A48 road

A48 road
The A48 (Eastern Avenue, in Cardiff near the University Hospital of Wales)
Part of E30
Major junctions
From:	Highnam
	A40 road A4151 road A466 road A449 road M4 motorway J24 A4042 road M4 motorway J28 A467 road A48(M) motorway J29A A4232 road A4161 road A469 road A470 road A4119 road A4161 road A4232 road A4050 road A4226 road A4222 road A473 road A4106 road A4229 road M4 motorway J38 A4107 road A4241 road M4 motorway J41 A474 road A465 road A4230 road M4 motorway J44 A4217 road A4067 road A4138 road A4240 road M4 motorway J49 A483 road A476 road A40 road A484 road
To:	Carmarthen
Location
Primary destinations:	Chepstow Newport Cardiff Bridgend Port Talbot Neath Swansea
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways • A and B road zones

The A48 is a major trunk road in Great Britain. It runs from the A40 at Highnam 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Gloucester to the A40 at Carmarthen. Before the construction of the M4 motorway and the first Severn Bridge in the mid 1960s it was the principal route between South Wales and South West England. For most of its journey through South Wales, it runs almost parallel to its successor. Before the construction of the Second Severn Crossing, during times of high winds at the Severn Bridge the A48 was used as part of the diversion route, and is still marked as a Holiday Route.

From Gloucester, the A48 runs through the villages of Minsterworth, Westbury-on-Severn, connects to a link road to Cinderford in the Forest of Dean then through Newnham, Blakeney and bypassing the town of Lydney (the bypass was built in the 1990s) on the west bank of the River Severn. Crossing the Wales-England border at Chepstow and continuing west close to the South Wales coast, it connects Newport, Cardiff, Cowbridge, Bridgend, Pyle, Port Talbot, Neath, Swansea before terminating at the junction with the A40 near the centre of Carmarthen.

There is a motorway section (the A48(M)) which is a spur of the M4 starting at junction 29 and ending with the main A48 at St Mellons, East Cardiff.

Just before Junction 44 of the M4 motorway, there is an abandoned dual carriageway trunk road, just to the left side of the motorway. This formerly was home to two service stations, both of which have been demolished.^{[citation needed]}

Part of the A48 forms a section of the unsigned Euroroute E30.

Highnam to Newport

The A48 from Highnam to Newport runs adjacent to the River Severn in Gloucestershire England. It runs through a series of villages, until it reaches Chepstow where it crosses the Wales-England border. Then, it continues to Newport. From the M4 Motorway at J15 near Swindon, traffic is directed for Wales if it is over the Severn Bridge weight limit of 44tonnes. Traffic is directed onto the A419, then onto the A417 after Cirencester, and at Gloucester, onto the A40. The traffic is then directed onto this stretch of road. This road has some speed cameras, as there have previously been incidents here, and have been erected to prevent them happening again. During busy periods, such as the Severn Bore, this road may become busy with parked cars near the river's edge. The road is generally quite empty and free running, with no heavy traffic reports. The road also runs next to the Forest of Dean. The woods may be viewed from the roadside, as may the hills of the Dean. Until Chepstow, there is a weight limit under the low railway bridges. Tall vehicles are directed to Newport on the A40. For some parts of this route, short distance dual carriageways occur, especially on steep hills.

At Chepstow, the road enters Wales. The road runs through Chepstow, with services at a nearby Tesco. There is access to the Forest of Dean in Chepstow. At the end of the road in Chepstow (at the roundabout), the Primary Route ends here, and it meets the A466, a road that provides access to the Wye Valley and to the M48 motorway, originally the M4. Access to the M4 is available on this road. The A48 becomes a secondary route here, and continues to Caldicot. Caldicot is a small town, renowned for its views over the Severn Mouth and the Second Severn Crossing. The A48 then continues to M4 junction 24, where vehicles exceeding the height limit may rejoin the A48. The A449 provides access to Usk and the A40 near Raglan. When the Severn Bridge is closed in bad weather conditions, the traffic is directed onto the A449. After this roundabout, the road follows through to Newport. There are some minor routes that take you to Newport Town Centre, but the main route is the A4042, leading directly to Newport town centre and Caerleon. This is after the Newport International Sports Village [1], a sports village with facilities including a Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts, Football Stadium, Cricket Pitch, Velodrome and many more facilities. Passing through Newport, there are views of the industrial town, with views of historic features such as the Transporter Bridge. The road then reaches the M4 again, at J28.

History of the road number

The original (1923) route of the A48 was Worcester to Carmarthen via Malvern, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye, Monmouth, Newport, Cardiff, Bridgend, Neath and Llanelli. In 1935 it was rerouted east of Newport, replacing the A437 between Newport and Gloucester. The road from Worcester to Newport became part of the A449, apart from the section between Ross and Monmouth (which became part of the A40).

Road safety

In June 2008, a 44 km stretch of the A48 between Chepstow - Gloucester was named as the most dangerous road in the South West of England. This single carriageway stretch had 45 fatal and serious injury car accident collisions between 2004 and 2006, and was rated as medium risk in the EuroRAP report publish by the Road Safety Foundation.