A2004

This article is about the current A2004 in Crawley.
For the original A2004 in Guildford, see A2004 (Guildford).

Route

The A2004 is a north-south link road in Crawley serving the town centre.

Three Bridges - Broadfield

Northgate Avenue

The A2004 starts as Northgate Avenue on the A2011 at the Hazelwick Roundabout. It runs as a wide 40mph S2 characterised by ample grass verges and no direct frontage, typical of "new town" construction. There are a few side roads, but mainly there is only the sight of back gardens and the many trees planted on the wide verges. The whole of Northgate Avenue is of the same quality and you cannot help but think there is plenty of room to dual the road if it were ever needed (although there is no tell-tale very wide verge suggesting dualling was originally planned). Set back in the parallel woodland is a shared cycle/footpath. As the town centre approaches the houses start to look a bit older and the speed limit drops to 30mph. The modern Crawley police station is on the right and the large tower block that appears to be dead ahead is Central Sussex College. Here things suddenly start to look very 1960s. Northgate Avenue ends on a roundabout with Kingsgate car park opposite, looking like a beacon of light amongst the 1960s concrete of surrounding buildings. The A2004 heads left at the roundabout, now as a dual carriageway with stepped cycle lanes.

On reaching a set of traffic lights with the A2220 (former A264) things all look a bit more modern, with new college and library buildings on the left and the grand County Mall on the right. Now running as Southgate Avenue there is a short multiplex with the A2220 until the next set of lights. Passing under the railway line as an S2 the road continues its journey south with accompanying bus lanes. Southgate Avenue looks a lot like Northgate Avenue to start with but widens to D2 for a set of traffic lights or two. Flanked by Fastway guided bus lanes on either side there are yet more traffic lights, after which the bus lanes become "normal". Eventually the A2219 Brighton Road joins from the right (though traffic may not turn right into it) and Southgate Avenue and the A2004 end at the Southgate Roundabout on the A23.

History

The southern half of the A2004 was constructed in the 1950s as part of an eastern bypass for the town centre, with the road later extended north in the plans for Crawley New Town. The road has not been moved since then, although Southgate Avenue has been greatly modified to accommodate the Fastway guided bus system in 2003-06.

In 2021/22 College Road, the section between Northgate Roundabout & A2220 gained stepped cycle lanes & improved/renewed traffic signals at two junctions and two crossings.

It is proposed in 2022 for construction in 2024 that stepped cycle lanes would be provided along Northgate Avenue along with a lower speed limit of 30mph.