and the road leaves the suburban area of Belmont, as well as Greater London.

Bishopsford Road Bridge

=Details

= The A217 crosses the

River Wandle The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...

in Mitcham on ''Bishopsford Road Bridge'', also known as ''Mitcham Bridge''.

=Flood and collapse

= On 10 June 2019, unusually high river waters began while the bridge was being surfaced.

Jack post A jack post (screw jack, telepost, adjustable steel column) is a steel post used in the construction trades for temporary support of loads such as ceilings, walls, and formwork, concrete formwork, and as shoring in trenches. They are designed to b ...

s had been placed underneath to support the vehicles and machinery. These trapped debris (branches, weeds etc.) for four days. The pent-up head of water surged through causing

Bridge scour Bridge scour is the removal of sediment such as sand and gravel from around bridge abutments or piers. Hydrodynamic scour, caused by fast flowing water, can carve out '' scour holes'', compromising the integrity of a structure. In the United ...

(eroding) up to deep and undermined the bridge footings. This led to the partial collapse of the northern arch on 14 June 2019. The southern arch was unaffected and the central arch suffered minor structural damage. Due to the collapse, the road is anticipated to reopen by the onset of Summer 2021. The Borough Council's repair work involved FM Conway and the Environment Agency. They have stabilised the bridge, pre-inspection and repair. Crack-injection and underpinning has secured the central arch. Bed scouring to the west has been filled with stone and gravel; that under the north arch, with marine concrete. Works halted for insurance investigators to inspect for evidence of liability.

Banstead to Lower Kingswood

At the road enters Surrey, it meets the B2230 again at a roundabout to the south of Belmont before entering the notorious 'Mad Mile' section (Brighton Road). The speed limit changes from 40 to 60 mph (97 km/h) and returns to 40 mph at the Banstead Crossroads junction with the A2022. For the next 5 miles, the road has an unbroken chain of average speed cameras, all of which the speed limit is 40 mph. In this area the road passes

Banstead Downs Banstead Downs is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Banstead in Surrey. There are Saxon burial mounds on the site and they are a Scheduled Monument. Today, with wooded areas and wide open fields, Banstead Downs are predominantly ...

, and its golf course. After passing the Banstead Crossroads, it acts as a boundary between Nork and

as it heads towards

, passing the junctions with Garratts Lane (B2219) and Tattenham Way (B2221) before reaching the A240 (Reigate Road) at the centre of Burgh Heath. It passes near the large suburban villages of

Tadworth Tadworth is a large suburban village in Surrey, England in the south-east of the Epsom Downs, part of the North Downs. It forms part of the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. At the 2021 census, Tadworth (and Walton-on-the-Hill) had a population ...

and Kingswood, passing several B-roads, including the B2032. It travels beside Banstead Heath (still as Brighton Road) before reaching the small settlement of

Lower Kingswood Lower Kingswood is a village located in Surrey, just within the M25 motorway. It is between Kingswood and Reigate, and is bisected by the A217 dual carriageway. Neighbouring settlements include Tadworth and Reigate also Redhill. History ...

. After passing a roundabout near Kingswood Manor, the road arrives at the Reigate Hill Interchange, which is also Junction 8 of the M25.

Reigate to Horley

At this point, the A217 becomes a non-primary A-road. It is now named Reigate Hill, in a very steep section of the

. The area become more urban at the bottom of the hill, on the northern outskirts of the town of

. It passes through a level crossing next to Reigate station. It runs concurrently with the A25 through the main one-way system of Reigate town centre. It carries on through the localities of Woodhatch and Doversgreen before going into a very rural area. It travels over the

River Mole The River Mole is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. It rises in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flows north-west through Surrey for to the Thames at Hampton Court Palace. The river gives its name to the Surrey district ...

in the small hamlet of Sidlow. After a period of farms, the road passes the village of Hookwood, taking a left turn at a roundabout. Continuing past Povey Cross, the road reaches Longbridge Roundabout on the border with

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

Landmarks on the route

*The converted

Young's Brewery Young's (Young & Co.'s Brewery Plc) is a British pub chain operating nearly 220 pubs. The company was founded as a brewery in 1831 by Charles Young and Anthony Bainbridge when they purchased the Ram Brewery in Wandsworth. The company closed ...

South Thames College South Thames Colleges Group (STCG) is a large further education institution that operates four colleges in south-west London: South Thames College, Kingston College, Merton College, and Carshalton College. The four main campuses are in Wandswort ...

and

Southside Wandsworth Southside Wandsworth is a shopping centre in the district of Wandsworth in London, England. When it was built it was the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe and is currently the fifth largest indoor shopping centre in London after Westfie ...

Tooting Broadway tube station Tooting Broadway is a London Underground station in Tooting in the London Borough of Wandsworth, South London. It is on the Northern line between Tooting Bec tube station, Tooting Bec and Colliers Wood tube station, Colliers Wood stations, and ...

* Figges Marsh (Park), Tooting *

Cricket Green *

Mitcham tram stop Mitcham tram stop is a Tramlink stop in Mitcham in the London Borough of Merton. It is located between Belgrave Walk and Mitcham Junction, just east of the former Mitcham railway station, which closed in 1997. The stop consists of twin platf ...

and Station House *Rosehill Recreation Ground *

Downs *Banstead Heath *

College, Town Hall and castle ruins/tunnel *

Sidlow Sidlow is a mainly rural, lightly populated village in the parish of Salfords and Sidlow, in the south of the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Geography and sublocalities Sidlow is the west of the civil parish; a high propor ...

Bridge over the

River Mole, Surrey The River Mole is a tributary of the River Thames in southern England. It source (river), rises in West Sussex near Gatwick Airport and flows north-west through Surrey for to the River Thames, Thames at Hampton Court Palace. The river gives it ...

*Holiday Inn Gatwick/Longbridge Roundabout/Best Western Gatwick Moat House

Illegal racing at Banstead

The stretch of the A217 nicknamed ''The Mad Mile'' has been a focal point of illegal

street racing Street racing is an illegal form of motor racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is likely as old as the a ...

since the mid-20th century. It is a straight length of dual carriageway which runs downhill from the

crossroads with the A2022 to the roundabout with the B2230 near Belmont. The road's notoriety developed shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

due to the increasing affordability and popularity of motorbikes and cars. During the early 1980s, bikers illegally marked out "starting grids" at either end of the Mile on more than one occasion, which were later scrubbed out by the local authority; this activity restarted in the early 2000s among wayward modified car enthusiasts, whose races would often take place on Thursday nights. Information regarding races spread quickly through increasing use of the Internet and some participants and spectators travelled to races from as far away as Birmingham. Police presence gradually diffused this illegal activity, but it has not completely disappeared. Measures to stop these races include barriers erected on the centre grass verge which runs the length of this stretch, where people used to park to watch illegal road use.

Fatal incidents

In August 2006 two men illegally racing along this stretch of a public highway caused an accident that killed three people, a separate offence, and were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of years. Aggravating the offence committed, the conviction found from the evidence in the case that the two men were driving recklessly at a speed much faster than the limit on the road at the point of the accident.

References

External links

SABRE Roads By Ten – A217
{{DEFAULTSORT:2-0217 Roads in West Sussex Roads in London Roads in Surrey Streets in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Streets in the London Borough of Wandsworth Transport in the London Borough of Merton Transport in the London Borough of Sutton