B488
B488 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Tring (SP906112) | |||||||||
To: | Linslade (SP911233) | |||||||||
Distance: | 9.9 miles (15.9 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A41, B4009, B4635, B486, B489, A4146 | |||||||||
Old route now: | B486, obliterated | |||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Route
The B488 is a rural road across the northwest Home Counties.
It starts at a junction with the A41 at the former ending point of the A41(M) west of Tring and heads northeast past the town, then over the Grand Union Canal and the West Coast Main Line. It then turns sharply left to head north through Ivinghoe (where it is the dominant number in a short multiplex with the B489). After recrossing the canal it passes Cheddington Station and then runs parallel to the railway line to end on the A4146 Leighton Buzzard bypass just south of Linslade.
History
The B488 used to be much longer, and has largely been obliterated by the arrival of Milton Keynes.
Originally, it started in the centre of Tring, on what was the A41 (now the B4635), heading north on what is now the B486. The rerouting further west probably occurred when the A41(M) opened.
Beyond its current endpoint, it headed north through Linslade, and followed the Grand Union Canal through Stoke Hammond up to the A5 at Fenny Stratford. This section was upgraded to the A4146, though the original route is now bypassed.
The road then headed over the level crossing north through Simpson and Woughton on the Green to end on what was the A422 High Street, near Newport Pagnell station. This section still partly exists as a road open to vehicular traffic, but has been cut off as a through route by the numerous roads crossing Milton Keynes, and survives only as a footpath in places, particularly around Willen Lake.