A217 road

The A217 starts as a non-primary A-road named Wandsworth Bridge Road, Fulham in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and runs for 0.8 miles (1.3 km) before crossing over the River Thames at Wandsworth Bridge. The road enters the town and London borough of Wandsworth. The road turns right at a roundabout on to Swandon Way, becoming a primary route for a short stretch (as a continuation of the A3205), before passing Wandsworth Town railway station. It is briefly called Fairfield St before meeting the A3 (Wandsworth High St.).

The road reverts to non-primary status, and changes name to Garratt Lane, passing Southside shopping centre, before it heads out of Wandsworth and into Earlsfield. It passes the B234 shortly before reaching Earlsfield railway station. It continues through Summerstown as Garratt Lane and the road passes the B229 (Burntwood Lane) before it reaches Streatham Cemetery.

In Lower Tooting, it meets Tooting Broadway, a busy junction with the A24 and tube station, before becoming Mitcham Road and passing the B241 (Rectory Lane). It passes Tooting railway station and this is where the road exits the London Borough of Wandsworth.

The A217, passing Figges Marsh in Mitcham

It becomes London Road as it enters the London Borough of Merton. It continues through the one-way system at Mitcham and passes Mitcham tram station before becoming Bishopsford Road. The road reaches Rosehill, which contains a busy 6-way roundabout, before becoming a primary class A-road as it becomes Reigate Avenue (effectively the Sutton by-pass.) As the Sutton by-pass, the road passes the B279 (Sutton Common Road) and Sutton Common area, which changes name to Oldfields Road and passes the Tesco superstore in the Kimpton Park commercial and industrial area. It passes a crossroads with Gander Green Lane and becomes St Dunstans Hill before reaching a junction in Cheam with the A232 (High St and Ewell Road). It becomes Belmont Rise and goes past a crossroads with Northey Avenue and the road leaves the suburban area of Belmont, as well as Greater London.

Bishopsford Road Bridge
Adjacent ford to the bridge, with horsedrawn carts, December 1910
Coordinates	51°23′43″N 0°10′24″W
Carries	A217 road
Crosses	River Wandle
Locale	Mitcham, London
Other name(s)	Mitcham Bridge
Named for	Earlier ford patronised by the medieval manor-owning bishop and canons, the Bishop of Bayeux[1]
Maintained by	Merton London Borough Council
Preceded by	By a ford
Characteristics
Design	Three-arch masonry: red brickwork bridge
Material	Brick
Total length	22 m (72 ft)
Width	10 m (33 ft)
Height	1.7 m (6 ft)
Piers in water	2
No. of lanes	2
History
Construction end	1789
Collapsed	14 June 2019
Location

The A217 crosses the Wandle in Mitcham on Bishopsford Road Bridge (sometimes Mitcham Bridge) shares the name of the road that runs south. North runs London Road.

A three-arch bridge, made of brick, it is 22 m (72 ft) long and 10 m (33 ft) wide with a passage height of 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in). The owners of the manor which touched adjacent Ravensbury House, and the main manor in another part of the parish, were the canons of Bayeux for the Bishop of Bayeux for many centuries from the Norman Conquest of England.[1]

River Wandle Flood and bridge collapse

Date	10 June 2019 (2019-06-10)
Duration	< 1 minute
Venue	Bishopsford Road Bridge
Location	Mitcham, London, United Kingdom
Coordinates	0.1735°S 51.3954°E / -0.1735; 51.3954
Participants	Road contractors
Outcome	Bridge arch collapse and damage to attached arch

Day of flood with the acrow props

On 10 June 2019, unusually high river waters began while the bridge was being surfaced. Jack posts had been placed underneath to support the vehicles and machinery. These trapped debris (branches, weeds etc.) for four days.[2]

Mitcham Bridge damage

The pent-up head of water surged through causing Bridge scour (eroding) up to 4 m (13 ft) deep and undermined the bridge footings. This led to the partial collapse of the northern arch on 14 June 2019. The southern arch was unaffected and the central arch suffered minor structural damage. Due to the collapse, the road is anticipated to reopen by the onset of Summer 2021.[3][4]

The Borough Council's repair work involved FM Conway and the Environment Agency.[3] They have stabilised the bridge, pre-inspection and repair. Crack-injection and underpinning has secured the central arch. Bed scouring to the west has been filled with stone and gravel; that under the north arch, with marine concrete.[3]

Works halted for insurance investigators to inspect for evidence of liability.

At the road enters Surrey, it meets the B2230 again at a roundabout to the south of Belmont before entering the notorious 'Mad Mile' section (Brighton Road). The speed limit changes from 40 to 60 mph (96 km/h) and returns to 40 mph at the Banstead Crossroads junction with the A2022. In this area the road passes Banstead Downs, and its golf course. After passing the Banstead Crossroads, it acts as a boundary between Nork and Banstead as it heads towards Burgh Heath, passing the junctions with Garratts Lane (B2219) and Tattenham Way (B2221) before reaching the A240 (Reigate Road) at the centre of Burgh Heath. to It passes near the large suburban villages of Tadworth and Kingswood, passing several B-roads, including the B2032. It travels beside Banstead Heath (still as Brighton Road) before reaching the small settlement of Lower Kingswood. After passing a roundabout near Kingswood Manor, the road arrives at the Reigate Hill Interchange, which is also Junction 8 of the M25.

At this point, the A217 becomes a non-primary A-road. It is now named Reigate Hill, in a very steep section of the North Downs. The area become more urban at the bottom of the hill, on the northern outskirts of the town of Reigate. It passes through a level crossing next to Reigate station. It runs concurrently with the A25 through the main one-way system of Reigate town centre. It carries on through the localities of Woodhatch and Doversgreen before going into a very rural area. It travels over the River Mole in the small hamlet of Sidlow. After a period of farms, the road passes the village of Hookwood, taking a left turn at a roundabout. Continuing past Povey Cross, the road reaches Longbridge Roundabout on the border with West Sussex.

In August 2006 two men illegally racing along this stretch of a public highway caused an accident that killed three people, a separate offence, and were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of years. Aggravating the offence committed, the conviction found from the evidence in the case that the two men were driving recklessly at a speed much faster than the 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) limit on the road at the point of the accident.