Railways that have become roads near you

[Burns]

How about we throw a slightly different spin on the situation?

I believe this section of the A907 heading into Alloa was built over the old railway alignment. However, the railway was reinstated and has claimed the route back again, pushing the 907 marginally further south.

No, the road was never built over the railway - the disused, overgrown tracks were still there until the rebuilding project started. The A907 had to move slightly to allow for the roundabout with the new B909. If you zoom out of streetview on the link you posted the aerial photo dates from before the railway was re-opened.

That makes sense. I just remember being driven through that bit once and my friend said something about them moving the road to accommodate the rebuilding of the railway. Thanks for letting me know the full story.

[skiddaw05]

Near me

The A47 towards the Dereham bypass from the west is on the route of the former rail line from King’s Lynn.

The A149 Stalham bypass is where the Great Yarmouth to Cromer line was.

Not sure about this but it appears that the A47 King’s Lynn southern bypass took over from the same MG&GN line through Lincolnshire that Mettie refers to above.

A near miss for the A149 Dersingham / Snettisham bypass which was planned to use the King’s Lynn to Hunstanton but built further west. We are at least left with a nice cycle route.

Not near me, the A429 in Cirencester is on the route of an old line which I think was a spur from Kemble which terminated near the town centre.

[wrinkly]

Then elsewhere, the A483 Welshpool bypass is interesting - the bypass was built on the railway alignment, and the railway moved a few yards East, together with a new station building (that typically wasn't a patch on the original, which is now shops).

The original choice of route was between one that would have demolished the old station building and one that would have closed the canal. Both these were bitterly opposed, so they arrived at the scheme as built, which separated the railway from the old station building - which in any case was far too big for today's railway use.

There was also originally going to be an east-west A458 link, from the roundabout near the station, together with improvements to Brook Street to become A458. That too was bitterly opposed and has never happened.

Here's an old thread about railways diverted for roads.

[A720James]

The new-ish bit of the A9 round Falkirk crosses the Forth and Clyde Canal exactly where an old railway line used to cross... not sure whether it follows the route of the railway for much of a distance or not.

I think part of the A55 at Colwyn Bay is on the original line of the railway and the railway has been moved.

(Not a railway but similarly a road replacing an old transport route... the M8 into Glasgow from the east is built on the line of the old Monkland Canal).

[jmbillings]

The A605 bypassing Oundle runs along the route of the Nene Valley railway, see here: http://goo.gl/maps/GAq2 - it's the section from the roundabout at Station Rd in the north, down to Barnwell where the old line continues off just to the east of the road.

[rileyrob]

A bit further than Leuchars and Glenfarg but:

Connel Ferry bridge and the Creagan bridge.

Indeed, quite a lot of the A828 now uses the old railway alignment, with the new cycle track alternating between the old railway and the old road.
A little further afield, the old pier line in Fort Augustus is now a drive to houses (the right fork in GSV). Further south, a lengthy stretch north out of Gairlochy is now used as access to Fish Farms on Loch Lochy, but none of it is public highway.

Down in Somerset, there is of course the A3088 which is almost entirely on an old railway.
The A358 south of Ilminster is an old railway, with the old road now marked as a cycle-track.
The northern bit of Winterstoke Road in Weston-super-Mare is also on the original alignment of the spur line to the town station.
Then there's the Axbridge Bypass, Strawberry Way in Wells, which manages to use three different railway lines in about half a mile (see A371), The Glastonbury Bypass and Marine Drive, using different sections of the old S&D line.
Finally (for now), The Clink in Bridgwater uses the old GWR Docks Line, and when first opened the road used the old swing bridge too, but a new bridge was later built.

[Big L]

Not that many around here. Nearest I can think of is this bit of the A518, along with a small section further North East.

[owen b]

We've had more than one thread on this general theme in the past.

The Luton-Dunstable relief road is in the same corridor as the old railway. They are now building the parallel guided busway.

Part of the A505 south of Leighton Buzzard also uses a continuation of the same railway line.

[jackal]

Two thirds of the A3088 is ex-railway and it feels like it too.

[rileyrob]

Right, I've created a category on the Wiki and tried to put most of the routes listed in this thread on. One or two, from the maps, only seem to be 100yds or so out of a 30 or 40 mile road, so I've left them off for now.

To see the list click here: Category:Roads_from_Railways

To add more routes, simply go to the page of the road (or bridge) concerned on the Wiki, click edit and scroll down to the bottom of the edit window. There there should be a list of categories, so just cut and paste: [[Category:Roads from Railways]] on to the bottom of the list!

[norwichuk]

Near me

Also the A12 Gorleston Relief Road and other bits and pieces near that, use the old London-Yarmouth mainline. Think the Holt bypass may also use a bit of railway? Also, staying on the A149, not just the Stalham bypass but also the Potter Heigham Bypass, a large section inbetween those two, as well as the 5 or so miles approaching North Walsham all use former M&GN line, not to mention the North Walsham bypass! Phew.

[Glenn A]

There was a plan to build a by pass of Harrington in Workington over the old Workington to Cleator Moor line, but this was cancelled out when a Netto was built over the start of the by pass.

[Gareth]

The approach to the Kingsway Tunnel on the Wallasey side, just beyond the M53.

[Glenn A]

Part of the A595 Egremont by pass runs over the old Hensingham Jct- Sellafield line. I can remember this being in use as a railway as it was used to transport iron ore until 1980 when the iron ore mine closed.

[louthwhite]

A16 from New Waltham to Grimsby, the Peakes parkway runs on the old East Lincolnshire line from Grimsby to Peterborough.

Other sections of the A16 use it from Boston to Spalding as mentioned above.

[vlad]

Most disused railways round here have been turned into footpaths.

There is, of course, this well-known one that's now a road. It's a footpath as well - the road follows the Manifold Way at this point.

[woodlea1]

The A34 is on top of the Southampton to Didcote railway for over 3 miles, just north of Whitchurch. HERE.
Further South, in Winchester, the access road to Chesil Car Park is built on the same railway and the multi story car park is built on the site of the old railway station, next to the tunnel entrance HERE

[Mettie]

A16 from New Waltham to Grimsby, the Peakes parkway runs on the old East Lincolnshire line from Grimsby to Peterborough

Arr yes, I remember abseiling off one of the old railway bridges behind the fire station, as they were building the Peakes Parkway!

[wrinkly]

Part of the A470 Dolgellau bypass.

The A487 Groeslon /Penygroes /Llanllyfni bypass is an interesting case. It's close to the former railway throughout, and crosses it a couple of times, but doesn't seem to actually incorporate any of it, because the railway had already been converted into a cycleway. The cycleway had to be diverted in at least one place.

I'm pretty sure there's a stretch of minor road in the New Forest that was converted from railway before 1970, though I can't find it for certain. Maybe it's this???

Edit: for correction see my later post in this thread.

[Pendlemac]

A16 from New Waltham to Grimsby, the Peakes parkway runs on the old East Lincolnshire line from Grimsby to Peterborough

Arr yes, I remember abseiling off one of the old railway bridges behind the fire station, as they were building the Peakes Parkway!

I was a member of the group that tried to re-open the line from Grimsby to Louth. I believe one reason we failed is that the people alongside the bit that became Peakes Parkway objected to 'nasty, dirty' steam trains running at weekends on the embankments behind their houses.

I'm afraid I had a quiet feeling of 'Serves you right!' when, because the embankment wasn't wide enough for the road, it was flattened and part of their gardens taken.

One round here is the spine road feeding the main car parks in Blackpool which was built on the embankment of the old line to Central Station.