Inner Ring Road

They're two images of the same stretch of the ring road - Ringway St John's In the first image it's looking towards Gulson Road, with buildings on Whitefriars Street prominent on the left The second image is the reverse view (towards where the first was taken from), with buildings in Short Street on the left of the photo

PS - if anyone wondered, like I did . . . Dystopian is the exact opposite of utopian - it describes an imaginary society that is as dehumanizing and as unpleasant as possible. Guess that sums up the ring road for some

Papering over cracks IMO. Walking alongside such a heavily used road with heavy traffic can't be good healthwise. Plus it either restricts RR to one lane in either direction or turns it into a one-way. If you get an accident on it you won't be able to avoid it by sending people in the opposite direction - it's either go into city centre or divert outwards. Nice to see someone try to think a bit differently and make the 'concrete collar' more aesthetically pleasing but it doesn't deal with it's issues 1. The trunk roads leading into it that create the tailbacks, esp on the western side. 2. The effect of making the city centre 'cut off' from the surrounding area 3. Forcing traffic towards the centre just to go around it, creating congestion. IMO that only changes if you can do some or all of the following a. Complete the outer ring road between the A45/M6 around Allesley/Coundon Wedge b. Widen the trunk roads leading into the junctions c. Separate some of the junctions so some are dedicated to attaching to the ring road whilst others are dedicated to going into the city centre For aesthetic purposes the only options are an at-grade level roadway or pedestrian routes above traffic routes

Pool Meadow Keith Draper

Great pic Prof. Given that they're shuttering the concrete with brick I'm really doubting that this is the ring road. My wild guess would be that it's culverting the river where they eventually built Fairfax Street? Pre war it was the entrance to a car park and didn't become a road until after the war. nb I keep forgetting that Fairfax Street is straighter than the river and not built until the late 60s, so the picture is the preparations for the car park, (including culverting the river) but the foreground is where the river and Fairfax Street would converge. The photographer was probably standing on Priory Street.

Christine Hill

Great photo, Prof - took me a while to orient myself and find places I recognised, but I got there in the end! Holyhead Road interchange middle left hand side? When visiting Coventry, I always love the "race track" feel of the lane changes coming from my mother's place in Wyken, via Far Gosford Street, and aiming for the Holyhead road to visit my sister! Sad that Murray Walker (F1 commentator - no relation) died this week - I could always hear his commentary as I navigated the chicanes and traffic merging from pit lane!

Johnnie, I have only been on the ring road twice in the last 3 decades and personally call it nightmare alley

The Ring Road appears to have come in for so much criticism, it is mentioned in one post that the majority of users only use it to get across town. Thought that was the idea of a ring road?

I don't understand why its called "The Inner Ring Road", we only have the one !!!

There are some who love the Ring Road for the ease of travel across Coventry. There are some who dislike it because it's so close to the centre of the city that it strangled its growth and connection to the surrounding areas.

Sorry Primrose, but which surrounding area can you not connect to?

Have a look at the aerial photo.

There is 3/4 of an outer ring road with the A45, the M6 and the Eastern Bypass. The Inner Ring Road acts as a barrier to travel in and out, especially on foot. People don't like underpasses or bridges when walking. The road itself is somewhat scary with people coming on and off in such a short overlap.