B4082 (Coventry)
| B4082 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Binley (SP377784) | |||||||||
| To: | Little Heath (SP345823) | |||||||||
| Distance: | 4.2 miles (6.8 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A428, B4428, A46, A4600, B4109, B4113 | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | B4481, A4082 | |||||||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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For the B4082 in Worcestershire, see B4082 (Worcestershire).
This version of the B4082 runs through the northeastern suburbs of Coventry.
The road starts at traffic lights on the A428 by the Toby Carvery (former Craven Arms PH) in the Binley area of town and heads north along Brinklow Road, which within 200 m becomes Clifford Bridge Road at the point where (at a partially signalized junction) Brinklow Road turns off to the right to continue as the B4428.
At first, with a church on the far side of a couple of fields on the left and an office block behind a hedge on the right, the road doesn't appear particularly urban. However, once past the B4428 junction the road becomes residential. After running along a straight, tree-lined avenue a roundabout is reached and the road becomes semi-rural in appearance once again. A spur of the B4082 (number unsigned) heads to the right to a roundabout on the Coventry eastern bypass (A46) while the mainline continues ahead.
We cross the water meadows of the River Sowe and pass Tesco, after which the road runs between housing estates. Although there are a number of residential side roads no buildings front onto the B4082 for now. A short dual-carriageway section leads to traffic lights providing access to the University Hospital then continues to a roundabout on the A4600. There's now a brief multiplex to the right back over the Sowe to traffic lights where the B4082 regains its number by turning left.
The route is once again briefly dual-carriageway before it reverts to residential S2. We TOTSO left at traffic lights and follow Henley Road which is more of the same, although we do pass an industrial estate at one point. After another crossing of the Sowe we reach Riley Square and traffic lights. The road ahead is the B4109; we TOTSO left onto a semi-roundabout then leave that road behind. We now follow Old Church Road, which seems surprisingly modern. The church itself, St Lawrence's, is hidden to the right. The road now skirts an industrial estate and detours south to cross the Coventry Canal. After passing a car dealership the road ends at a roundabout on the B4113.
History
The whole route was originally unclassified, but by 1938 the section south of the then A46 at Wyken had become a part of the newly classified B4481 Willenhall to Walsgrave road. In the 1970s this road was reclassified as the A4082 and extended to the present terminus of the B4082 at Little Heath.
In the following decade, when the A4082 number was transferred to Allard Way (a new-build road from Witley to Stoke), the Willenhall to Binley section of the old A4082 reverted to unclassified status and the remainder of the route (corresponding to the current B4082) was reclassified as a Class II road. It retained the same digits, however, (i.e. A4082 became B4082): an idea which someone no doubt thought neat at the time, except that another B4082 already existed (and still exists) in Worcestershire.