The Middleway

The Grazebrook beam engine, Dartmouth Circus

A4540
Route information
Length	6.5 mi (10.5 km)
Major junctions
OrbitalaroundBirmingham
Major intersections	A457 A41 A34 A38 A47 A45 A41 A34 A435 A441 A38 A456
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

TheA4540is aring roadinBirmingham,England, also known as theMiddle Ring Road,orthe Middleway.It runs around the centre (St Philip's Cathedral) of the city at a distance of approximately 1 mile (1.6 km).Birmingham City Centreis the area within this ring road. The ring road was planned and designed byHerbert Manzoni.It is now simply known as the Ring Road due to the removal of the oldInner Ring Road.

The traffic island at Dartmouth Circus houses a preserved Boulton and Watt steam engine, theGrazebrook beam engine.The Middleway forms the boundary toBirmingham Clean Air Zone,although the road itself is not part of the zone.

Plans to make The Middleway ared routewere proposed as early as 2008 but dropped in 2021.

Route

Five Ways Island from No. 23 bus.

The A4540 covers the following route: –

• Dartmouth Circus(Roundabout withAston ExpresswayandA38Lichfield Rd) (Pedestrian subway through roundabout)
• Dartmouth Middleway
• Ashted Circus(junction withA47—with pedestriansubwayisland)
• Lawley Middleway (with Curzon Circus in the middle)
• Garrison Circus (junction withGarrison Lane)
• Watery Lane Middleway
• Bordesley Circus(junction withA45)
• Bordesley Middleway
• Camp Hill Circus(junction withA41Stratford Road)
• Highgate Middleway
• Haden Circus (junction withA4167andA435)
• Belgrave Middleway
• Belgrave Interchange (junction withA441followed byA38) Main road passes underneath interchange
• Lee Bank Middleway
• Islington Row Middleway
• Five Ways Island(junction withA456which passes underneath island.) Original plans showed the A4540 as passing under the roundabout but this was later changed, a move which is commonly viewed as a mistake and would have alleviated the heavy congestion at the island. The former Broad St section of theA456,which runs under the island, was downgraded in the 1990s. (Pedestrian subway through island)
• Ladywood Middleway
• Ladywood Circus
• Junction withA457
• Icknield Street
• (Heaton Street, a road which connects the A4540 to Hockley Circus and the junction with theA41)
• Boulton Middleway
• Lucas Circus
• New John Street West
• Junction withA34Newtown Row
• Newtown Middleway
• Dartmouth Circus

Heaton Street and New John Street are both numbered A4540 and was the route for all traffic using the Ring Road prior to the construction of the underpass through Snow Hill.

Pedestrian facilities

All but four of the numbered A4540 junctions have signal-controlledpedestrian crossingsof the ring road. Of the four, Dartmouth Circus, Ashted Circus and Five Ways havesubways;Bordesley Circus has uncontrolled pedestrian crossings despite often heavy traffic. There are mostly lightly usedpavementsaround the entire ring road, though several busy side roads joining the ring road have only uncontrolled crossings for pedestrians. Some parts of the pavement (and the three subways) are designatedcyclepaths, but much of the rest of the pavement is used by cyclists illegally to avoid the heavy traffic and frequent roundabouts on the ring road.

Location	Coordinate
Northern point	52.49417°N 1.90853°W/52.49417; -1.90853
Eastern point	52.47457°N 1.87497°W/52.47457; -1.87497
Southern point	52.46323°N 1.88656°W/52.46323; -1.88656
Western point	52.47849°N 1.92664°W/52.47849; -1.92664

See also

• Transport in Birmingham