A426 road

UK road routebox
road= A426
length-mi= 29
length-km= 47
direction= North-South
start= Leicester
destinations= Rugby
end= Southam
construction-date=
completion-date=
junctions= Junction 1
ukroadsmall|563
ukroadsmall|4303
ukroadsmall|5
ukroadsmall|428
ukroadsmall|4071
ukroadsmall|423

The A426 road is a road in England which runs from the city of Leicester to Southam in Warwickshire via Lutterworth and Rugby.

History

Until the M1 Motorway was completed in the 1960s this route formed the main route between Rugby and Leicester, now much quieter as all but local traffic uses the Motorway.

The A426 crosses the route of the former A45 in Dunchurch, this would have formed one of the main routes between the Midlands and South East. Dunchurch is now bypassed to the South by the M45 Motorway, and the A426 no longer meets the A45

Route

The A426 starts on the Leicester Inner Ring Road, heading South through the suburbs of the City, crossing the Outer Ring Road and bypassing the village of Blaby. It crosses over the M1 which it runs parallel to for the next 10 miles or so. The road becomes rural in nature until entering the small town of Lutterworth and crossing the A4303 Southern Bypass. A further 2 miles South and it crosses the A5 Watling Street at a roundabout and eventually the M6 junction 1. It starts a descent into Rugby as a dual carriageway with 5 local access roundabouts. Approaching the Town Centre the road becomes single carriageway again and crosses under the West Coast Main Line. It passes the main Town Centre to the West and heads Southwards out of the town towards Dunchurch. The road passes over the M45 and once again becomes a rural road for its final length to terminate on the A423 Southam bypass.

Former Routes

The A426, compared to other routes is a relatively untouched road, with only a single bypass:
* The road used to travel through the village of Blaby, now bypassed