A46 road

A46 road
Route information
Length:	214 mi (344 km)
History:	Construction completed: Warwick and Kenilworth Bypass - 1974 Newark-On-Trent Relief Road - October 1990 Leicester Western Bypass - November 1995 Lincoln Relief Road - December 1985
Major junctions
From:	Bath (51°23′49″N 2°20′10″W / 51.397°N 2.336°W / 51.397; -2.336)
	A1 road A1434 road [[Image:Motorway Left.svg|[ |x30px|link=]] M1 motorway [[Image:Motorway Left.svg|[ |x30px|link=]] M40 motorway [[Image:Motorway Left.svg|[ |x30px|link=]] M5 motorway A617 road
To:	Cleethorpes (53°33′40″N 0°02′06″W / 53.561°N 0.035°W / 53.561; -0.035)
Location
Primary destinations:	Stroud, Cheltenham, Warwick, Coventry, Leicester, Newark-on-Trent, Lincoln
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

A46 near Woolley and Swainswick.

The A46 is an A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway development. Between Leicester and Lincoln the road follows the course of the Roman Fosse Way, but between Bath and Leicester, two cities also linked by the Fosse Way, it follows a more westerly course.

History

The original (1923) route of the A46 was from Bath to Laceby, passing through Cheltenham, Broadway, Stratford-on-Avon, Coventry, Leicester, Newark and Lincoln. Unusually for such a long road, no changes were made to its route until the 1970s. In recent years the central sections of the road have been rerouted and renumbered substantially, and there are now two sections where there are gaps of over 10 miles (16 km) where the road does not exist at all. The A46 has also been extended from Laceby to Grimsby and Cleethorpes - the road between Laceby and Grimsby was originally part of the A18.

The major realignments have been

• Between Coventry and Leicester the original road was downgraded to the B4065 and the B4114 as a result of the opening of the M69 motorway in 1977.^[1]
• Between Cheltenham and Stratford-on-Avon the road was realigned in the 1980s through Evesham on the former route of the A435 and A439. The original route through some of the most picturesque parts of the Cotswold Hills was downgraded to the B4632.^[2]
• The route was subsequently cut between Cheltenham and Teddington and that section became the A435 again. The A46 was diverted to connect with the M5 motorway on part of the former route of the A438.
• Between Evesham and north of Stratford the route was again realigned to run by Alcester and by-pass Stratford, partly on the former line of the A422. The previous route through Bidford-on-Avon to Stratford became the B439,^[3] and north of Stratford the old route became the A439.^[4]
• A new alignment was built from Junction 21a of the M1 to by-pass Leicester to the north. The old route through Leicester was redesignated the A5460 (Narborough Road, in the southwest) and A607 (Belgrave Road/Melton Road, in the northeast). The A607 deviates from the straight course of the Fosse Way, bypassing the village centres of Thurmaston and Syston.
• The A46 was realigned to by-pass Warwick, Kenilworth and Coventry, and the old route was redisignated the A429^[5] and the A4600.^[6]

Bypasses were also built around Market Rasen, Lincoln and Newark.

Route

Cleethorpes - A1 (Newark)

The A46 starts at Isaac's Hill roundabout with the A1098 and the A180.^[7] It meets the A1031 at a roundabout and passes the King George V Stadium on the right. It meets the B1213 from the right, then crosses the A16 Peaks Parkway. It heads into Grimsby, meeting the A1243 Bargate (former A16). It meets the B1444 where the road becomes a dual carriageway. It meets the A18 at a roundabout. This was the old terminus of the A46, and what is now the A46 heading east into Grimsby used to be the A18. The road becomes the single carriageway road once again and crosses the north part of the Lincolnshire Wolds. It bypasses Irby upon Humber and enters Lincolnshire. It bypasses Swallow to the North. It climbs a hill to meet the B1225, A1173, and A1084 just east of Caistor. The road crosses the Nottingham - Grimsby railway at a level crossing.^[8] The road becomes very straight and flat, passing though Middle Rasen Plantation and meets the A1103 from the right. The A631 leaves to the right at a T junction. The road bypasses Dunholme to the south then it passes close to the former RAF Dunholme Lodge.^[9] It passes the headquarters for Lincolnshire Police on the left.^[10] It meets the A158 (for Skegness) and the B1182 (former route into Lincoln) at a roundabout.

