The M11 Link road, completed in 1998, is a four mile long dual carriageway running through Leyton, Leytonstone and Wanstead connecting Hackney with Redbridge, and the M11 motorway.

Originally intended to provide a quicker and more direct route to central London, the plan for the construction received huge backlash from the local communities as protests erupted, lasting from the early to mid 1990’s. 

The construction plan was set to avoid the high streets of the areas and therefore, 350 local homes were acquired by compulsory purchase and set to be demolished, as well as several acres of green space. 

In the early noughties, Graeme Miller, an artist who lived in one of the homes that was eventually torn down, created a radio installation piece called LINKED which is installed on lampposts along three miles of the link road. 

Read the full piece at The Waltham Forest Echo: https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2024/08/23/the-dual-carriageway-that-drove-a-trench-through-leytonstone/