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A264

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A264
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (37)
From:  Pembury (TQ614406)
To:  Five Oaks (TQ097284)
Distance:  27.9 miles (44.9 km)
Meets:  A21, A228, B2249, B2023, A26, B2110, B2188, B2026, A22, B2037, B2028, A2220, M23, A2011, A23, B2114, A24, A281, A29
Former Number(s):  A263, B2110, A278, A281, A282
Old route now:  B2110, A2220, B2195, A281
Primary Destinations
Highway Authorities

East Sussex • Kent • Surrey • West Sussex

Traditional Counties

Kent • Surrey • Sussex

Route outline (key)
A264 Pembury – East Grinstead
A264 Langton Green – Forest Row
(A22) East Grinstead – Felbridge
A264 Felbridge – Crawley
A264 Copthorne – Crawley – Broadfield
(M23) Crawley – Pease Pottage
A264 Pease Pottage – Horsham bypass
(A24) Horsham bypass
A264 Horsham Bypass – Five Oaks

The A264 is a road that has seen its importance grow, to the extent that it now suffers from being the more minor road in a multiplex three times. It also gets to be part of three grade separated junctions in which it is the main route through none of them.

Route

Section 1: Pembury – Crawley

Entering East Sussex and a 50 mph zone

The A264 begins its journey west from Pembury in west Kent, at a junction with the A21 – the road continuing in the other direction is the A228. This first section was the original A263, absorbed into the A264 in the second half of the 20th century. Pembury itself is perhaps lesser known than its larger neighbour Tunbridge Wells, and this seems to be the nature of the A264. It runs from 'just outside' Tunbridge Wells to 'just outside' Horsham. It first travels into Tunbridge Wells where it leads traffic into the very heart of the shopping area. As it emerges from the town, it heads due west towards the Kent border with Sussex. There's a TOTSO with the B2110 (this is because originally the A264 carried straight on towards Forest Row) just beyond Langton Green, and the road finally crosses into Sussex by crossing the River Medway at Ashurst Station. After climbing back uphill away from the Medway valley, and still running parallel to the Sussex border with Kent and then Surrey, it reaches the town of East Grinstead.

At this point, users are sent around the one-way system (including Beeching Way – which was once the route of the railway line back to Tunbridge Wells). Here it becomes part of a multiplex with the more important A22. The road re-emerges as a primary route about 1 mile north-west of the town centre, near Felbridge, shortly after the road has crossed yet another border into Surrey. Here, at the Felbridge traffic lights, the A22 continues north, as the A264 heads west towards Copthorne. As the A264 veers slightly southwards around Copthorne village, it once again crosses the border back into Sussex before meeting the M23 at Junction 10.

Section 2: Crawley – Five Oaks

From here, the route is now a multiplex with the M23 from Junction 10 to Junction 11. This must be one of the few examples of a primary route having a signed multiplex with a motorway. At Junction 11, the A264 re-appears as the Crawley South-Western bypass. At the foot of the relatively steep hill, the road re-joins its former route (now the A2220) at the Bewbush Manor Roundabout. Drivers must turn left to stay on the A264 and head towards Horsham. Dual carriageway now carries the road south-west past Faygate and along the Horsham Northern Bypass. Again, here it becomes part of a multiplex with the A24 for its two-mile stretch along the western edge of Horsham. The route from Crawley to Horsham has been heavily upgraded as both are major commuter towns.

The A264 then leaves the A24 at the High Wood Hill Interchange, loses its primary status and turns west. It multiplexes with the A281 (with the A264 number dominant) as it bypasses Broadbridge Heath on the new Broadbridge Heath Relief road (not to be confused with Broadbridge Heath Bypass, which is the old route from Farthings Hill Interchange). At the western end of the bypass the A281 heads north while the A264 heads south-west towards the tiny village of Five Oaks. Here the A264 meets the A29 (part of the Roman road Stane Street), a couple of miles north of Billingshurst.

History

The A264 has a varied and convoluted history. Originally it ran from the centre of Tunbridge Wells and then along the route of the B2110 to the A22 at Forest Row. The road reached Five Oaks in 1935, taking over the A278 to Horsham and then the A281 and A282 from there on.

Pembury – Crawley

The road been extended east along the former A263 to meet the A21 and swapped numbers with the B2110 between Langton Green and the A22.

