A23 road
290px The A23 near Patcham, East Sussex.
Major junctions
North end:	London (Waterloo)51°29′53″N 0°06′43″W / 51.498°N 0.112°W / 51.498; -0.112Coordinates: 51°29′53″N 0°06′43″W / 51.498°N 0.112°W / 51.498; -0.112
	M23 motorway A22 road A25 road A27 road A202 road A203 road A204 road A205 road A214 road A216 road A217 road A232 road A235 road A237 road A242 road A259 road A264 road A270 road A272 road A273 road A281 road A2011 road A2022 road A2044 road A2220 road A2217 road A2300 road A3 road A302 road A322 road A3203 road A3204 road
South end:	Brighton50°49′48″N 0°08′17″W / 50.830°N 0.138°W / 50.830; -0.138
Location
Primary destinations:	Croydon Redhill Reigate Gatwick Airport Crawley
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways • A and B road zones

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 53-mile (85 km) 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[link]

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: 1 mile (1.6 km) long; near Kennington Park it joins the A3 (Kennington Park Road), but soon bears south again, becoming in turn over the next 5 miles (8.0 km):
• Brixton Road
• Brixton Hill
• Streatham Hill
• Streatham High Road
• at Norbury the road becomes London Road; after 1.25 miles (2 km), 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.
  • here is now Surrey
• through the built-up areas of Merstham, Redhill and Salfords, skirting Horley
  • here is now West Sussex
• 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[link]

• A3 and A202 at Kennington
• A205 South Circular Road at Streatham Hill
• A214 at Streatham
• A232 at Waddon
• M23 close to Junction 7 (no southbound access)
• A25 at Redhill
• A264 at Crawley
• M23 at Pease Pottage
• A272 at Bolney
• A27 Brighton Bypass at Mill Road Roundabout

Improvement scheme[link]

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[link]

• Great Britain road numbering scheme

References[link]

External links[link]

• SABRE page on the A23

v t e A roads in Zone 2 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme A2 A20 A21 A22 A23 A24 A25 A26 A27 A28 A29 A200 A201 A202 A203 A205 A206 A209 A210 A212 A213 A214 A215 A217 A219 A222 A225 A226 A227 A228 A229 A230 A232 A234 A235 A236 A237 A240 A249 A250 A253 A254 A256 A258 A259 A264 A271 A272 A274 A278 A281 A282 A299 A2022 A2030 A2100 A2199 A2204 A2212 A2216 A2217 List of A roads in Zone 2 List of B roads in Zone 2