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.jpg) The A4074 at Chazey Heath | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 22 mi (35 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end | Caversham,Reading(51°28′02″N0°58′36″W / 51.4673°N 0.9767°W /51.4673; -0.9767 (A4074 road (southern end))) | |||
| North end | Heyford Hill,Iffley,Oxford(51°43′17″N1°14′03″W / 51.7214°N 1.2343°W /51.7214; -1.2343 (A4074 road (northern end))) | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Road network | ||||
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TheA4074 is a BritishA road from theReading suburb ofCaversham to the Heyford Hill roundabout on theOxford Ring Road.[1]
The road starts from a junction with theA4155 close to the northern side ofCaversham Bridge (over theRiver Thames) before climbing through the up-market residential area ofCaversham Heights. Crossing the Reading Borough boundary, the road proceeds through the small community ofChazey Heath, where it enters thick woodland for several miles before emerging near the village ofWoodcote. From here it crosses the more exposed ground of theChiltern Hills before bypassing bothWallingford andCrowmarsh Gifford on the Wallingford bypass. It then passes byBenson, passes throughShillingford, bypassesDorchester and passes throughNuneham Courtenay. The road becomes dual-carriageway as it passesSandford-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] theA423 from Crowmarsh to Heyford Hill was renumbered the A4074, and the road became the primary route between Reading andOxford in place of theA329 along theRiver Thames. The short stretch of the Oxford Ring Road between Heyford Hill and theHinksey 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 byThames Travel, owned by Go-Ahead like its sister company theOxford 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]
Download coordinates as:
Media related toA4074 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons51°36′21″N1°06′22″W / 51.6057°N 1.1061°W /51.6057; -1.1061
