A46 road

UK road routebox
road= A46
length-mi=
length-km=
direction= Northeast-southwest
end= Cleethorpes

destinations= Cheltenham
Warwick
Coventry
Leicester
Newark-on-Trent
Lincoln
start= Bath | construction-date=
completion-date= Newark-On-Trent Relief Road - October 1990
Leicester Western Bypass - November 1995
Lincoln Relief Road - December 1985
junctions= ukroadsmall|1
ukroadsmall|1434
ukmotorwaysmall|1
ukmotorwaysmall|40
ukroadsmall|617 The A46 is a trunk road in England. It largely follows the course of the Roman Fosse Way, from Lincoln to south Devon. However, large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway development, and the present A46 is no longer a single, unbroken road along its entire route. The A46 terminates at Bath, Somerset, and the remainder of the Fosse route to Exeter is followed by the A37 and A303 roads.

History

The original (1923) route of the A46 was Bath to Laceby. Unusually for such a long road, no changes were made to its route before the Second World War. The central sections of the road have been rerouted and renumbered substantially in recent years (as detailed above). One further change not noted above is that the A46 has been extended into Grimsby and Cleethorpes - the road between Laceby and Grimsby was originally part of the A18.

The A46 now deviates from its original alignment. There are now two sections where there are gaps of over 10 miles (15 km) where the road simply does not exist at all.

Many of the deviations are bypasses. A46 bypasses Market Rasen, Lincoln, Newark, Syston, Leicester, Coventry, Kenilworth, Warwick, Stratford, Alcester, Evesham and parts of Bath. However, not even all of those towns were originally on the route of the A46. The road never came anywhere near Alcester and Evesham when it was first numbered.

The first major gap in the A46 was created by the opening of the M69 motorway in the late 1970s. This resulted in the original road being downgraded to a mixture of the B4114 and unclassified roads. The second gap was created by the realignment of the road westwards from its original route between Stratford and Cheltenham. What was originally the A46 is now the B4632 and runs through some of the most picturesque parts of the Cotswold Hills. The section of the A46 that ran through Leicester has since redesignated the A5460 (Narborough Road, in the southwest) and A607 (Belgrave Road/Melton Road, in the northeast). The northern part of the A607 deviates from the straight course of the Fosse Way, bypassing the village centres of Thurmaston and Syston.

Route

Cleethorpes - A1 (Newark)

The A46 starts at a roundabout with the A1098 and the A180. 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. 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. It passes the headquarters for Lincolnshire Police on the left. It meets the A158 (for Skegness) and the B1182 (former route into Lincoln) at a roundabout.

The A46 Lincoln Relief Road is concurrent the A15. The A15 leaves to the right at a roundabout. The road becomes [http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/64737 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 a mile. The road enters Nottinghamshire and the road bypasses Brough. The new section of road finishes at the roundabout with the A1133. The A17 joins from the left at a roundabout.

A1 (Newark) - M1 (Leicester)

The road crosses the A1. Newark is bypassed to the North and Westm ending on a roundabout with the B6166. The road continues south-west, meeting the A6097 and A52 near Bingham. This single carriageway section is lined with SPECS speed enforcement cameras. At the A606 junction the A46 becomes dual carriageway, heading South 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 Northern Bypass. There are grade seperated junctions with the A6, A5630 and A50. This section of the road ends at a junction with the B5380, with the forward route flowing on to the M1

M6 (Coventry) - M5 (Tewkesbury)

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 along is signal controlled and known locally as "Tollbar End" where there are exits for the A45 and Coventry Airport. At Stivichall Interchange, the A46 takes the Southern exit onto the 3 lane Kenilworth Bypass. Along the bypass there are exits for Stoneleigh, Kenilworth and Leamington (A452). At the Warwick (A429) exit, the bypass drops down to 2 lanes, closely followed by an exit for the A4177 and Warwick Parkway railway station. The M40 is crossed at the Longbridge Roundabout, currently undergoing works to create a bypass for A46 traffic.

The 3 mile dual carriageway section South of 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. Near Harvington, it enters Worcestershire and the district of Wychavon. 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

After a gap filled in by the A435, the A46 reappears on its original route on the south side of Cheltenham. It then heads through Stroud, through Nailsworth, to the M4 motorway. From the M4, the A46 heads to Bath, ending at its junction with the A4 in that town. The three-mile (5 km) £45 million dual-carriageway Batheaston/Swainswick Bypass, opened in summer 1996, contains 1 mile of the A46. A small section of this strip of the A46 between Painswick and Stroud subsided during the floods on Friday 29th July and was shut for over 6 months, causing quite an impact on the local area. The road re-opened on 15th February 2008.

Former routes

Bypasses and Realignments

* Lincon (Bypassed, now A1434)
* Newark (Bypassed, now B6166)
* Syston (Bypassed, now unclassified)
* Leicester (Bypassed, now A607 and A5460)
* Coventry (Bypassed, now A4600 and A4114)
* Kenilworth and Warwick (Bypassed, now A429)
* Stratford (Bypassed, now A439)

Downgrading

* Leicester - Coventry (Downgraded to B4114 upon opening of the M69)
* Stratford - Cheltenham (Downgraded to B4632)

Improvements

Under Construction

* M40 Longbridge Island bypass, a dual carriageway road, bypassing the roundabout at the M40 junctioncite web
title =Highways Agency Projects
url =http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/5392.aspx
accessdate =2008-09-23 ] .(Part of the Tollbar End improvements)

Proposed

* The Newark to Widmerpool Improvement will make this section grade-separated dual-carriageway, closing the gap in the corridor [cite web
title =Highways Agency Projects
url =http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/4403.aspx
accessdate =2008-09-23 ] .
* The A45/A46 Tollbar End improvement will create a grade seperated junction here, as well as improvements to the Stonebridge Highway.

References

External links

* [http://www.uk-roads.org.uk/roadlists/f99/46.shtml SABRE First 99 - A46]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1943388.stm Workmen dig up Roman treasure when improving A46.]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/3054987.stm Red Arrows salute opening of the Newark to Lincoln Improvement.]