The B255 is quite an interesting road. It goes from narrow S2 to wide D3, owing to the fact that it serves the very large Bluewater shopping centre. It's a road, then, that packs in a lot.
The route starts at the eastern end of Greenhithe. It is a typical narrow village road at this point and not signposted, It goes north for a mile then turns left. It goes along Greenhithe High Street then turns left again where it meets its first classified road since leaving the A226. This is the A206 from London and Erith, met by Greenhithe Station which was heavily rebuilt in 2008 to be fit for purpose. Unitl then a Victorian station it was unfortunately overgrown in its purpose as the station for Bluewater. It also at this point where Fastrack Buses from Dartford join our route. We now multiplex with the A206 for ½ mile before we meet the A226 for the second time at the next roundabout. This junction is infamous for the unsolved murder of Claire Tuiman back in 1993. We now leave this roundabout and go on the 1999 D3 route towards Bluewater, the original road now being unclassified. We soon hit a set of Traffic Lights for the rest of Greenhithe, from where the old road is abandoned. We then we meet our next roundabout, the main one for Bluewater. We continue past a GSJ from Bluewater on the alignment of the old road. Next is a GSJ with the A296, where we used to have to go around a roundabout but now the old road is a southbound slip road to the A296 roundabout. We cross a bridge over that road and soon meet the A2.
The A2 junction is a dumbbell junction. Mostly. The slips for the coastbound A2 use the A296, which is accessible via a spur of the B255 from the northern roundabout. Rebuilt from a ¾ Diamond to tie in with the Bluewater works, it is a busy junction. In a few years time, it will be super busy due to planned houses to the east of Bluewater. After the roundabout, we are soon back on the original S2 road. We go though the smallish village of Bean before we enter the countryside. Usually this bit of road is not signposted as the B255. We soon arrive at the B262, that runs between Green Street Green and Gravesend, at a staggered crossroads, the B262 having the priority. We cross the road then continue on our way. We soon see the Fawkham link of the HS1, left over from when Eurostar trains left from Waterloo. Before that, though, we TOTSO right towards Longfield. Now on the last leg, we go over that same line, rebuilt from the old Gravesend West line, before we enter Longfield on a hill. We meet the B260 at the west end of the village and this marks the end of the B255. We now have three options. We can turn left for Longfield and Meopham, England's longest village, right towards Dartford or straight on for Fawkham and the back end of the famous Brands Hatch Racing Circuit.
History
The far shorter B255 in 1923
The B255 between the A226 and Longfield was originally unclassified, so the only section of road numbered B255 was a loop north of the A226 through Greenhithe. The southern section gained its number in the 1970s with the opening of the Bean Interchange. When that happened, it was S2 all the way to Longfield. The old road between Greenhithe and the A2 is mostly gone now, the section to the A206 is now D3, while there is a tiny stub left to link the A206 to the B255.
