Edgware Road is a major road in Greater London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes several name changes along its length, including Maida Vale, Kilburn High Road, Shoot Up Hill and Cricklewood Broadway; but the road is, as a whole, known as Edgware Road, as it is the road leading to Edgware.

The road runs from central London to the suburban town of Edgware, beginning at Marble Arch in the City of Westminster and heading north to Edgware in the London Borough of Barnet. It is used as the boundary for four London boroughs: Harrow and Brent to the west, and Barnet and Camden to the east.

Route

thumb|Edgware Road at Paddington

The road runs north-west from Marble Arch to Edgware on the outskirts of London. It crosses the Harrow Road and Marylebone Road, passing beneath the Marylebone flyover. The road passes through the areas of Maida Vale, Kilburn and Cricklewood. It then crosses the North Circular Road before West Hendon at Staples Corner. After this, the road continues in the same direction, through the Hyde, Colindale, Burnt Oak, and then reaches Edgware.

thumb|Shoot-up Hill, one of several names for Edgware Road.

The southernmost part of the road forms part of the London Inner Ring Road and, as such, is part of the boundary of the London congestion charge zone. However, when the zone was extended in February 2007, the road became part of the "free through routes" which allows vehicles to cross the zone during its hours of operation without paying the charge.

The southern part of the road between Marble Arch and Maida Vale, noted for its distinct Middle Eastern cuisine and many late-night bars and shisha cafes, is known to Londoners by nicknames such as Little Cairo, Little Beirut and, especially near Camden, Little Cyprus.

As it passes through the various neighbourhoods, the road name changes several times, becoming Maida Vale, Kilburn High Road and Shoot-Up Hill (in Kilburn), and Cricklewood Broadway (in Cricklewood), before becoming Edgware Road once again with intermittent stretches as West Hendon Broadway, and the Hyde. Along the entire route, it retains its identity as the A5 road under the Great Britain road numbering scheme. The A5 continues beyond the end of the Edgware Road, following the old Roman road for much of its route and terminating at Holyhead, Wales (a port for Ireland).

History

thumb|Roman Britain, with the route of Watling Street in red

thumb|Hyde Park toll gate

Before the Romans, today's Edgware Road began as an ancient trackway within the Great Middlesex Forest. and "Little Beirut."

The postal codes of the area are W1, W2, NW1 and NW2.

The part of the road between Marble Arch and the Marylebone Flyover also separates the areas of Marylebone and Bayswater.

Sculpture "The Window Cleaner" by Allan Sly outside the tube station.|thumb

Edgware Road is well represented in terms of communities from across the Middle East and North Africa.

The 'Tyburn tree', once the principal site of executions in London|thumb

Transport

thumb|A number 16 bus

thumb|One of the Edgware Road tube stations

Edgware Road has several London bus routes, and is intersected by several London Underground lines along its length or nearby. A number of schemes have been put forward in the past to construct an underground railway line underneath Edgware Road, including a plan to extend the Bakerloo line north to Cricklewood and an unusual proposal to build an underground monorail system, but these schemes did not succeed. Today, London Buses provide the only public transport along the length of the road.

National Rail

Mainline and Overground rail stations:

  • Marylebone station (Chiltern Main Line)
  • Paddington station (Great Western Main Line)
  • (Midland Main Line)
  • (Midland Main Line)
  • (Watford DC line)
  • (Watford DC line)

London Underground

  • Edgware Road (Bakerloo line)
  • (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines)
  • (Central line)
  • (Bakerloo line)
  • (Bakerloo, Circle and District lines)
  • Paddington (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
  • (Jubilee line)
  • (Bakerloo line)

Bus routes

Night bus N16 is the only route to run the full length of the Edgware Road, from Victoria station to Edgware.

Day bus routes operating over a significant length of Edgware Road are:

  • 6
  • 7
  • 16
  • 23
  • 32
  • 36
  • 98
  • 189
  • 316
  • 332
  • 436

References

  • Go west for a taste of Arabia – while it lasts from thelondonpaper

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