The A4160 is a road between

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a weal ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Its role as the main road between Cardiff city centre and Penarth has largely been superseded by the A4055 and

A4232 The A4232, which is also known either as the Peripheral Distributor Road (PDR) ( cy, Ffordd Ddosbarthu Ymylol) or the Cardiff Link Road ( cy, Ffordd Gyswllt Caerdydd), is a distributor road in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The first section ...

roads via

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

Route

The route begins at traffic lights with the A4161

Newport Road Newport Road is a 4.7 mi (7.5 km) road leading east from the centre of Cardiff, Wales, towards Newport, until it joins the A48 at St Mellons. Description Newport Road follows the route of the A4161 through Roath and the B4487 t ...

and West Grove, in the city centre of

. It heads south along the dual-carriageway Fitzalan Place, before turning west along Adam Street, where the A4160 meets the A4234 Central Link. The road turns left onto Bute Street, to turn right at

Callaghan Square Callaghan Square ( cy, Sgwâr Callaghan) is a large public plaza in Cardiff, Wales, previously known as Bute Square. It was developed as part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme to link central Cardiff with Cardiff Bay. History Cardif ...

, where it runs concurrent with the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate t ...

for around , before reaching a roundabout. Here we continue straight onto Tresillian Way, whilst the A470 turns right onto St Mary's Way. As Tresillian Way, we pass Cardiff Central Station, before becoming Penarth Road, continuing in a south-westerly direction. It crosses through the Penarth Road commercial district then crosses the

River Taff The River Taff ( cy, Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan (''little Taff'') and the Taf Fawr (''great Taff'') before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with the R ...

, before entering a residential area, where we meet the A4119. We continue to follow Penarth Road, which becomes a local high street, before reaching Grangetown station overhead and an industrial estate. Then, the A4160 passes over the

River Ely The River Ely ( cy, Afon Elái) is in South Wales flowing generally southeast, from Tonyrefail to Cardiff. The river is about long. The Ely's numerous sources lie in the mountains to the south of Tonypandy, near the town of Tonyrefail, ris ...

, before immediately afterwards passing under the

Grangetown Link (with no junction), after which it turns to a south easterly direction. It meets the A4055 at a crossroads, where it becomes Cogan Hill briefly, to pass Cogan station and retail park, before changing its name to Windsor Road. Windsor Road passes two railway stations; Dingle Road station and Penarth station in the town centre of Penarth.

History

Proposed route:
Aston Clinton Aston Clinton is a historic village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. The village lies at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, between the Wendover and Aylesbury arms of the Grand Union Canal. Surrounding towns in ...
–
Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

In 1935 the A4160 designation was proposed for an upgrade of the B489, which was to form a route from

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

with the A5160 (which was proposed to be used instead of

A505 The A505 is an A-class road in England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 Abington Interchange North in Cambridgeshire. Route ...

for the A505/ A601 route, to give the number continuity). As the tonnage wasn't enough on the B489 to elevate it to Class I, and never looked likely to, the proposal fell through and that road still exists.

Sources

Google Maps UK

Route

History

Sources

See also