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The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts. The increase in population of Brighton in the late eighteenth century, which transformed it from a small fishing village to a large seaside resort, enhanced the importance of this road, as did the residence there of George IV, as Prince of Wales, who made Brighton a place of fashion. The original A23 has been bypassed around Croydon, and by the M23 motorway for the section between Hooley and Crawley. The route from London to Brighton forms the basis of the route of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. This is featured in the film Genevieve, although most of the rural motoring scenes were shot in Buckinghamshire. The A23 is used for various other London to Brighton events.
Route The A23 begins as Westminster Bridge Road near Waterloo station. Almost immediately it turns south; the straightness of much of the heading south shows its Roman origins. The road becomes: - Kennington Road: long; near Kennington Park it joins the A3 (Kennington Park Road), but soon bears south again, becoming in turn over the next :
- Brixton Road
- Brixton Hill
- Streatham Hill
- Streatham High Road
- at Norbury the road becomes London Road; after , at
- Thornton Heath the Croydon bypass, Thornton Road and then Purley Way (known for its superstores, particularly Ikea, and for the site of Croydon Airport) takes the place of the original road through Croydon, now the A235, rejoining the A23 at Purley near the Purley War Memorial Hospital, now named Brighton Road.
- continuing south through Coulsdon on the newly-opened Farthing Way (the relief road for Coulsdon town centre), over the North Downs to Hooley, the start of the M23 motorway.
- through the built-up areas of Merstham, Redhill and Salfords, skirting Horley
- making an end-on connection with the M23 spur to Gatwick Airport the A23 becomes a dual carriageway as it is diverted round the airport; it rejoins the original route at Lowfield Heath and continues south into Crawley as London Road
- Crawley Ring Road: the original road was through the town
- Pease Pottage, southern junction with the M23
- through the relatively rural countryside of West Sussex, the road runs into Brighton over the South Downs
- the road ends at Old Steine, Brighton, at a roundabout intersecting with the coastal A259 road, and opposite the entrance to the Palace Pier.
Major roads intersected by the A23 Improvement scheme On March 18, 2010, plans to widen the section between Handcross and Warninglid in West Sussex to three lanes, removing an accident prone bend, were given the go ahead. Work started in autumn 2011.[1][2] See also References External links nl:A23 (Groot-Brittanni ) no:A23 (Storbritannia)
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