Scandal of the A40

It is one of the busiest routes into London, the route of 20 million journeys a year — much of the Western Avenue has been a depressing eyesore for the better part of a decade.

More than 150 houses office blocks were torn along part of the route, winding through Acton, to make way a road-widening scheme.

However, the £73 million was abandoned, meaning a crucial opportunity was missed ease some of the heaviest traffic jams in London. The land been left to rot, infuriating residents living in the quiet streets that back on to it.

Motorists are left struggling with what experts describe as one of the capital’s worst traffic blackspots — the carriageway links London to the M40 serving Oxford and Birmingham.

And today it emerged the saga will drag on for at least another year while planners wrangle over a “master plan” of what the land should be used for.

It will almost certainly mean that the road widening scheme will never happen.

The scheme was shelved in 1996 after the Highways Agency said it had run out of money. Labour was elected the following year, promising to end road expansion, and the plan was dropped completely.

The RAC Foundation believes the plan should never have been dropped. Executive director Edmund King said: “It is a missed opportunity. They bought the homes, knocked them down and the land was just standing there; they should have gone ahead with the scheme when they had the chance.

“This would have freed up one of the capital’s worst traffic blackspots. Each working day traffic is backed up here, adding a huge amount of time to journeys. It’s bad for drivers and the residents don’t want the prospect of cars trying to find rat-runs to escape the jams.”

Minor progress has been made on redeveloping the unused land, which has been divided up into small parcels. One site has been sold to a housing association for affordable homes.

Elsewhere, other than a bus garage, progress on redevelopment appears to have stalled.

Transport for London (TfL), which is responsible for the A40, and Ealing borough claim they need to draw up a “master plan” for the remaining four acres. This will take until the end of this year.

After that, planning applications can be submitted and TfL can sell the sites. This will not happen until the spring. Building work will not begin for at least a year.

Ted Cloades, 81, and his wife Audrey have lived in nearby Gibbon Road, Acton, for decades. He said: “We are 100 yards from the road and there is nothing in between now but bramble, weeds and the occasional intruder. Beautiful houses were taken down for no reason, and nothing good has happened since the road widening was cancelled.”

He added: “Our health has suffered with chest complaints. My biggest regret is that we can no longer enjoy the garden. I gave up trying to find out anything since TfL took over. Every time I asked I was told something would be done ‘by the end of the year’, so nothing has changed.”

Gary Malcolm, a Liberal Democrat opposition councillor in Ealing, said: “Ealing and TfL are not giving this issue priority. As far as I know they have not even begun to consult local people.”

A TfL spokeswoman said: “We are working with the borough as we want to utilise these sites in the best way for the community. It is expected four or five of the sites will be used for housing and the rest for commercial use.”

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling last travelled along the A40 at the end of May. A spokesman for his office said he was “aware of the history of the road”, but added that responsibility for it lay with TfL and the local councils.