The original route was through the middle of Crawley on what is now the A2220, but the road was rerouted with the building of the Copthorne Link (to M23 J10) along what is now the A2011 and then multiplexing with the A23. The road was rerouted again with the building of the Crawley South-western Bypass, using the M23 between J10 and J11.

Crawley – Five Oaks

The road has been straightened and dualled from here to Horsham, with a small bypass of Faygate. It would have originally followed the now-B2195 into Horsham, before a longer multiplex with the A281, and would have met the A24 in the centre of Horsham. It now runs on a northern bypass of Horsham and down the A24. The Broadbridge Heath bypass is new, but the rest is as it was when it was extended this far west.

Opening Dates

Year Section Notes
1983 Broadbridge Heath Bypass Guildford Road to Farthings Hill via Broadbridge Way. Opened on 18 January 1983 by Cliff Michelmore, TV Presenter per a YouTube home video. January 1983 is also noted in the Parish Council's Platinum Jubilee History brochure. Financed by a private development. The southern Broadbridge Way section later became unclassified with a short central section closed. Part was A281.
1984 Crawley: Copthorne Link Road Copthorne Way. Reported as open in the October 1984 edition of RAC World magazine. 0.6 mile linking M23 J10 Crawley Interchange eastwards to Copthorne.
1988 Horsham Northern Bypass Great Daux Roundabout (A24) to Roffey Roundabout. Reported as having been opened a few days after 3 November 1988 by the Annual Report of the Warnham Society.
1992 Crawley South-western Bypass The 1.6 mile dual carriageway from Horsham Road to M23 J11 Pease Pottage Interchange opened on 15 September 1992. Cost £4.2 million. It was the first road in UK to use a road safety boosting porous asphalt. The banks were allowed to grow naturally rather then planting with shribs and grass.

Videos

Broadbridge Heath Bypass opening Tuesday January 18th 1983

Some home video along with both the BBC and the ITV local news bulletins from the evening of Tuesday January 18th 1983 when the Broadbridge Heath Bypass was officially opened by TV personality Cliff Mitchellmore. It was the original bypass via Broadbridge Way. Creator of the YouTube video was Matt Parker.

Watch video > >




A264
Junctions
Bashurst Hill Junction • Beeching Way Gyratory • Bewbush Manor Roundabout • Billingshurst Road Roundabout • Bishops Down Roundabout • Blackhurst Corner • Blackwell Hollow Roundabout • Borers Arms Road Junction • Calverley Crossroads • Church Road Crossroads (Royal Tunbridge Wells) • Colestock Crossroads • Copthorne Hotel Roundabout • Copthorne Way Roundabout • Crawley Down Road Junction • Crawley Interchange • Crockers Hatch Corner • Dukes Head Roundabout • Farthings Hill Interchange • Faygate Roundabout • Felbridge Junction • Five Oaks Roundabout • Fulfords Hill Junction • Great Daux Roundabout • High Wood Hill Interchange • Holtye Crossroads • Keston Roundabout • Kilnwood Vale Roundabout • Kingswood Road Junction (Royal Tunbridge Wells) • Langhurst Wood Roundabout • Langton Lodge Junction • Lyons Corner • Mount Ephraim Junction • Newbridge Roundabout (Horsham) • Pease Pottage Interchange • Pembury Interchange • Roffey Roundabout • Rusper Road Roundabout • Shepherds Grove Lane Junction • Shovelstrode Lane Junction • Snow Hill Junction (Crawley) • The Hare Crossroads • Tollgate Hill Roundabout • Town Hall Crossroads
Services
Crossings
Roads
Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (37)
A264, Rookery Wood (C) Nigel Chadwick - Geograph - 2971659.jpgB2249 - A246 junction - Geograph - 5933787.jpgCrossroads - Geograph - 4439110.jpgRoundabout, A264 - Geograph - 5257084.jpgCopthorne Common Rd - Geograph - 2947786.jpg
Other nearby roads
Billingshurst
Horsham
Crawley
East Grinstead
Royal Tunbridge Wells
NCN18 • A21 • A26 • A228 • A263 • A267 • B2022 • B2023 • B2110 • B2169 • B2249 • High Weald Country Tour • POLO
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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