A119
| A119 | |||||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | |||||||||||||
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| From: | Ware (TL361137) | ||||||||||||
| To: | Watton at Stone (TL307189) | ||||||||||||
| Distance: | 7.4 miles (11.9 km) | ||||||||||||
| Meets: | A1170, B1502, A414, B1000, A602 | ||||||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A414, A602 | ||||||||||||
| Old route now: | B1004 | ||||||||||||
| Primary Destinations | |||||||||||||
| Highway Authorities | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | |||||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | |||||||||||||
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Route
The A119 is a semi-rural A-road in east Hertfordshire.
Ware - Watton at Stone
The road starts at a mini-roundabout on the A1170 to the south of Ware town centre. It heads west, shadowing the route of the railway line from Ware to Hertford East.
Never wholly urban or rural on this section, the A119 soon goes under the A10 (although there is no junction here) and reaches the suburbs of Hertford. After meeting the B1502 (former A414) at a roundabout the road continues to reach the current A414 at another roundabout in the town centre. There is then a dual-carriageway relief road through town with the A414 number dominant until the A119 regains its number at one of many roundabouts.
Now heading north, the road goes under the Hertford Loop Line near Hertford North station. A couple of canal and river crossings bring the road into open countryside although buildings are not too far away: it passes through the villages of Waterford and Stapleford, where it goes under the railway line again. A mile or so further on it reaches a roundabout on the A602 Watton at Stone bypass, where the road ends.
History
On classification in 1922 the A119 was one of the shortest 3-digit Class I road numbers in the country: it only ran for a mile and a half between the A10 (now A1170) in Ware and the A414 (now B1502) to the east of Hertford.
In 1935 the A119 was extended east along a multiplex with the A10 then the entire length of the B1002 through Widford and Much Hadham to end on the A120 from Bishop's Stortford. This eastern extension was downgraded again by the 1970s (to become the B1004) but later road improvements in the Hertford area extended the A119 again - this time to the west. It took over part of the A414 into the town centre when that road was rerouted onto the relief road. A few years later, at the time of the opening of the Watton at Stone and Tonwell bypasses, it also took over what was the A602 from Hertford to Watton at Stone when, to avoid Hertford, that road took over what was the B1001.
Original Author(s): Simon Davies