B455

Ealing Road, Brentford

The B455 is a long urban B-road in west London.

It starts on the A315 in Brentford, on the bank of the River Thames opposite Kew Gardens. It heads north along Ealing Road, crossing a railway line and then reaching a signalised roundabout on the A4. At this point the M4 is overhead but there is no access to it from the B455.

On the far side of the double-decker road the B455 continues north through the suburbs of Ealing. It passes South Ealing Cemetery and crosses the B4491 and then the Piccadilly Line by South Ealing station. After passing the prominent St Mary's church there is a short dual-carriageway section as far as the local campus of the University of West London. The road then passes the famous Ealing film studios before reaching a mini-roundabout on Ealing High Street. A one-way system starts here: northbound traffic uses Bond Street and southbound traffic the High Street to reach the A4020 Ealing Broadway at nearby sets of traffic lights. There is then a short multiplex east along the A4020 before the B455 regains its number and its northward direction.

Actually, the original 1922 southern end of the B455 was here on Ealing Broadway - all that has gone before was originally the A3001; this explains why a 4-zone road goes south of the A4. The one-way system continues as northbound traffic uses Spring Bridge Road to cross the Great Western Main Line and southbound traffic takes the next bridge east by Ealing Broadway station. The two directions meet on Haven Green. The B455 then zigzags along residential streets via a few roundabouts to reach the B452 at another roundabout. Here it TOTSOs right, then left at the next roundabout (straight on is the B456 which takes us to the A40).

The B455 now heads westwards, goes under the Greenford Branch Line and follows the River Brent for about half a mile before crossing it. Soon afterwards there is a traffic-light-controlled crossroads with the A4127. The road continues west along Ruislip Road through the suburbs of Greenford. It crosses a roundabout and then goes over the Grand Union Canal. After passing Rectory Park it reaches a roundabout where it meets the A312 and A4180.

The current western end of the B455 is here. However, originally it continued on for several more miles through Ruislip to the A404 at Batchworth Heath near Northwood. This section was still numbered B455 in the 1970s but has now been upgraded to Class I status, becoming the A4180.