The A46 Lincoln Relief Road is concurrent with the A15.^[11] The A15 leaves to the right at a roundabout. The road becomes dual carriageway and traverses the Lincoln Cliff. It meets the A57 at the Carholme roundabout and crosses the Lincoln - Gainsborough railway. After bypassing Lincoln, it starts following the route of the old Fosse Way (bar bypasses). The A46 passes the former airfield of RAF Swinderby. The road becomes the boundary of Lincolnshire and Nottingham for 1 mile (1.6 km). The road enters Nottinghamshire and the road bypasses Brough. The new section of road finishes at the roundabout with the A1133.^[12] The A17 joins from the left at a roundabout.

A1 (Newark) - M1 (Leicester)

A section of the A46 in Glenfield, Leicestershire just before it joins the M1 motorway

The road crosses the A1. Newark is bypassed to the North and West ending on a roundabout with the B6166. The road continues south-west, meeting the A6097 and A52 near Bingham. The single carriageway section between Newark and the Widmerpool A606 junction was replaced by an new dual carriageway road which was completed in April 2012.^[13] Heading South from the A606 junction, the existing dual carriageway still following the route of the Fosse Way. The road crosses the A6006 North of Six Hills. Syston is bypassed to the West, and at a roundabout with the A607 the route continues in a Westerly direction onto the Leicester Western Bypass. There are grade separated junctions with the A6, A5630 and A50.^[14] This section of the road ends at a junction with the B5380, with the forward route flowing on to the M1. It originally continued towards Coventry until the opening of the M69 motorway in the 1970s, which replaced the A46 as the main route between Leicester and Coventry, with the former A46 being downgraded.

M6 (Coventry) - M5 (Tewkesbury)

The A46 junction for Stoneleigh and the University of Warwick

The A46 reappears at Coventry at junction 2 of the M6, it follows the boundary between the district of Rugby and the borough of Coventry, always staying inside Warwickshire. At Binley Woods the A428 is crossed at a roundabout. The next roundabout is the signal controlled Tollbar Roundabout, where there are exits for the A45 and Coventry Airport. There is a break in the road here, and it resumes again at Festival Island where the it takes the southern exit on to the three lane Kenilworth bypass. Along the bypass there are exits for Stoneleigh and the University of Warwick, Kenilworth and Leamington Spa (A452). At the Warwick (A429) exit, the bypass drops down to two lanes, closely followed by an exit for the A4177 and Warwick Parkway railway station. The M40 is passed over west of Longbridge roundabout, as a new bypass now brings the mainline carriageway away from Junction 15, the A46 meets a small roundabout, connecting with the B4463 and a link to Junction 15 for northbound A46 traffic to access the M40 and A429 respectively.

The 3-mile (4.8 km) dual carriageway section south of the improved Longbridge island is the only part of the A46 on its original routing between Leicester and Cheltenham. Stratford is bypassed to the north as a single carriageway road, crossing the A3400 and meeting the A422. Between here and Alcester the A46 is concurrent with the A422, with the A46 taking priority. Alcester is bypassed to the south of the town. At a roundabout the A435 leaves to the North for Redditch and Birmingham. The A46 takes a dual carriageway route to the south towards Evesham, meeting the B439 at a roundabout near Bidford on Avon. Almost immediately after the roundabout, the road enters Worcestershire and Wychavon district, then goes back into Warwickshire, before going back into Worcestershire Near Harvington. At the northern end of the Evesham bypass, the A44 joins at a roundabout and becomes concurrent with the A46. The next roundabout on the bypass is the B4035, followed by the A44 (for Oxford), The final roundabout on the bypass is with the A4184 and the A46 continues to head south. The villages of Sedgeberrow (bypassed) and Beckford are on the route. At the Teddington Hands roundabout, the A435 heads south to Cheltenham, while the A46 heads west. It passes Ashchurch close to Ashchurch for Tewkesbury railway station. This section of the A46 ends on the M5 roundabout at junction 9.

