Talk:A5 road (Great Britain)

Article Style

This article seems to have a great deal of obsessive, nerdish detail. Do we really need to know every petrol station that the road passes, and all the numbers of the interescting roads? Reminds me of that Monty Python sketch, where the boring old bloke arrives at the B&B... Anyway, I really think the article is very boring and needs ot be cut down. There are surely a lot more interesting things that can be written rather than the trainspotters version we have now? Graham 23:52, 6 September 2005 (UTC)

• Fine with me - suggest that you have a go at re-edit to a slimmer version. Velela 07:34, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

• agreed - which is why I've added the {{template:essay-entry}} template. See A1 and A66 for good examples of how a roads article should be laid out, and not simply a narrative of all its waypoints, which is not useful for an encyclopedia. See wp:mos. — superbfc [ talk | cont ] — 20:05, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

• I disagree with this, the article is now too vague. It doesn't even mention Atherstone Which was the A5 originally passed straight through and has had a bypass since the 70's, in the Route or in Primary Destinations, yet lists Nuneaton and Hinckley that have nothing to do with this road, those places are not on this roads route . As a user who happened to look at this and the Two roads listed above, my opinion is that the routes are too vague, they are just a list, and an incomplete list at that of places that the roads pass through or goes near. That is not to me a description of a road route. A description of a road route should list all towns on it's route and all roads with numbers that it intersects, also any canal, rivers or railways it crosses. Canals and rivers are labelled on roads. If they're important enough to be labelled on a road surely they're encyclopaedic and should be in the route description. Madhatter1uk 23:20, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

Deleted material

Such a pity to delete an interesting narrative, even if it did fail the essay test. Reposted here for posterity (as a block quote). (and maybe for a change of policy!)

Route

London to Milton Keynes

Starting at Marble Arch in London, the A5 runs north-west up the Edgware Road through Kilburn and Cricklewood. The A5 number disappears near Edgware, but the road continues as the A5183 through Elstree, Radlett, St Albans and Redbourn, to junction 9 of the M1, where it becomes the A5 again. The road passes through the village of Markyate, then travels through the main shopping precinct of Dunstable, where there is a campaign for a bypass. Travelling north past Hockliffe, there is a roundabout with the A4012 for nearby Woburn. The road enters the Borough of Milton Keynes at Little Brickhill, where there is large roundabout with the A4146 (for Leighton Buzzard and Aylesbury) and a local road (for Woburn Sands). The section just before Little Brickhill forms part of the boundary between modern Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Borough.

Milton Keynes to the A43 at Towcester

Little Brickhill is bypassed at the start of the long grade separated dual-carriageway section through Milton Keynes. This £24m ten-mile landscaped diversion opened in October 1980, taking a route east of the former road (still named Watling Street). An extension from the A4146 roundabout past Little Brickhill opened in 1993. The road is crossed by the Marston Vale Line, crosses the River Ouzel and Grand Union Canal, passes Caldecotte Lake, makes a spur junction with Grafton Street (A421 leading to Standing Way) at Beanhill beside the new Denbigh Stadium and passes under the West Coast Main Line. It runs alongside the track, between the National Bowl and Milton Keynes Central railway station. Near the station is a grade-separated junction with Portway (A509) near the National Badminton Centre. From the grade-separated junction with Monks Way near Bradwell Abbey, it multiplexes with the A422 from Bedford. It is crossed by the North Buckinghamshire Way. This section bypasses Stony Stratford and crosses the River Great Ouse, which is where the road enters Northamptonshire and the district of South Northamptonshire. The dual carriageway ends at a five-way traffic-light-controlled roundabout with the A422 from Buckingham, the A508 from Northampton, and the old A5 back through Old Stratford and Milton Keynes (as Watling Street).

The next section to Towcester is very straight and passes Potterspury and Paulerspury. At Towcester it passes alongside Towcester Race Course then goes straight through the busy town, passing the Sponne School and crossing the River Tove, before meeting the A43 at a roundabout. This roundabout is very busy at peak times and the junction design is not suited to the volume of traffic on the A43.

A43 to Watford Gap

North of here, the road is less straight, with three-lane "suicide lane" sections or very wide two-lane sections (previously three lanes in the 1960s), and carries considerable numbers of trucks heading between the A43 and the distribution centres near Rugby [1]. At Weedon Bec, the road crosses the West Coast Main Line and Grand Union Canal twice, and tributaries of the River Nene and Nene Way. There are traffic lights and a crossroads with the A45 at Weedon, and the BP Freeways Motors. North of Weedon, the road is followed by the West Coast Main Line for many miles.

It crosses the Grand Union Canal again twice just before the junction with the B5385 for the village of Watford. This is close to Watford Gap service station on the M1. The West Coast Main Line passes under the road and the road is crossed by the Jurassic Way. One mile further north is Watford Gap itself, where the road deviates to the west, away from the course of Watling Street over the M45, adjacent to the M1/M45 intersection and on towards Kilsby.

