A4/Newbury - Reading
A4 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Newbury (SU474677) | |||||||||
To: | Reading (SU712726) | |||||||||
Distance: | 18 miles (29 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A339, B4009, B3421, A340, M4, A4155, A33 | |||||||||
Old route now: | A4155 | |||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Reading Council • West Berkshire Council | ||||||||||
Counties | ||||||||||
Berkshire | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Coming out of Newbury the A4 passes through the town of Thatcham, still running parallel to the Kennet and Avon canal. At Aldermaston Wharf the A340 from Basingstoke joins from the south, and then the road becomes dual carriageway for a short distance. At the next roundabout the A340 leads northwards to Pangbourne, and the A4 once more diverts slightly from its traditional route onto the Theale bypass. The old A4 through Theale is no longer a through route owing to the construction of the M4, and so the A4 has a dual-carriageway section running slightly to the south. This terminates at a roundabout where another short section takes traffic to junction 12 of the M4 - the first time that the A4 has met its sister motorway coming eastwards, though their paths will cross several times from now on.
This marks the approach to Reading, and on the other side of the junction the so-called "Calcot Coachway" (in reality a few bus stops in a supermarket car park) provides an interchange between long-distance coach routes and local bus routes - one of only a handful of similar interchanges based around motorway junctions. The A4 alternates between dual and single carriageway here, and continues along Bath Road towards the city centre. However it's not actually possible to drive eastbound through Reading on the A4, thanks to the town's innovative and highly infuriating one-way system.