Henlys Corner is a brief combining junction of the
A1 and the
North Circular Road in
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...
, in the middle of which is the crossroads of the A598.
Connecting roads and public transport
The intersecting local road is
Finchley Road/Regent's Park Road. To this are added five, north-side, residential roads. The zone was described by
Arriva London
Arriva London is a bus operator operating primarily in Greater London and partially in Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus and operates services for London Buses under contract to Transport for London. Oper ...
in 2011 as a major hotspot for traffic congestion,
with approximately 94,000 vehicles traversing the junction daily.
The local road leads to
Finchley Church End northbound and to
Temple Fortune and
Golders Green southbound.
Bus 102, which runs from
Brent Cross Shopping Centre to
Edmonton Green station takes the multi-lane east–west axis.
Others crossing the junction are the
13, 112, 232 and 460.
History
It is named after the
Henlys Group garage and car dealership on the southwest corner of the site from 1935 to 1989.
The junction was created as part of the construction of the Barnet Bypass, which opened in 1928, with future provision for the North Circular. It was designed as a dual carriageway junction, but due to the
urban sprawl
Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...
of London already surrounding it, meant that by the 1950s it had a 30 mph speed limit, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. In 1967, the junction was widened to three lanes each way, which remains the basic configuration today.
In 2011 the carriageway was widened and upgraded to ease traffic flow. Traffic between from main flow to the local bisectors was allocated central space. The improvements cost over £30 million. On 13 January 2012, the Mayor of London,
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
officially opened improvements to the junction, stating "This is a tremendous example of how we are improving London’s roads for every type of user."
In October, Britain's first hands-free pedestrian crossing was installed at the junction, so that the local Jewish community did not have to use electricity or operate machinery on the
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, Ten Commandments, commanded by God to be kept as a Holid ...
. Traffic is held every 90 seconds over this duration (sunset Friday to sunset Saturday), with foot traffic principally to and from
Kinloss Synagogue.
External links
SABRE: Henlys Corner
References
{{reflist
Road junctions in London
A1 road (Great Britain)
Finchley