Park Lane is a major road (designated A4202) in the City of Westminster, in Central London.
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Originally a country lane running north-south along what is now the eastern boundary of Hyde Park, it became a fashionable residential address from the eighteenth century onwards, offering both views across Hyde Park and a position at the most fashionable western edge of London. It became lined with some of the largest privately owned mansions in London, including the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor House and the Holford family's Dorchester House (demolished in 1929 and replaced by 1931 with The Dorchester), which are now both hotels, and the Marquess of Londonderry's Londonderry House, which has been demolished.
On a corner with Oxford Street, Somerset House (No. 40), built in 1769-70, was successively the town house of Warren Hastings, a former Governor-General of India, the third Earl of Rosebery, and the Dukes of Somerset.[1]
In the 1960s the Lane was widened to three lanes each way either side of a central reservation. This required the demolition of a number of houses at Hyde Park Corner which had previously formed a line east of Apsley House in Piccadilly. It also meant claiming land previously in Hyde Park to make room for the multi-lane carriageway. The result was substantially to diminish the appeal of Park Lane as a residential address, since it became one of the busiest and noisiest roads in central London, retaining little or none of the pastoral atmosphere that once made it popular. The widening of the road distanced the houses on the east side of Park Lane from Hyde Park itself, access to which is now by underpass.
In 2004 a memorial to Animals in War opened in Park Lane.[2]
At the south end of Park Lane, on the west side, gates in honour of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (widow of George VI) have been erected, bearing motifs in a freely modern interpretation from her coat of arms.
Park Lane is about three quarters of a mile (1.2 km) in length, and runs north from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch, along the length of the eastern flank of Hyde Park. To the east of the road is Mayfair.
Despite the traffic noise the road is still upmarket, featuring five-star hotels (such as The Dorchester, Grosvenor House Hotel and InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel) and showrooms for several makes of sports car.
The road forms part of the London Inner Ring Road and is part of the London congestion charge zone's boundary. When the zone was extended westward in February 2007, Park Lane was designated as one of the "free through routes", which allowed vehicles to cross the zone during its hours of operation without paying the charge; the western extension was removed on 4 January 2011.
In November 2008, a proposal was made by London mayor Boris Johnson to build a tunnel beneath the street, allowing land to be released for development and green spaces.[3]
Park Lane owes much of its fame to its being the second most valuable property in the London edition of Monopoly. It was at the zenith of its social status when the London version of the Monopoly board was first produced in 1936, and before it became a noisy multi-lane highway. On the board, Park Lane forms a pair with Mayfair, the most expensive property in the game. In real life, Park Lane marks the western boundary of Mayfair.
It is mentioned in the second stanza of London Pride (song). There is also a reference to the street in the works of Jasper Fforde, in the name of the Parke-Laine family.
On June 29, 2007, a car bomb was defused in an underground car park on the street.
The street is used by London bus routes 2, 10, 16, 36, 73, 74, 82, 137, 148, 414 and 436.[5] In addition, night bus routes N16, N73, N74 and N137 also serve the street.[6]
The nearest tube stations to Park Lane are Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly Line, which is near the street's southern end, and Marble Arch on the Central Line, which is located near the northern end of the street.
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