A400

A400
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From:	Victoria Embankment (TQ302803)
To:	Archway (TQ291868)
Length:	4.3 miles (6.9 km)
Meets:	A3211, A4, A4201, A401, A40, A501, A4200, A503, A502, A5202, A5200, A1
Primary Destinations
Central London • London • West End •
Highways Authorities
Camden • Islington • Westminster
Traditional Counties
Middlesex
Route outline (key)
A400 Victoria Embankment - Archway

Route

The A400 starts off on Victoria Embankment, adjacent to Hungerford Bridge. It runs along Northumberland Avenue to Trafalgar Square, recently partially closed to traffic, and heads north along Charing Cross Road past Leicester Square (stop here for a good Chinese meal) and the "Tin Pan Alley" music shops towards Tottenham Court Road Tube.

From there it suffers an identity crisis, with northbound traffic taking Tottenham Court Road, and southbound traffic taking Gower Street past University College. Southbound traffic from Gower Street is supposed to use Shaftesbury Avenue, to join Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. The stretch of Charing Cross Road between Cambridge Circus and Centrepoint is one-way northbound, with contraflow bus lane.

It resumes two way traffic up Hampstead Road where it splits again. Northbound traffic has to suffer ploughing through Camden High Street, whereas southbound traffic narrowly avoids it. Either way, never ever attempt to drive through this bit on a Sunday afternoon unless you are either lost or mad. After that, there's a less hectic run up Kentish Town Road. Just North of Kentish Town station there is a fork in the road and the A400 follows the right-hand branch Fortress Road and through Tufnell Park, a 5-way junction. Now it is the second branch counting clockwise (slightly to the left) along Junction Road that one must follow before it meets the A1 at the Archway, where it ends.

The A400 is primary between the A501 junction and Britannia Junction, commonly known as Camden Town, where the A503 takes over the primary status. Google maps incorrectly displays it as primary north of this junction too, but the signposts are clearly white indicating that it is non-primary, and it is not a red-route either.

Original Author(s): Ritchie Swann & Tom Sutch