B2133
B2133 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Alfold Crossways (TQ040353) | |||||||||
To: | Ashington (TQ134163) | |||||||||
Distance: | 14.5 miles (23.3 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A281, A272, A29, B2139, A24 | |||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Route
The B2139 runs from the A281 some way south of Guildford to the A24 at Ashington in Sussex. It serves the town of Billingshurst, though doesn't actually pass through it. The B2139 also serves as a useful route if travelling from Worthing to Guildford.
Alfold Crossways - Newbridge
The road starts at a junction with the A281 at Alfold Crossways 10 miles south of Guildford, almost cannoning off that road at a rather obscure junction. It heads directly south, through Alfold to the village of Loxwood. Passing around the edge of Loxwood it then crosses the Wey and Arun Canal (and a tributary to the Arun), currently being restored. It then continues south through open countryside to the A272 at Newbridge, between Wisborough Green and Billingshurst. The junction with the A272 is rather nasty, and right turns onto the A272 are better catered for by the unclassified Newpound Lane. This was the original 1922 southern end of the B2133.
Newbridge - Ashington
The B2139 has a short multiplex with the A272 eastwards across the River Arun and the canal. There is then another not particularly pleasant uncontrolled junction on a tight bend that sees the B2139 heading south again. Running almost parallel to the slightly more important A29 the road doesn't quite serve Billinghurst, but was probably a useful rat-run before the Billingshurst bypass was built - and explains why the B2133 was extended this way in 1935. The A29 is then crossed at an uncontrolled staggered crossroads at Adversane, heading in a more easterly direction now. The Arun Valley rail line is crossed at an automatic level crossing, a rarity in these parts, especially on a classified road.
It's fairly uneventful here, save for the 40 and 50 speed limits as houses line the road in many places, and there is a fairly busy (for a rural B-road) junction leading to West Chiltington. There is then another staggered crossroads with the B2139 having priority. The road then passes Laybrook mineral extraction, currently being touted for landfill (much to the objection of the locals), before reaching the village of Ashington. The former A24 is met at a roundabout, which also forms part of the junction with the current line of that road. Some fairly exciting things happen at this junction. It is basically a dumbbell, but the slip roads on the northbound side of the A24 don't leave from one of the roundabouts, but rather partway along a short section of dual-carriageway. This then means there is a short single-lane, purpose-built, dual-carriageway B-road to complete the B2139. This is surely a rarity, although some maps spoil this by claiming it is a spur of the A24.