I lived on the 9th floor above Paddington Green police station in the mid 70's, , at the junction of Edgware Rd and the Westway and central in this film. (opposite the Metropole Hotel) The noise was very intrusive if a window was opened. Pollution was hardly a consideration at the time and traffic was clearly much lighter then, although the smell of traffic was very obvious. The Westway was planned as part of a circular route around central London, but politics and funding got in the way.There is a plaque at the junction of Edgware Rd and the Westway 'celebrating ' its opening by I think Horace Cutler, Leader of GLC at the time...the web of underpasses under the Westway/Edgware Rd was pretty grim with a few shops and ever present whiff of urine.....in truth not the planners finest hour !

Used to travel that exact section most Mondays in the mid 80s travelling into Central London from Birmingham at around 8 am to work in London for the week used to stay in Sussex Gardens Paddington. Then travel back on Friday. It did seem a lot busier then, cars were the same wonder I didn't see a Y reg orange Transit or an A reg light blue Escort van.

Doesn’t look busy at all compared to nowadays.

I live by a fairly busy road and you get used to the noise but this sounds extreme! I think the surrounding buildings help to amplify the sound. And of course the pollution!

I don't think any of that elevated stretch is lit nowadays. Wonder why for such an urban road? Weird.

Lordy ... it's all changed a bit now !

Thought this would be about 83-84 but later than I thought 87.

This clip is actually dated so we don't need to play the "Guess the date based on the most recent car reg we can make out on this compressed, poor quality footage" game.