The A4008 is a local road in south east England.

Route

It starts at

Hatch End Hatch End is an area of North West London, situated within the London Borough of Harrow. It is located north west of Charing Cross. Attractions Hatch End is home to Harrow Arts Centre, a complex which centres on the 404-seat Elliott Hall and ...

in the

London Borough of Harrow The London Borough of Harrow () is a London borough in northwest London, England; it forms part of Outer London. It borders four other London boroughs Barnet to the east of ancient Watling Street (now the A5 road), Brent to the southeast, Ea ...

at a roundabout on the A410. It runs North from the roundabout and is known as Oxhey Lane. After it passes over the route of the Grims Dyke and Grimsdyke Golf Course is to the East. Very soon afterwards it passes in to

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. At the border a white post with the shield of London on it marks the

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

border. There is also a plate emblazoned with the name and arms of the former county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. In the trees to the east, a BT microwave tower may be seen. The road continues northwards passing the estate of

Carpenders Park Carpenders Park is a suburb of Watford in the Watford Rural parish of the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the south western corner of Hertfordshire and close to the boundary with Greater London. It is bounded t ...

on its western side. There is also a cemetery here. after crossing into Hertfordshire, the road enters the Borough of

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. There is a pub, the Load of Hay on the western side and then a small green known as Watford Heath. The road swings eastwards and winds through the village of

Oxhey Oxhey is a suburb of Watford, under the jurisdiction of the Watford Borough Council of the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is located at and is part of the Watford. It is in the Oxhey Ward of Watford Borough Council. Oxhey grew during th ...

, now a suburb of

. At Bushey Station, the northbound traffic runs straight on, whereas southbound traffic is via Chalk Hill and right into Aldenham Road (passing the Victoria public house at a set of traffic lights). The road has now joined the A411 and passing under Bushey Arches at a roundabout and it becomes Lower Watford High Street. On the east of the road just after the roundabout there is a metal turnpike marker with a plaque commemorating it as the last of its type. A

gyratory system A roundabout is a type of circular intersection (road), intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The N ...

takes the northbound traffic around a

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standalo ...

, via Dalton Way and under Oxhey Arches. The southbound traffic is along Lower High Street. The two routes meet at a set of traffic lights and via a roundabout into Stephenson Way. On the west is a

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

Extra supermarket, on the east is the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

running on an embankment between

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...

and

Watford Junction Watford Junction is a railway station that serves Watford, Hertfordshire. The station is on the West Coast Main Line (WCML), 17 miles 34 chains from London Euston and the Abbey Line, a branch line to St Albans. Journeys to London take between 16 ...

. This section of the road dates from the late 1980s. On 23 January 1975, there was a

train accident Classification of railway accidents, both in terms of cause and effect, is a valuable aid in studying rail (and other) accidents to help to prevent similar ones occurring in the future. Systematic investigation for over 150 years has led to the r ...

on this embankment and a locomotive and carriages rolled down onto what were then fields just by point at which the traffic lights mark the exit from the supermarket. The road leaves the route of the A412 at a roundabout at the end of Stephenson Way and heads east along a link road to join the A41 and M1 at junction 5, Berrygrove. At the start of this link road the route again passes under railway arches. At this point, in the 1930s, an open-air pool was crafted into the course of the River Colne. The road is some in length.

History

The A4008 was originally numbered the B460. For a while, in the 1970s and 1980s, the route from Bushey Station to the A41 was along the Aldenham Road. This was originally the B462 and it reverted to this number after the opening of Stephenson Way and the M1 link.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:4-4008 Roads in England Roads in Hertfordshire Streets in the London Borough of Harrow Roads in London