Cheltenham - Bath

A fingerpost sign along the A46 in South Gloucestershire. Near the junction with the M4

After a gap filled in by the A435, the A46 reappears on its original route in the centre of Cheltenham. It then heads through Stroud, through Nailsworth, to the M4 motorway, where since 2003 access to the roundabout has been controlled by traffic lights. From the M4, the A46 heads to Bath, ending at its junction with the A4 to the east of the city. The 3-mile (4.8 km) £45 million dual-carriageway Batheaston/Swainswick Bypass, opened in summer 1996, contains 1-mile (1.6 km) of the A46.^[15][16] A small section of this strip of the A46 between Painswick and Stroud subsided during the floods on Friday 29 July 2007 and was shut for over 6 months, causing quite an impact on the local area. The road re-opened on 15 February 2008.

Former routes

Bypasses and realignments

• Lincoln (Bypassed, now A1434)
• Newark (Bypassed, now B6166)
• Syston (Bypassed, now unclassified)
• Leicester (Bypassed, now A607 and A5460)
• Coventry (Bypassed; southern section now A429 [pre-1974 route], or A444 and A4114 [1974 — 1989 route]; northern section A4600)
• Kenilworth and Warwick (Bypassed, now A429)
• Stratford (Bypassed, now A439 and B439)

Downgrading

• Leicester - Coventry (Downgraded to B4114 upon opening of the M69)
• Stratford - Cheltenham (Downgraded to B4632 upon diversion of route via Alcester and Evesham)

Improvements

• The M40 Longbridge Island bypass, a dual carriageway road which bypassed the M40 Junction 15 interchange, opened in December 2009, providing much needed relief for the junction. ^[17]
• The Newark to Widmerpool Improvement is now complete and provides a new high quality grade-separated dual-carriageway which closes the gap in the corridor. Spring 2012 saw peripheral works progress and the entire project was completed by Summer 2012.^[18]

Proposed

• The A45/A46 Tollbar End improvement will create a grade separated junction here, as well as improvements to the Stonebridge Highway.^[19]

The project was given the go ahead in the 2011 Autumn Statement on 29 November 2011.^[20]

References

External links

Media related to A46 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons

• SABRE First 99 - A46
• Workmen dig up Roman treasure when improving A46
• Red Arrows salute opening of the Newark to Lincoln Improvement

A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme
	A4 A40 A41 A42 A43 A44 A45 A46 A47 A48 A49
	A403 A404 A405 A406 A412 A413 A414 A415 A417 A418 A419 A420 A421 A422 A423 A425 A426 A427 A428 A429 A431 A432 A433 A435 A441 A442 A444 A445 A446 A448 A449 A452 A453 A454 A456 A458 A461 A465 A468 A469 A470 A472 A473 A474 A475 A476 A477 A478 A482 A483 A484 A485 A486 A487 A488 A489 A490 A491 A493 A494 A496 A497 A498 A499
	A4005 A4006 A4008 A4010 A4012 A4018 A4025 A4032 A4037 A4040 A4042 A4050 A4053 A4054 A4055 A4059 A4060 A4061 A4063 A4067 A4069 A4074 A4076 A4080 A4085 A4094 A4103 A4107 A4109 A4110 A4113 A4117 A4118 A4119 A4123 A4130 A4133 A4135 A4136 A4138 A4142 A4146 A4148 A4150 A4155 A4160 A4161 A4169 A4173 A4174 A4202 A4212 A4216 A4217 A4221 A4226 A4230 A4232 A4234 A4240 A4241 A4260 A4361 A4400 A4536 A4540
List of A roads in Zone 4 List of B roads in Zone 4