A5134
| A5134 | ||||||||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||||||||
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| From: | Elstow (TL043473) | |||||||||||||||
| To: | Cardington (TL077484) | |||||||||||||||
| Distance: | 1.9 miles (3.1 km) | |||||||||||||||
| Meets: | A5141, B530, A600, A603, B562, A603 | |||||||||||||||
| Former Number(s): | B562 | |||||||||||||||
| Old route now: | B560, B531 | |||||||||||||||
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| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||
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Route
The A5134 is a short urban A-road through the southern suburbs of Bedford.
The road starts at a signalised crossroads (a roundabout until the 2010s) on the A5141 near Elstow, with the B530 heading off west. The A5134 heads east along the surprisingly rural West End, before bearing left at the next roundabout to bypass Elstow village centre. It rejoins its former route at the next roundabout and continues east along the residential Mile Road.
Presently a roundabout is reached on the A600 London Road, marking the start of a multiplex with that road, which lasts until the next roundabout where the A600 bears right and the A5134 continues ahead. Despite the fact that the A5134 appears to be following a straight road this is in fact the original line of the A600 and a multiplex has always existed here. The A5134 now continues along Cambridge Road through an industrial estate. At the following roundabout it used to continue on to meet the A603 at Cardington Cross. However, this was closed when the A421 was built and so the A5134 now turns left to end on the A603 at another roundabout a short distance to the west.
An image has been requested for this article.
History
The A5134 came into being in the 1960s as an upgrade of the B562 to give Bedford an A-road bypass. This meant that the road originally started on the A428 in Bromham. It headed south along the west bank of the River Great Ouse before bearing eastwards through Kempton to cross the A6 (now A5141) near Elstow to pick up its current route. This followed Elstow Road, which was later declassified when the A5134 was diverted south along Woburn Road to meet the A421 at Marsh Leys.
On the opening of the A428 Bedford Western and North-West bypass on the 1st of December 2009, the section between Bromham and Elstow was declassified, except for a short section which is now the B560. Woburn Road is now the B531. The remainder retains the A5134 number despite running parallel to the A421 southern bypass, although some maps claim that the section east of the A600 is now unclassified.