A419

Route

You could be forgiven for thinking that the boundary between zone 3 and zone 4 runs along the M4 in Wiltshire, rather than the A4. The reason for this is that both the A419, which started in Hungerford on the A4, and the A429, which started in Chippenham on the A4 have both been cropped so they start on the M4.

Swindon - Cirencester

The A419 south of Cirencester

The A419 used to follow the line of the B4192 between Hungerford and Swindon (I wonder how long it took them to come up with that number). It now starts at M4 junction 15 and forms a north-eastern dual carriageway grade-separated bypass to the town.

Above Blundson a rather fetching and complex grade-separated junction drops us neatly into a bypass around Blunsdon Hill. The road sweeps down the escarpment to where it picks up the Ermin Way.

At Cricklade we leave the Roman alignment to bypass the town. After passing near the Cotswold Water Park (which look like (and are) flooded gravel pits), we turn off the dual carriageway, which carries on as the A417 towards Gloucester. Instead, we head west towards Cirencester, where a curious road layout takes us onto a short multiplex with the A429, which forms a rather circuitous route around the town centre.

Cirencester - Whitminster

To the south-west of Cirencester, we say goodbye to the A429 by turning right at a roundabout. From here we make steady progress on the southern fringes of Cirencester Park, past Three Mile Bottom (whatever that is!) and on to Stroud.

Approaching Chalford

The land becomes somewhat hillier near Chalford as we draw into the southern Cotswolds. We pass through Golden Valley, descending a fairly steep wooded road to the valley floor.

Upon reaching Stroud, we thread our way through a network of A roads, emerging on the south-west of the town. We bypass the original line of the A419, rejoining it at Ryeford.

In turn, we pass to the south of Stonehouse, where all of a sudden the primary route signs turn into non-primary signs (although in reality we've been non-primary since Cirencester). Shortly after passing over a full access junction with the M5 (junction 13), we reach the western end of the A419 at a roundabout on the A38.

Original Author(s): Simon Davies

History

The A419 reached Gloucester in 1932

The A419 originally started in Hungerford before heading north-west towards Swindon. Today this section of route is numbered as the B4192 and finishes at Commonhead Interchange on the modern A419. The classification of this section of road remained until the 1970s but has since been downgraded - and the A419 rerouted along a short section of A345 to meet M4 J15.

At Commonhead Interchange, today the A419 runs around the eastern side of Swindon towards Cirencester, but the route originally carried on into Swindon along today's A4259 Marlborough Road. At the next roundabout, the original route carried on along today's B4006, as indicated by the same Marlborough Road name. When Swindon was originally bypassed in the 1940s the old A419 through town became an extension of the A345 but now carries a variety of different numbers, presumably to deter through traffic.

Turning northwards into Swindon old town, the B4006 joins the town centre gyratory and our route becomes the B4289 High Street. The next junction with Wood Street is where the A419, A361 and A420 used to all come together in Swindon. Wood Street used to be a multiplex of the A420 and A361 before those two routes split at the other end of Wood Street. The old A419 headed northwards on today's B4289 Cricklade Street, which quickly becomes Drove Road before coming to the Magic Roundabout. Here the A361 and A420 came in along what is now an unclassified Shrivenham Road and the A419 carried on along today's A4259. Crossing over the railway, the original route carried on along the now unclassified Cricklade Road before becoming today's A4311. Finally, the original route of the A419 joins today's route of the A419 at Turnpike Roundabout.

From the Swindon bypass the A419 used to follow the Roman Road all the way to Cirencester although much of this route has now been bypassed, with Broad Blunsden the last link in the chain whose bypass opened in 2008.

Originally, the A419 carried on through Cirencester to Gloucester, taking the route that is today the A417. For unknown reasons, the route was changed in 1935 so that from Cirencester, the road headed westwards towards Stroud, taking over what was the A4116. After Stroud, the A419 took over the A4020 through Stonehouse and up to the A38 at Hardwicke, now a suburb of Gloucester. When the M5 was built, the road was rerouted again to head westwards (leaving the Stonehouse to Hardwicke road as the B4008), taking over the A4096 before a new link road took it to J13 on the motorway. The new route carried on a little further to terminate on the A38 south of Whitminster.

Opening Dates

Month	Year	Section	Notes
	1975	Cirencester Ring Road	A short section of A419 east of the Bristol Road Roundabout was part of Phase 1 works - the 2.5 mile Eastern Bypass dual carriageway from The Whiteway to Preston. Work started in December 1973 on the 15 month contract. Shown on the April 1975 OS Quarter inch map, not on the March 1974 edition. It may have opened in late 1974.
Oct	1975	Cricklade Bypass	The 1.5 mile dual carriageway was due to open on 11 October 1975. Cost £1.5 million.
Oct	1977	Stratton St Margaret Bypass	The 3.5 mile D2 dual carriageway opened on 7 October 1977 per the Spring 1978 RAC World magazine. Outturn works cost £3.9 million
Dec	1987	Stroud East-West Bypass	Dr Newton's Way. The 0.6 mile road from Bath Road to London Road was opened on 17 December 1987 by John Cordwell, County Councillor. Cost £2.2 million.
Jun	1988	Cricklade - Blunsdon	The 2.4 mile D2 dual carriageway was completed in June 1988 (per the Trunk Roads, England, into the 1990's Report). Outturn works cost £2.7 million.
Dec	1994	Ebley Bypass	Stonehouse to Dudbridge. Opened December 1994 per Gloucestershire County Council document of 1999. It utilised the route of the former Midland Railway line between Ryeford and Dudbridge stations. Cost £16 million.
Jan	1998	Latton Bypass	The 3 mile concrete dual carriageway from Drifford Junction to south of Latton was opened in January 1998 per the Express and Herald of 3 April 2003. Offline apart from the section between Drifford Junction and Spine Road Junction.
Jul Nov	2008	Blunsdon Bypass	2 mile dual carriageway from Turnpike Junction to the bottom of Blunsdon Hill, with climbing lane on southbound carriageway north of Lady Lane Junction. Northbound carriageway opened on 1 July 2008, the southbound overnight on 15 /16 November 2008. Work continued with 40 mph restrictions. There was a 3 May 2009 report in Swindon Advertiser about the official opening by Graham Dalton, Highways Agency Chief Executive. Contractor was Alfred McAlpine (acquired by Carillion plc in February 2008), cost £65 million.

Links

Roads.org.uk

• Roads.org.uk Motorway Database

National Highways

• Post Opening Project Evaluation - A419 Blundson Bypass - Five Years After  December 2015 (archive.org)