Street widths

[telstarbox]

Lots of the streets in inner London were built during the Victorian era, and some of them have significant width between the two rows of houses - enough for two cars to pass with two parked on either side. For example:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4...4!1sTEJxZI5eC9bOzf5jYRti9g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The street clearly predates mass car ownership so why were they built so wide - were there lots of horses and carts going around back then?

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Could some of the wider streets have once been tram routes?

 

[telstarbox]

There were only a couple of routes in this area (Hither Green) and they mostly followed the present day A-roads.

 

[AlterEgo]

Was there ever a market or street stalls there?

 

[najaB]

The street clearly predates mass car ownership so why were they built so wide - were there lots of horses and carts going around back then?

Yes. And they don't turn 'on a dime'. But it's more likely that they were built that wide as a prestige thing.

 

[takno]

Bear in mind that what remains of victorian housing is the better stuff. The narrow streets with buildings looming over them were largely slum-cleared in the 50s.

 

[furnessvale]

Lots of the streets in inner London were built during the Victorian era, and some of them have significant width between the two rows of houses - enough for two cars to pass with two parked on either side. For example:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.4...4!1sTEJxZI5eC9bOzf5jYRti9g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The street clearly predates mass car ownership so why were they built so wide - were there lots of horses and carts going around back then?

I don't know about London, but the A6 through Hazel Grove and Furness Vale was built wide enough so a horse and two axle cart could be turned.

 

[341o2]

Could some of the wider streets have once been tram routes?

Trams and trolleybuses were never permitted to operate in the city or west end

 

[SpacePhoenix]

Would a horse and cart have been a lot wider than a typical car?

 

[Howardh]

Would a horse and cart have been a lot wider than a typical car?

No, but the following horse and cart would need the room to weave around....

 

[Gemz91]

Possibly a class thing? Larger houses for the more wealthy type, wanting more light in their streets and on their houses so its not over shadowed by other buildings, makes the street looking nicer that way.

 

[DaleCooper]

These roads were often tree-lined avenues, the trees have gone now leaving several metres of empty space. which may have been used to widen the road.