A4089
A4089 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
From: | Alperton (TQ179836) | |||||||||
To: | Wembley Park (TQ194865) | |||||||||
Distance: | 2.3 miles (3.7 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A4005, A404, A479, A4088 | |||||||||
Former Number(s): | A405 | |||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
|
Route
The A4089, a short A-road in west London, is orbital in nature in that both ends are similar distances from the centre. It runs just outside of the North Circular, approximately parallel to it, with the Southern end marginally closer to the A406 than the Northern end. In any case we will move in a northern direction and will also end up further East than we started.
The A4005 is the main road that comes off the Hanger Lane gyratory between the Westbound carriageway of the A40 and the Northbound carriageway of the A406 (North at this point but might be called the "eastbound" in the overall picture of the A406).
This road subsequently branches and, although the right-hand branch retains the name of Ealing Road, it takes over a new A-road number and this is the A4089. We immediately pass Alperton station, followed shortly by a junction with Mount Pleasant on the right. Although this is an unclassified road it is a useful route through to the A406 (it becomes Beresford Road later) at the same junction that also heads towards Park Royal (along Abbey Road).
Continuing straight ahead we reach Wembley High Road, the A404. This would appear to be the end of the A4089 as ahead is an unclassified no-through road, Lancelot Road. However we are not done yet. Turning right we will pass Wembley Central station. As most people associate Wembley with the complex this does not really appear to be that "central" but Wembley is more than just the complex. After the station there is another signalised junction with Park Lane on the left and this is where the A4089 resumes.
This is actually a very poor junction as is often the case when there are two so close together. In particular for traffic heading West, the second traffic light (i.e. the crossroads with Ealing Road) causes a hold-up enough on its own, so there is very limited road space between the two junctions to hold the waiting traffic. As the signal does turn green it allows traffic to leave the junction but it gets filled by which feeder road has the green at the time, so when the first signal changes, there is no space for traffic from the other feeder road to join. That on its own is bad enough without the fact that it is a high street and there is a station in the middle of this section.
Once on Park Lane the traffic clears and although it is a fairly wide road it is not an obvious candidate for an A-classification. For example as we come down the hill we cross Wembley Hill Road at traffic lights, another bad junction in a sense because a 5th road, Clarendon Gardens, also joins in here. (5-way junctions rarely work well with traffic lights and really this junction is not hugely busy and a simple roundabout would probably be a better idea). Wembley Hill Road is just as "main" a road but isn't classified, and both roads actually meet Empire Way at mini-gyratories: in the case of Wembley Hill Road it's a nice green patch in the middle, but when our own road meets it, there is a petrol station in the middle. Just prior to this junction there is a huge bend to the right and we are heading due East.
Empire Way is where the main complex is; this has been the B4565 but in the 2000s it was upgraded to the A479, which is a duplicate of the A479 in Wales. Perhaps with the re-opening of the stadium, the road has gained more importance, although there are unused numbers that could be given to it if it is going to be upgraded to Class I.
Staying on the A4089 we bend round to the left again to be heading more North now and start heading out of Wembley. We go past Wembley Park station and meet the A4088, which is Forty Avenue to the left (West) and Forty Lane to the right (East). Brent Town Hall is one junction away in this direction. Ahead is Barn Hill which takes you to the Fryent Way open space then bends into West Hill. If you're cycling you will be going uphill as you reach the open space whichever side you approach it from. (You will be by any other means of transport too, you'll just notice it more on a bike.) This is all a diversion anyway as it is no longer classified: the A4089 terminated on the A4088
History
The A4089 came into existence in the early 1920s when a previously unclassified road was upgraded to Class I status to connect Wembley with the A4088, which was also new.
The road south of Wembley was the original northern end of the A405. It is not known whether this became part of the A4089 at the same time, or whether it gained the number when the A405 was downgraded on the inauguration of the A406 a few years later.