A243 road
 | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length | 7.4 mi (11.9 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| North end | Surbiton |
A24 A245 A244A3  A3210 A307 | |
| South end | Leatherhead, Surrey |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Primary destinations | Chessington World of Adventures, Kingston upon Thames |
| Road network | |
The A243 is a partially primary status A-road that runs from Leatherhead in Surrey to Surbiton in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, Greater London. It is primary for most of its length, from Leatherhead to Hook Junction with the A3 before running as a non-primary A-road through Surbiton to its terminus at the A307.
Route
Leatherhead
The A243 starts at the Knoll roundabout in Leatherhead with the A24, and the B2122 (the road that goes into the town centre.) It then runs for about half a mile before coming to a large roundabout, which is half of Junction 9 of the M25 (to join the clockwise side). This is the start of the A245. It goes straight on at the roundabout and after a mile this reaches another roundabout, which is the other half of Junction 9 (to join the M25 anti-clockwise.) Straight on is the start of the A244, while the A243 goes off to the right. From here the A243 heads North, with Ashtead Common on the right, and Leatherhead Golf Course on the left.
Malden Rushett, Chessington and Hook
The road enters the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames, Greater London. It then enters Malden Rushett and inside the small village, it meets a crossroads with the B280, named Fairoak Lane on the left, and Rushett Lane on the right. The A243 continues and passes the Chessington World of Adventures theme park on the left. The area gradually gets more built up, and it passes Garrison Lane, which goes to Chessington South railway station. The road goes into the centre of Chessington and comes to a roundabout with two minor roads, one of which Bridge road, a link road to Chessington North railway station and Epsom. It then goes through Hook, and it passes Hook Parade, which has a few shops on it. It is briefly a dual carriageway approaching the Hook junction with the A3 and the south-east terminus of the A309.
Surbiton
Now it becomes a non primary A-road and heads towards Surbiton. There is two link roads to the A240, one is the B364 at the crossroads with Ditton Road where the A243 changes name to Upper Brighton Road, and the other, at a roundabout with the A3210. It then runs for half a mile before going under the railway line near Surbiton railway station as it becomes Brighton Road. After another half-mile, it terminates at a set of traffic lights with the A307 in Seething Wells, part of the KT6 Surbiton postcode.