The A240 is a partially primary status

A road A roads may be *motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian). * main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B and sometimes lower c ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

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 ...

that connects the A217 with the A3 and continues beyond through

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

. The road is long and is dualled as the Ewell bypass and thereafter to Tolworth Broadway. In conjunction with the A3 it provides an alternative to the congested A24 corridor through Morden and Merton.

Route

The A240 runs through three boroughs. Starting in Burgh Heath ( Reigate and Banstead); most of its course is a direct route skirting Ewell ( Epsom and Ewell) and its finishing section through Tolworth, Surbiton and the south of Kingston in the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four royal boroughs in Eng ...

the A240's Greater London borough.

Reigate and Banstead

Branching off the A217 on at Burgh Heath, at the north of a

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills and ...

at 178m OD,Grid Reference Finder.com Elevation Tools
/ref> the road descends northwest passing the large village of ''Great Burgh'' or ''Epsom Downs'' as a single carriageway primary road, through traffic-lit crossroad junctions with the suburban B2221 (Tattenham Way and Great Tattenhams) . The B2221 branches off and after there is a junction for Yew Tree Bottom Road (B284) from the west. Just after the A240 meets the A2022 from the east; it crosses the Sutton and Mole Valley Epsom Downs branch line immediately before exiting the borough.

Epsom and Ewell

The road enters the

Borough of Epsom and Ewell Epsom and Ewell () is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Surrey, England, covering the towns of Epsom and Ewell. The borough was formed as an urban district in 1894, and was known as Epsom until 1934. It was ma ...

just before A2022 heads west into Epsom at a roundabout. After, the A240 continues on its descent through a short stretch of tree-lined open space including the grounds of NESCOT, the route resumes its tree-lined

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

street verges in the highest outskirts of Ewell. At the bottom of this incline the elevation reaches 45m OD and the

A24 A24 is an American independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production, as well as film distribution. It is based in New York City. A24 was founded in 2012 by Daniel Katz, David Fenkel and John Hodges. Pr ...

joins from the southwest. After meeting the A24 the gradient slows it runs concurrently with the A24 road as the Ewell Bypass and becomes a

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

. The bypass shortly afterwards meets the B2200 at the crossroads with the start of the

A232 List of A roads in zone 2 in Great Britain starting south of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest r ...

. At the next crossroads, the A24 heads off north-east, when meeting the B2200 again, whilst the bypass continues, as the A240 north-west and is the boundary between Ewell and Stoneleigh. It becomes Kingston Road at the Beggars Hill Roundabout with Park Avenue West heading east into Stoneleigh, passing near to the Alex Gurteen Recreation Ground. The road then goes under the railway line near

Stoneleigh railway station Stoneleigh railway station is in the Epsom and Ewell district of Surrey, England. The station is served by South Western Railway and is currently in Travelcard Zone 5 Fare zone 5 is an outer zone of Transport for London's zonal fare syst ...

with the Ewell Court neighbourhood to the west. The road then passes Stoneleigh Park Road traffic lights, for the railway station, or Bradford Drive, and Thorndon Gardens traffic lights. See traffic mentioned below. The road bisects a northern spur of West Ewell where it meets the B284, again, at Ruxley Lane. The B284 then branches off at the next junction on Worcester Park Road just before non-humped Tolworth Court Bridge over the Hogsmill stream.

Greater London

The A240 then enters the

in Greater London as it goes over the

Hogsmill River The Hogsmill River in Surrey and Greater London, England is a small chalk stream tributary of the River Thames. It rises in Ewell and flows into the Thames at Kingston upon Thames on the lowest non-tidal reach, that above Teddington Lock. Th ...

, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

at Tolworth Court Bridge. It then goes under another railway bridge by

Tolworth railway station Tolworth railway station, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in south London, is a station on the Chessington Branch Line, down the line from . The station is part of the London suburban network of South Western Railway and is in T ...

before crossing the A3 at the Tolworth Junction, a grade separated

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular 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 New Shorter Oxford En ...

, which the A3 takes uninterrupted. In rush hour, traffic jams from Tolworth junction can stretch to the junction with Thorndon Gardens. Now as a non-primary road and a single carriageway road again, the A240 continues north-west as commercial Tolworth Broadway passing a well-known landmark, Tolworth Tower, before becoming longer Ewell Road which gently ascends from 24 to 32m where it crosses the South West Main Line northeast of

Surbiton railway station Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

. The road turns north-by-northwest with the tangent before this bend being a short link road ( A3210) the first of three straight roads to central Surbiton. In north Surbiton it winds downhill quickly between has two junctions with roads that form the B3363 to central Surbiton. From then on it heads straight towards the B3365, the link road to the

A307 The A307 road runs through SW London and NW Surrey. It is primary at the north-east end; the remainder is non-primary, generally superseded in the mid-twentieth century in two stages by newer alignments of the Portsmouth Road, the Kingston byp ...

where the road bends to the north. It passes County Hall and Kingston University (Penrhyn Road) as the road approaches its end at a roundabout by Kingston College and the Hogsmill River in Kingston town centre. Bus lanes are incorporated in the Greater London section between the junction with the A3 and its terminus at Kingston.

Notes and references

;Notes ;Citations

External links

SABRE Roads by Ten - A240
{{DEFAULTSORT:2-0240 Roads in London Transport in Epsom and Ewell Transport in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Roads in Surrey