TheA419 roadis aprimary routebetweenChiseldonnearSwindonat junction 15 of theM4with theA346 road,andWhitminsterinGloucestershire,England near the M5 motorway. The A419 is managed and maintained by a private company, Road Management Group, on behalf of the UKDepartment for Transport.
 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The divergence of the A419 andA417 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 36 mi[1](58 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| Southeast end | Swindon | |||
 M4J15 M5J13 A420 A361 A417 A433 A429 A46 A38 | ||||
| Northwest end | Whitminster | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Primary destinations | Cirencester Stroud | |||
| Road network | ||||
| ||||
Route
editFrom the M4 to Cirencester it is adual carriagewayroad, which generally follows the course of the Roman roadErmin Way,but dualling work completed in the late 1990s, and the bypass of Cirencester, has taken it off-course in some places. East ofCirencestertheA417continues straight ahead as the major road and the A419 separates through Cirencester andStroud,becoming mainly single carriageway. West of Cirencester the road loses its primary status; it crosses theM5at junction 13 close to a formerLittle Chefrestaurant, then finishes 0.4 miles (0.64 km) further west at a roundabout with theA38.[1]
A419 Road Bridge
editTheA419 Road Bridgeis a modern bridge carrying theCrickladeby-pass section of the A419 across theRiver Thamesin the county of Wiltshire.
The bridge is just east of the town and is a concrete construction carrying a dual carriageway, built as part of the two-mile (3.2 km) £2.4m Blunsdon-Cricklade Improvement which opened in June 1988.
History
editWhen it was first designated in 1922, the A419 ran fromHungerford,Berkshire,to Gloucester.[2]Before the war, the section from Cirencester to Gloucester was renumbered the A417, and the A419 was extended from Cirencester to Stroud and then on part of the route of the former A434 throughStonehouseto a junction with the A38 atHardwicke,just south of Gloucester.
Following the opening of theM4 motorway,the section from Hungerford viaAldbourneandLiddingtonto Commonhead was downclassified to the B4192. The old lay-bys remain, showing that this was once a major route south. The road was extended south from Commonhead for 0.8 miles (1.3 km) to the M4, on the route of the oldA345.
When theM5 motorwaywas opened, the road was rerouted west of Stroud. A new alignment, known as theEbleyby-pass, was built south of the old route fromCainscrossto a point just south of Stonehouse, and from there the road was rerouted on the former line of the A4096 toEastington,and then to the M5 and the A38 at Whitminster. The old route became theB4008.
Around 1971, a junction was created north of Cricklade with the newly built Spine Road (B4696) which runs west through theCotswold Water Park.[3]
The 3-mile (4.8 km) £4m Stratton St. Margaret (Swindon) Bypass opened in October 1977, the 2-mile (3.2 km) £2.4m Blunsdon-CrickladeImprovement opened in June 1988 and the 4-mile (6.4 km)LattonBypass opened on 24 December 1997.
Abottleneckin Swindon atBlunsdontraffic lights and the nearby Turnpikeroundabout,where local traffic mixes with through traffic for the M4 and theCotswolds,was addressed by construction of a dual-carriageway bypass in 2006–2009.[4]Aflyoverat Commonhead, the main junction for southeast Swindon and another source of congestion, was opened to traffic in 2007.
Parts of the newly dualled sections of road are surfaced inconcrete,which is relatively unusual in the UK. The high tyre noise generated by this surface is unpopular with nearby residents.[5]
Management contract
editThe A419 is managed and maintained by Road Management Services (Gloucester) Ltd which receives income in the form ofshadow tollsbased on the volume of traffic.[6][7]The 30-year contract expires in 2026.[7]In 2018, the company made aprofit before taxof £4.5 million onturnoverof £17.8 million.[7]
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A419 Ebley bypass, looking towardsStroud -
Looking north towards Common Head, Swindon before the opening of a new flyover
See also
edit- TheGolden Valley Line– a railway line serving a similar route
- List of crossings of the River Thames
References
edit- ^ab"Directions to Marlborough Rd/A419".Google Maps.Retrieved8 April2013.
- ^1922 road list
- ^Bainbridge, Virginia, ed. (2011). "Historic Parishes – Ashton Keynes".A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 18.Victoria County History.University of London. pp. 109–140.Retrieved2 July2021– via British History Online.
- ^"Work starts on £65m A419 bypass".BBC News. 13 September 2006.
- ^"The campaign to have the concrete section of the A419/A417 resurfaced".Retrieved22 January2020.
- ^"Areas for Maintenance and Improvement of the Trunk Road Network managed by Highways England"(PDF).Highways England.8 January 2020.Retrieved22 January2020.
- ^abc"Annual Report and Financial Statements 2018".companieshouse.gov.uk.Road Management Services (Gloucester) Ltd. 1 May 2019.Retrieved22 January2020.
