it’s a chunk of Roman road (Watling Street, which ran from Dover to Chester via London), and they did like nice straight lines, insofar as the landscape let them.
The London-Holyhead road it forms part of was the first road built to improve communications between London and Dublin after the 1800 Act of Union, and because it was a mail and stagecoach route it is built to be as flat and straight as possible, for the horses.
>The section of the A5 between London and Shrewsbury is roughly contiguous with one of the principal Roman roads in Britain: that between Londinium and Deva (Chester)
The steering wheel was invented a surprisingly long time after the regular rolling wheel. So in those days they just pointed in the direction they wanted to go and couldn’t turn until they got there. That’s why trains were so popular. They could still turn without a steering wheel.
Romans. It’s the site of the original Gauntlet, traditionally 7 miles long but truncated for the ITV show Gladiators in the 1990s.
yo wtf i wanna go drive that next time im there
Bloody romans
Because it’s built on top of Watling Street, the old Roman road.
Because the Romans were off that day.
It’s almost entirely straight (a couple of turns but it gets back onto the same course) from Park Street Railway Station near St Albans right through to Marble Arch. I’ve thought about walking it later this year, maybe in the summer.
The standard of driving on that specific road is so bad that planners decided against complicating it by adding corners.
It’s great to cycle. Straight from all the way up near st Albans in fact!
I’d be more intrigued about the 1 hr 20 to go 10 miles….
I once cycled it on my way from SE London to East Lancashire. God it’s a boring road. I turned off it near Nuneaton and boy was I glad
I want to go on a horse and buggy ride.
Leylines duuude
It’s Pothole Alley!
Same reason most of the A1 (or at least the old Roman road that runs next to large sections of it) is pin straight where it can be. Ermine street and all that. I used to live 200m from a huge section of it, it is ridiculously straight. They did a good job when setting it out. It’s even on a six foot high + ridge.
Take another look at the map of London. You will see lots of Roman roads. Kingsland Road (A10) for example, runs through Dalston and basically runs straight all the way to Tottenham, wiggles a bit but carries on as the main road to Cambridge.
Did you cycle this route?
It has some sort curves but not noticeable when you’re zoomed out.
If you follow the A5 onto the A5183 it leads to a place called London Gate, in St Albans that is Masonry foundations of an ancient Roman city gate at the archaeological site of Verulamium.
25 comments
Romans.
This might not be correct but it could be because of the old Roman road route perhaps. Just a guess.
[EDIT] My search results confirm this – [roman road map britain uk](https://www.startpage.com/sp/search?query=roman+road+map+britain+uk&cat=web&pl=opensearch)
To avoid bandits and robbers round bendy bits
it’s a chunk of Roman road (Watling Street, which ran from Dover to Chester via London), and they did like nice straight lines, insofar as the landscape let them.
The London-Holyhead road it forms part of was the first road built to improve communications between London and Dublin after the 1800 Act of Union, and because it was a mail and stagecoach route it is built to be as flat and straight as possible, for the horses.
>The section of the A5 between London and Shrewsbury is roughly contiguous with one of the principal Roman roads in Britain: that between Londinium and Deva (Chester)
From [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A5_road_(Great_Britain))
To get out of Elstree quicker
The steering wheel was invented a surprisingly long time after the regular rolling wheel. So in those days they just pointed in the direction they wanted to go and couldn’t turn until they got there. That’s why trains were so popular. They could still turn without a steering wheel.
Romans. It’s the site of the original Gauntlet, traditionally 7 miles long but truncated for the ITV show Gladiators in the 1990s.
yo wtf i wanna go drive that next time im there
Bloody romans
Because it’s built on top of Watling Street, the old Roman road.
Because the Romans were off that day.
It’s almost entirely straight (a couple of turns but it gets back onto the same course) from Park Street Railway Station near St Albans right through to Marble Arch. I’ve thought about walking it later this year, maybe in the summer.
The standard of driving on that specific road is so bad that planners decided against complicating it by adding corners.
It’s great to cycle. Straight from all the way up near st Albans in fact!
I’d be more intrigued about the 1 hr 20 to go 10 miles….
I once cycled it on my way from SE London to East Lancashire. God it’s a boring road. I turned off it near Nuneaton and boy was I glad
I want to go on a horse and buggy ride.
Leylines duuude
It’s Pothole Alley!
Same reason most of the A1 (or at least the old Roman road that runs next to large sections of it) is pin straight where it can be. Ermine street and all that. I used to live 200m from a huge section of it, it is ridiculously straight. They did a good job when setting it out. It’s even on a six foot high + ridge.
Take another look at the map of London. You will see lots of Roman roads. Kingsland Road (A10) for example, runs through Dalston and basically runs straight all the way to Tottenham, wiggles a bit but carries on as the main road to Cambridge.
Did you cycle this route?
It has some sort curves but not noticeable when you’re zoomed out.
If you follow the A5 onto the A5183 it leads to a place called London Gate, in St Albans that is Masonry foundations of an ancient Roman city gate at the archaeological site of Verulamium.
London Gate
St Albans AL3 4AJ
Follow A5183 to A5 in London
1 hr 19 min (21.2 mi)
140 Edgware Rd
Tyburnia, London W2 2RD