A quick google is not frightfully helpful, so I have to rely on my memory.
As far I know, the Arterial Roads had their heyday in the 1930s, with the creep of suburbia, the rise of the three bedroomed semi, and four-bedroomed detached, paralleled by the extraordinary social change brought about by the Metropolitan Railway.
Most cities and towns have an arterial road. The A127 sweeping across South Essex is even known as the Southend Arterial Road. The Western Avenue is another, as is the East Lancs as it ploughs through the Greater Manchester conurbation. The North Circular approaching Brent Cross from the West has characteristics. I've seen them in other cities and towns over the years. The Nottingham Boulevards are similar, although different.
On Saturday we took the A20 through Lee, Eltham and other commuter suburbs of SE London.
The characteristics are uniform. A straight-ish road, generally dual carriageway, usually with two lanes per carriageways, lined with 1930s villas, set a small distance back from the road, often, although not always, with a subsidiary access/service road. Even the footbridges are cloned across the country.
The history of Arterial Roads would be a superb subject to study. It would be fascinating to see the extent to which they were planned and designed together, and to look at the population changes. These houses were the first built for the motor car. How did they change the behavioural patterns of their inhabitants - did they drive to work, did they motor down to the coast?
So much to learn, so little time in which to learn it...!
