A449 road

A449
Route information
Maintained byNational Highways,English local authoritiesand South Wales Trunk Road Agency
Length	104 mi (167 km)
Major junctions
North end	Stafford
Major intersections	M6J13 M54J2 M5J6 M50J4 M4J24 A34 A5 A460 A4150 A4124 A41 A454 A4123 A459 A463 A491 A4101 A458 A451 A456 A448 A38 A4440 A417 A40 A472
South end	Newport
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Primary destinations	Wolverhampton Kidderminster Worcester Ross-on-Wye Monmouth
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
←A448 →A450

TheA449is a major road in theUnited Kingdom.It runs north from junction 24 of theA48 roadatNewportinSouth WalestoStaffordinStaffordshire.

The southern section of the road, betweenRoss on Wyeand Newport forms part of the trunk route fromStaffordto Newport, avoiding theSevern Bridge

Route

Newport – Ross-on-Wye

The A449 on the outskirts of Newport.

The A449 starts on theM4at the Coldra Interchange (J24) in Newport and is dual carriageway all the way toRaglan.The section from theA40junction at Raglan to the A472 junction atUsk,known as theNew Midlands Road,was one of the first sections to be dualled, opening on 16 October 1970. A special postmark dated 8 December 1972 was produced showing the opening of the A449 by The Secretary of State for Wales. Between Raglan andRoss-on-Wyethe A449 isconcurrentwith the A40.

Ross-on-Wye – Worcester

The road becomes quite twisty on departing Ross-on-Wye, but straightens out a little before arriving atLedbury.The road turns northwards upon crossing intoWorcestershireatLittle Malvernand skirts the eastern slopes of theMalvern Hillsthrough the town ofGreat Malvern.It then crossesWorcester's ring road, the A4440, at a roundabout nearPowick.

Worcester – Wolverhampton

North ofWorcester,a spur road of the same number heads towards theM5Junction 6, while the main route continues towardsKidderminster,concurrent with theA442.BetweenClainesandHartleburythe A449 is once again dual carriageway, but much tinkering has left the road with a single lane each way and 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) speed restriction. The road becomes urban again while passing through Kidderminster. It then heads north intoStaffordshire,passing betweenKinverandStourbridgeand crossing theA458at Stourton. TheA491meets it just north ofKingswinford.Continuing northwards, it passesWombourne(becoming dual carriageway once more) being joined by theA463before turning sharply north-east into the outskirts ofWolverhamptonand meeting theRing Road.

Wolverhampton – Stafford

The road resumes its journey northwards, passingMolineux Stadium(home ofWolverhampton Wanderers F.C.) and leaving the city just south of Junction 2 of theM54.It originally ran through the centre of Wolverhampton until the 1980s, when all roads within the new ring road were declassified. Around the same time, the section of Waterloo Road on which Molineux Stadium stands was declassified and the A459 Stafford Street (north of the Ring Road) and Lower Stafford Street became part of the A449.

From there it forms part of the link between the M54 and theM6North. It crosses theA5at theGailey Roundaboutnear the village ofGailey,a short distance west of M6 Junction 12, at which point it reverts to a single carriageway. It passes throughPenkridgebefore crossing the M6 at Junction 13, reaching its terminus at its junction with theA34in Stafford.

Originallyturnpikedunder theStafford, Worcester and Warwick Roads Act 1760(1 Geo. 3.c. 39), the Wolverhampton-Stafford road was part of the historic London-Liverpool coach route. Notoriously narrow in the 19th century, much of it was turned into dual carriageway between the world wars. The Gailey Roundabout was improved in 1929 and again in 1937, removing parts of the churchyard and the historic Spread Eagle Inn (although the latter was replaced by a new building). Widening at Penkridge between 1932 and 1934 reshaped the western part of the town, resulting in the demolition of many ancient buildings.The dual carriageway between Wolverhampton and Gailey was constructed between 1936 and 1939.This section of the road was featured inCitizen Khanepisode "Alia's University".

Former routes

• The original routing of the road was from Bromsgrove – Stourbridge – Wolverhampton – Stafford
• The villages of Hartlebury andOmbersleyhave been bypassed
• Part of Ledbury is now bypassed
• Between Raglan and Newport the A449 used to run through the towns of Usk and Caerleon, along a now mostly unclassified road to the west, terminating at junction 25 of the M4

Water crossings

• River Trothy,Monmouth
• River Monnow,Monmouth
• River Wye,Ross-on-Wye
• River Leadon,Ledbury
• River Severn,Worcester
• Stourbridge Canal,Stourton
• River Stour,Kinver
• Wom Brook,Wombourne
• Birmingham Canal,Wolverhampton
• Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal,Coven
• River Penk,Penkridge

See also

• Trunk roads in Wales

External links

• Road to Nowhere: A449