The A13 route is a relatively recent addition to London's radial network, having been built at the beginning of the 19th century to connect the City with the (then) newly expanding Docklands area.

In 2005, Havering Council commissioned the Litmus Towers sculptures on the A13 junctions near Rainham which display local environmental data using large LED arrays.

[12] The Thames Gateway section of the A13 leaves London at Wennington on the border with Thurrock, still dual three lanes, intersecting with the M25 motorway at Junction 30, close to the Dartford Crossing and Lakeside Shopping Centre.

[15] The scheme is part of the Thames Gateway transport infrastructure plans which gave it an estimated cost of £63 million in 2007 and timelines it for 2012.

The A13 continues east of Sadlers Farm as mostly single-carriageway through Thundersley, Hadleigh, Leigh-on-Sea and Westcliff, before reaching the seaside resort of Southend-on-Sea.

This is the last major town on the route, but it continues eastwards, including brief dual sections (London Road, Hadleigh, Queensway round the town centre, with its roundabouts with the A127 and A1160 (another TOTSO), and Southchurch Boulevard in Southchurch), and on to Shoeburyness, on the estuary 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Southend proper.

through traffic is free-flow through traffic liable to stop at lights Chelmsford, Southend A130 (A127), Canvey Island A130, Bowers Gifford B1464, South Benfleet A13 Canvey Island A130, Bowers Gifford B1464, London, Basildon A13 start of grade-separated dual carriageway East of the River Lea, through Newham and Barking, the original route followed the A124 Barking Road and then the A123 Ripple Road.

The eastern end of this as well as New Road heading towards Rainham, in Havering, and the Greater London border, were bypassed by the new-build Thames Gateway in 1999.

In Southend, the short dual carriageway Queensway bypasses the original route through the town centre, and while much of this is pedestrianised, it can be followed on foot.

East of the town centre, Shoebury Road was bypassed by the single-carriageway Bournes Green Chase, just a few yards to the north, linking Southchurch with Shoeburyness.

It would have continued eastwards between Basildon and Stanford-le-Hope before passing north of Canvey Island and south of Hadleigh, Leigh-on-Sea.

The last section of road would have been constructed in the Thames Estuary passing south of Southend-on-Sea and Shoeburyness to reach the proposed site of the airport.

[citation needed] The section between Limehouse and Wennington is maintained by RMS (A13) Plc as part of a 30-year DBFO deal reached with the Highways Agency in 2000.

[33][34] West from Canning Town, C3 crosses over the A1020/Leamouth Road, heading southbound along the pavement until a junction with Sorrel Lane, where it turns right.

It is signposted from Sorrel Lane and runs unbroken to Tower Hill in the City and Lancaster Gate, Hyde Park.

[33] For the entirety of its route, C3 runs adjacent to the westbound carriageway of the A13 (to the south of the road) as a two-way bike freeway.

Between Greatfields Park and the Lodge Avenue Junction, the two-way, segregated bikeway continues along the southern edge of the A13.

NCR 13 leaves the A13 to the east of Lodge Avenue Junction, crossing the A13 and joining residential streets as it runs towards Rainham.

"[38] Grade-separation of Renwick Road traffic lights in Barking, the final at-grade junction between Canning Town and Sadlers Hall Farm, was due to be undertaken "in time for the Olympics in 2012".

[43] Improvements including widening are being made at J30 of the M25 motorway and at nearby Lakeside turn-off (A126), following a Route Management Strategy undertaken by the Highways Agency.

[citation needed] In 2004, British author Iain Sinclair published a psychogeographic road novel, titled Dining on Stones, which loosely follows the route of the A13 from East London to the Thames Estuary.