A4208
A4208 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Ludgate Circus (TQ316812) | |||
To: | Holborn Circus (TQ313815) | |||
Distance: | 0.3 miles (0.5 km) | |||
Meets: | A201, A4, A40 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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The A4208 was one of the first classified roads in the City of London and the first A42xx road created after the original 1922 classification. As a through route this is one route that allows traffic a passage between the A40 and A201, but only in a Southbound direction other than for cyclists. The entry at St Bride Street was closed off for through traffic and Stonecutter Street is one-way Eastbound only. However, the road still exists, appearing on maps and being mentioned in official documentation.
Other than the southernmost section the road is two-way and provides access to local facilities. At its northern end it is one of the 6 roads that comes off Holborn Circus as St Andrew Street. This junction was a roundabout until recently when it was redesigned to give priority to the A40. The A4208 now technically starts on the A4.
After a section where the road becomes a narrow D1 to signal the entrance to the "square mile", Shoe Lane merges in from the left and the road takes on that name. This is because historically St Andrew Street is a fairly new road and Shoe Lane was already there on its old path. There is a mini-roundabout where Stonecutter Street is the main route for through traffic. Price Coopers Waterhouse, Deloitte and Goldman Sachs all have offices around this junction, and Shoe Lane itself is now a privately-owned road by Goldman Sachs and is only a service road for motor vehicles although all pedestrians have through access, through to Fleet Street.
Little New Street is the other road at this junction and has recently been redeveloped. It takes you through various old buildings with lots of plaques denoting who has lived there in the past and you can walk through to Fetter Lane. They may have re-opened it to motor vehicles too. As Fetter Lane and not Fleet Street is the path of the A4, it means that the A4208 is actually out of zone, as it is now in the 3-zone.