A4055
A4055 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Penarth (ST177734) | |||||||||
To: | Barry Island (ST115666) | |||||||||
Distance: | 8 miles (12.9 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A4232, A4160, B4267, A4231, B4294, A4050 | |||||||||
Old route now: | A4160, A4161, B4267 | |||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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The A4055 runs between Cardiff and Barry.
The present Cardiff terminus of the route is on the A4232 Grangetown Link. It heads south as D2, crossing the River Ely and the Vale of Glamorgan Line almost immediately before reaching a signalised crossroads, where it crosses the A4161.
The road narrows as it passes between Llandough and Cogan (there is a short D2 section just round the corner for no apparent reason), after which the B4267 comes in from the right at traffic lights and leaves us at the following set. A short straight section leads to Eastbrook which merges into Dinas Powys. After passing the station we bear left to go over the railway line.
A winding rural section leads to a roundabout and the A4231 which heads north to allow traffic to bypass Barry. We continue ahead, however, and immediately enter an out-of-town retail park. This soon gives way to houses, after which we reach a roundabout. Ahead is a modern link road leading to the docks whilst the A4055 turns right and goes under the railway line to pass through the centre of Barry. Presently another roundabout is reached, where we meet the other end of the road to the docks - why that isn't the A4055 is anybody's guess.
We now head westwards parallel to the railway line, which is generally invisible from the road, as far as Barry station. Just beyond we join a triangular gyratory where the A4050 turns off at the point to the west whilst the A4055 continues to the east. Passing Barry Harbour it runs onto Barry Island (which is no longer an actual island), where it ends by doing a full circuit of the Barry Island Pleasure Park.
History
In 1922, the A4055 started on the A470 Bute Street in the centre of Cardiff and headed west along Penarth Road. It stopped at the railway line only to reappear as Cardiff Road in Cogan. The road between the two was tolled and therefore unsuitable for classification under the original rules.
The Cardiff end of the A4055 was renumbered A4160 in 1935 and the A4055 rerouted along part of the B4258 so it still provided a route into town. It now started on the then-A48 Cowbridge Road at Riverside before heading along Wellington Street and Leckwith Road, rejoining its original route at Cogan. There is, however, evidence that the road continued along Ninian Park Road to its original northern end, then took over what was the A4053 to reach the A48 Newport Road. Either way, this section was downgraded with the building of the parallel A4232 and is mostly B4267.
At the Barry end, the road has changed far less. The A4055 did not cross to Barry Island in 1922 but was extended there in the late 1920s.