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A255

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A255
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (6)
From:  Margate (TR353703)
To:  Chilton, Ramsgate (TR362649)
Via:  Broadstairs
Distance:  6.8 miles (10.9 km)
Meets:  A254, B2055, B2052, A256, B2053, B2054, B2014, A299
Former Number(s):  A253
Primary Destinations
Highway Authorities

Kent

Traditional Counties

Kent

Route outline (key)
A255 Margate – Chilton

The A255 – a road running wholly on the Isle of Thanet (no longer a true island in fact, after centuries of silting) – follows a course between Margate and Ramsgate which, by passing through Broadstairs, is somewhat more winding than that of the other, and more direct, route between the same two places, the A254.

Route

St Peters Road between Margate and Broadstairs

The A255 starts off at a junction with the A254 in Margate. There is a one-way system here, so outbound and inbound traffic meet the A254 in different places. Heading southeastward we soon cross the B2052 and shortly afterwards pass the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital (formerly Thanet General) on the right. We now enter the semi-rural part of the route, although compared to the A254, which is still just visible to our right, the A255 is right out in the country.

We enter Broadstairs at a roundabout junction with the A256, which comes in from the right. The A255 here forms a bypass of the suburb of St Peters, following a slightly curving route. We pass the church, then go under the railway line by the station to reach the town centre. The A255 runs along most of the High Street before turning sharp right into Queens Road (with the B2052 continuing ahead towards the sea).

After crossing the railway line again (this time via an overbridge) we TOTSO left at a roundabout in order to run south along a straight road taking us into Ramsgate. A former westward deviation and sharpish bend in this road just before the railway bridge by Dumpton Park station was ironed out in around 1994.

The A255 continues down the in many places rather narrow Hereson Road to reach a signalized junction at the northern edge of the town centre. Here the B2054 sets off to the left while we TOTSO right to pass around the north of the central area. The A254 is met again at traffic lights, after which our road runs continues to run generally westward for a mile through the St Lawrence district before arriving at a roundabout junction with the B2054. From here the A255 has just another 300 yards or so to go in order to reach its southern terminus, at another roundabout, on the A299. The latter road will take us (south) to Ramsgate harbour (via the Pegwell Tunnel) or (ahead) towards Cliffend, Whitstable, and eventually London.

History

Apart from the occasional realignment (such as the bypass of St Peter's by Broadstairs Road which opened on 11 July 1929) the A255 follows its original route from Margate as far as its first junction with the B2054 in Ramsgate, at the southern end of Hereson Road. The road originally continued ahead from there along King Street to end on the A253 High Street. When King Street and the High Street were declassified (in the 1980s?) the A255 was rerouted along Boundary Road and the A253 along Park Road (both had formerly been parts of the A2006) so that the A255 and the A253 still met, but now at the Chatham Street / Margate Road junction – where the A254 ends today.

With the opening of the Pegwell Tunnel in 2000, the A253 (renumbered A299) was rerouted to go through the tunnel to provide an easier route to Ramsgate Docks and the A255 was therefore extended to follow the old A253 as far as the road's current terminus in Chilton.




A255
Junctions
Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (6)
Traffic Signals Ahead sign - Coppermine - 2385.jpgKent Thanet before the Thanet Way - Coppermine - 474.JPGElgar Place, Boundary Road (A255), CT11 (C) Mike Quinn - Geograph - 3863656.jpgRamsgate- The Wheatsheaf Public House, St Lawrence - Geograph - 461660.jpgA255 St Peters Road - Geograph - 3723433.jpg
Other nearby roads
Margate
A28 • A254 • B2049 • B2051 • B2052 • B2053 • B2053 (Broadstairs - Westwood) • B2055 • Thanet Way
Ramsgate
A253 • A254 • A256 • A299 • A2006 • B2014 • B2050 • B2054 • Thanet Way
A200-A299
A200 • A201 • A202 • A203 • A204 • A205 • A206 • A207 • A208 • A209 • A210 • A211 • A212 • A213 • A214 • A215 • A216 • A217 • A218 • A219
A220 • A221 • A222 • A223 • A224 • A225 • A226 • A227 • A228 • A229 • A230 • A231 • A232 • A233 • A234 • A235 • A236 • A237 • A238 • A239
A240 • A241 • A242 • A243 • A244 • A245 • A246 • A247 • A248 • A249 • A250 • A251 • A252 • A253 • A254 • A255 • A256 • A257 • A258 • A259
A260 • A261 • A262 • A263 • A264 • A265 • A266 • A267 • A268 • A269 • A270 • A271 • A272 • A273 • A274 • A275 • A276 • A277 • A278 • A279
A280 • A281 • A282 • A283 • A284 • A285 • A286 • A287 • A288 • A289 • A290 • A291 • A292 • A293 • A294 • A295 • A296 • A297 • A298 • A299
Defunct Itineraries: A239 • A268 • A270 • A273 • A274 • A277 • A278 • A280 • A282 • A285 • A292(W) • A292(E) • A295

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