B5155

Route

Crossing the Bridgwater Canal

The B5155 is a short link road through Runcorn.

It starts at the southern end of the A533 Silver Jubilee Bridge, from where north-facing slip roads join the local roads and turn into the B5155. The road heads north to begin with, so traffic heading towards the bridge has a long loop to pass under the Bridgewater Expressway.

After crossing the Bridgewater Canal the B5155 TOTSOs right onto the High Street. It bends sharply right at the far end and heads south, crossing the canal again before reaching a GSJ with the A533 Bridgewater Expressway. Slip roads to/from the eastbound carriageway are met before the B5155 goes under the road, after which the westbound offslip is met. Shortly afterwards there is another overbridge; this carries the B5155 and forms the westbound onslip of the previous junction.

How traffic gets from the lower level of the B5155 to the upper level is not obvious. There is a slip road heading the other way but in this direction the only obvious method is to take the (unsigned) left turn immediately before the bridge. This takes traffic onto a residential road, from where there is a slip road providing access to the onward B5155.

The B5155 then continues southeastwards along the Runcorn Spur Road. This passes under another road bridge before crossing a set of traffic lights and ending at a roundabout. The A533 Central Expressway is below; ahead is the Halton Lea Shopping Centre, built on top of the continuation of the Runcorn Spur Road.

History

Runcorn and the B5155 in 1923

As may be expected for a road in a new town, the route of the B5155 has changed considerably in recent years.

In 1922 the B5155 started on Runcorn High Street, at the point where the A533 moved onto Church Street and thence to cross the River Mersey via the now-gone transporter bridge. The B5155 continued west along the remainder of the High Street to end on the station approach road on the northern side of Waterloo Bridge.

As the new town developed, so did the B5155, taking on the former route of the A533 as far as its junction with the A558, and also the former A557 as far as the Heath Road junction by the 1960s, thus forming a horseshoe shape. The A533, which had originally run along Halton Road, before being rerouted to the new Runcorn Spur Road was later moved again to its current route. At this point, the B5155 also moved and took over the section of Runcorn Spur Road to the west of the Central Expressway (with the section to the east being demolished). Further improvements in the area have led to the road's current complicated route, but as yet these are not fully understood.

Throughout all of these changes, the B5155 seems to have retained its original line along Runcorn High Street, which is perhaps quite remarkable!