B530
| B530 | |||||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| From: | Fancott (TL019279) | ||||||||||||
| To: | Kempston (TL043473) | ||||||||||||
| Distance: | 14 miles (22.5 km) | ||||||||||||
| Meets: | B579, M1, A5120, A507, A6, A5141, A5134 | ||||||||||||
| Former Number(s): | B579, A418 | ||||||||||||
| Primary Destinations | |||||||||||||
| Highway Authorities | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | |||||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Route
The B530 is a cross-country route in Bedfordshire.
The road starts on the B579 in Fancott and heads north along a relatively straight road across the fields to meet the A5120 by the northbound slip roads for M1 J12. There then follows a multiplex north through the junction and then on via Flitwick to meet the A507. The multiplex continues around the Ampthill western bypass until the B530 finally regains its number at the western end of the bypass, after a multiplex of about 6 miles.
The B530 turns off the A507 and heads eastwards along Woburn Road into Ampthill. We descend the narrow streets of the town centre to turn left at two consecutive mini-roundabouts and then head north along Bedford Street, showing the road's ultimate destination. We soon leave town and continue across the fields. The ruined Houghton House lies off to the right, invisible from the road.
The road descends to the hamlet of How End and then passes to the west of Houghton Conquest before running parallel to the Midland Main Line. We go under the line at Kempston Hardwick and then continue parallel until road and railway go over the A6 Bedford bypass almost adjacent. At the next roundabout a spur of the B530 used to bear off left to reach the bypass but this is now closed off and the roundabout only serves a retail park. After bearing right we go under the railway line once more and the B530 ends soon afterwards at traffic lights on the A5141. The road ahead is the A5134.
History
The B530 dates to no earlier than the 1970s. The original number of the road from Ampthill to Bedford was the A418 and when that road was downgraded the B530 took on its old route.
The detached southern section of the B530 is even younger. In the 1980s the B579 was diverted away from Toddington along a previously unclassified road to meet the A5120 in the vicinity of its junction with the M1; however, the rerouting did not last long and it soon served Toddington once more. The change did nonetheless emphasise that this road needed Class II status and so it became part of the B530 instead. It is not known why the number of a road some distance away was chosen, as this has resulted in giving the B530 a long multiplex along two different Class I roads.