Every time I find myself wandering through Brixton town centre, I can’t help but play a little game of “what if?” It’s genuinely hard to imagine a completely different Brixton, one where the monstrous South Cross Route, a forgotten piece of the London Ringway, actually got built. Seriously, picture it – it’s like something out of a dystopian sci-fi movie, but with more cars and double-decker buses.
Let’s rewind to the swinging sixties, when the car was king and everyone seemed to be saying, “More motorways, please!” Motorways and ring roads were popping up all over the UK faster than you could say “traffic jam.” That is, until the 1970s rolled around, and suddenly, road protests started making some noise (pun intended!), and land costs went through the roof. Most of these grand projects either got scaled down or, thankfully, bit the dust entirely.
One of those ambitious (and frankly, terrifying) projects was the South Cross Route. This wasn’t just a road; it was a six-lane elevated motorway designed to scythe right through the very heart of Brixton. Imagine a colossal concrete beast towering above your head, making the sky a little less blue and a lot more… grey. This behemoth would have required tearing down countless properties and basically ripping the existing urban fabric of Brixton to shreds. And get this: it was all part of a grand redevelopment plan by the Greater London Council (GLC) that included building over a dozen 50-storey tower blocks. Fifty! That’s like putting a mini-Manhattan in South London, but without the hot dog stands. The kicker? Despite the sheer scale of this concrete leviathan, there wasn’t even a direct junction for local access in Brixton town centre. So, you’d have this massive motorway, but getting on or off it locally? Nope! Though, they did consider “express bus lay-bys.” Phew, crisis averted!
My imagination really goes into overdrive trying to visualise this motorway hanging over Brixton. It’s even more mind-boggling when you consider that detailed engineering plans for this unbuilt monstrosity aren’t readily available online. You’d think for something so colossal, there’d be blueprints galore, but nope! While the overall concept of the Ringways is pretty well-documented, specific blueprints for sections like the Brixton elevated motorway are as rare as a quiet night in Soho. Even the dedicated researchers at “Roads.org.uk” have noted that the engineering diagrams and reports for the South Cross Route “have disappeared and no trace has yet been found.” Perhaps they were eaten by a particularly hungry concrete mixer?
The Barrier Block: A Legacy of What Wasn’t
However, there’s a fascinating and very tangible legacy of this unbuilt motorway: Southwyck House, affectionately (or perhaps not-so-affectionately) known as the “Barrier Block.” You can check out its story here: https://southwyckhouse.wordpress.com/southwyck-house-history/. Located on Coldharbour Lane, its stark, fortress-like design, complete with small windows and a zig-zag facade, wasn’t just an architectural whim. Oh no, it was specifically designed to act as a noise and pollution barrier for the housing estate tucked behind it, anticipating that elevated motorway running right alongside. It’s like building a giant, concrete bouncer for a whole neighbourhood!
Now, for most people, this building is a bit of a hate affair. The architect, Magda Borowiecka, has often been vilified, even by some of the very people who commissioned the project. But let’s be fair, we often forget that this building was basically meant to hide a huge, colossal problem – that gargantuan overhead motorway that never materialised. And, let’s not overlook the fact that Southwyck House was actually built to provide good quality, affordable housing in Brixton, which, let’s be honest, is a sadly rare sight in London these days. So, it’s not all bad, right? It just looks a bit… protective.
This thought often brings me right back to Brixton town centre, and I can’t help but wonder what it would truly look like today if the South Cross Route had won. If the car’s monopoly had truly taken hold, would Brixton still be the vibrant, eclectic community we know and love? Or would it be a grey, concrete wasteland, forever overshadowed by a colossal highway? I, for one, am incredibly grateful for the protests, the rising land costs, and whatever else stopped that concrete nightmare from becoming a reality. What do you think Brixton would be like today if the motorway had been built?