B259
B259 | |||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||
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From: | Swanscombe (TQ604749) | ||||||
To: | Belsham (TQ610733) | ||||||
Distance: | 1.1 miles (1.8 km) | ||||||
Meets: | A226, A2260 | ||||||
Old route now: | A2260 | ||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||
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For the original B259 between Newhaven and Eastbourne that was quickly upgraded to the A259, see B259 (Newhaven - Eastbourne).
Route
The B259 is a short link road in north Kent.
The road starts towards the north of Swanscombe at traffic lights on the A226 and heads south along the High Street. We pass All Saints Church, which has been converted into flats, then go over the North Kent Line by the station. At the far end of the High Street we TOTSO left into Stanhope Road. The B259 now forms the edge of the urban area, with housing on the right and a disused quarry on the left.
After crossing a mini-roundabout the road appears rural, as there is now a school playing field on the right, after which we pass another quarry. Over to the left (and at a lower level) is now the car park for Ebbsfleet International station, although the B259 is lined with hedges and so this is invisible. However, the road descends and it's not long before we reach a roundabout where a sign tells drivers how to reach the station. The B259 ends here, meeting the A2260.
History
The B259 is an early example of a recycled number. The road was originally unclassified but was given its number following construction of the A2 in the mid-1920s. At that time it ran between the A226 and A2. However, in the 1960s the A2 was upgraded to become a grade-separated dual carriageway. The junction with the B259 was closed and the B-road extended south to end on the B262 near Betsham.
Then in 2007, following construction of the new Ebbsfleet International station, a new road, the A2260, was built to link the station with the A2; this took on that part of the B259 immediately north of the A2. As a new GSJ was built to connect the two A-roads the southern end of the B259 was no longer needed and was therefore declassified. The old road can still be accessed from this GSJ, although it is one-way southbound. Some maps have downgraded the B259 further, showing the whole road as unclassified; this is not the case although signs do not give the road its number.
B259 | ||
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