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Road in England linking Reading and Oxford
The
A4074
is a British
A road
from the
Reading
suburb of
Caversham
to the Heyford Hill roundabout on the
Oxford Ring Road
.
[1]
The road starts from a junction with the
A4155
close to the northern side of
Caversham Bridge
(over the
River Thames
) before climbing through the up-market residential area of
Caversham Heights
. Crossing the Reading Borough boundary, the road proceeds through the small community of
Chazey Heath
, where it enters thick woodland for several miles before emerging near the village of
Woodcote
. From here it crosses the more exposed ground of the
Chiltern Hills
before bypassing both
Wallingford
and
Crowmarsh Gifford
on the Wallingford bypass. It then passes by
Benson
, passes through
Shillingford
, bypasses
Dorchester
and passes through
Nuneham Courtenay
. The road becomes dual-carriageway as it passes
Sandford-on-Thames
and remains so to its terminus on the Oxford Ring Road at the Heyford Hill roundabout.
[1]
The road was designated in the 1980s
[
citation needed
]
, when the B479 between Caversham and Crowmarsh Gifford was renumbered. In 1990
[
citation needed
]
the
A423
from Crowmarsh to Heyford Hill was renumbered the A4074, and the road became the primary route between Reading and
Oxford
in place of the
A329
along the
River Thames
. The short stretch of the Oxford Ring Road between Heyford Hill and the
Hinksey Hill
interchange was not renumbered A4074, and remains an isolated fragment of the A423.
The poor safety record of a particular stretch of this road, roughly between Chazey Heath and Woodcote, is highlighted in its local nickname,
The 13 Bends of Death
. Its accident rate of 53 per 100 million vehicle kilometres is nearly 70% higher than average for roads of its type.
[2]
A half-hourly bus service, branded as river rapids and operated by
Thames Travel
, owned by Go-Ahead like its sister company the
Oxford Bus Company
, runs between Reading and Oxford along the A4074, albeit passing through the centre of Wallingford rather than using the by-pass. Alternate bus X40, with the X40 also diverting from the main road to serve Woodcote.
[3]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
51°36′21″N
1°06′22″W
/
51.6057°N 1.1061°W
/
51.6057; -1.1061