Watford Gap to Hinckley

Turning north again at Kilsby where the A361 joins, the road returns to the course of the Roman road near the DIRFT freight terminal and the M1 junction with the A428. The complex layout here seems intended to force southbound traffic onto the M1 at Junction 18 and it can be difficult for non-motorway traffic to find the A5. The road crosses the West Coast Main Line again, at this point in two cuttings because of the Northampton Loop junction. The road then technically enters Warwickshire, although the boundary of Warwickshire at Nuneaton (and Leicestershire at Hinckley) follows the route of the A5 for many miles until Atherstone. The A5 passes to the east of Rugby where there are a large petrol station and transport café and the remaining four masts of the Rugby VLF transmitter. (These have reduced in number since June 2004, though still distinctive at night with numerous aircraft warning lights).

The road passes near the ancient Tripontium and under the M6 and reaches the A426 at 'Gibbet Hill' roundabout. It passes close to Lutterworth on the A4303 (formerly the A427) and the immense Magna Park [2] distribution centre, built on the old Bitteswell airfield [3]. From here to Hinckley, the road is a few feet inside Leicestershire. Near Hinckley, at High Cross (Venonae), it crosses the Fosse Way Roman road, now the B4455, though once the A46. In Roman times this intersection was one of the most important in Britain, being almost the dead centre of the country. Today it is a very open rural area. The road alternates every few miles between single and dual carriageway, which it does allow plenty of opportunities for overtaking, not possible south of Rugby. The road intersects with the M69 (and B4109) at junction 1. Further north is the Three Pots Service Station.

Hinckley to Tamworth

At Hinckley, the road crosses the Ashby de la Zouch Canal, goes under the Birmingham to Peterborough Line and meets the A47 at a roundabout and staggered junction. The road is now a few feet inside Warwickshire. Near Caldecote and the staggered junction for the A444 is the entrance of the testing ground of MIRA.

The road crosses the River Anker near an ancient Roman settlement close to Mancetter. It bypasses Atherstone with the former route being the B4116, passing close to the Queen Elizabeth School [4] and crossing the West Coast Main Line and Coventry Canal. There is a roundabout with another separate section of the B4116. There are two more roundabouts and a junction for the Birch Coppice distribution park [5], which is the site of a former colliery. It meets the M42 at junction 10 and the Tamworth service area.

Tamworth to Cannock

The next section, in Staffordshire, is a dual carriageway, the £26m five-mile Fazeley, Two Gates and Wilnecote bypass opened in July 1995. The former route straight through Tamworth is now the B5404, which meets a grade-separated junction near the Midlands distribution centre for Morrisons. There is a grade-separated junction with the B5440 near the Belgrave High School and the road passes under the Cross Country railway line, then over the Coventry Canal, the A51, the River Tame and the A4091 near Fazeley. There is a free-flowing grade-separated junction with the A453 (leading to the A51) at Bitterscote which is the main exit for Tamworth. The road passes over the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal and meets the A453 (and B5404 leading to Hopwas) again at a grade-separated junction near the Sir Robert Peel Hospital. The road then continues along the Fazeley to Weeford dual-carriageway section, which opened in 2005. This new section crosses the Heart of England Way. At the Weeford junction, which used to be a bottleneck, the A38 now passes under the island, and the M6 Toll comes up alongside the A5. The road reverts to single carriageway for a short section to the junction where it meets the A5127 Lichfield to Sutton Coldfield road (via Shenstone), and the A5148 (for the A38 north), at a roundabout. There is an ancient Roman settlement near where Watling Street meets Ryknild Street at Letocetum, now called Wall. There is a museum owned by the National Trust which is accessible from the A5127 (north).

The next dual-carriageway section of road goes under the Birmingham Cross-City Line. At the Muckley Corner service station there is a garage and the Olde Corner House Hotel at the A461 roundabout, where the A461 heads south-west into Brownhills. The single carriageway road is now heading directly west, over the M6 Toll. There is a roundabout with a minor road (formerly the B4155) where the road enters the borough of Walsall. The Chase Inn is on the right. The road briefly enters Staffordshire at crossroads (with traffic lights) for the B5011 and A5195 (formerly the B5011 which heads to Burntwood and the M6 Toll junction T6), after which the road crosses the Wyrley and Essington Canal, near the Chasewater Reservoir and Holland Park. On the left is Watling St Primary School and Brownhills Community Technology College. The road meets the A452 from Sutton Coldfield, before entering Staffordshire again. There is the Turf Island roundabout with the B4154, close to the Norton Canes service area. The road is now next to the M6 Toll for a couple of miles, where there is a junction for Norton Canes.

Cannock to Telford

Shropshire Union Canal aqueduct

At Cannock, it crosses over the M6 Toll at a junction with the A34 and A460. The dual-carriageway A460 heading north has access to the Orbital Centre retail park. To the south on the A34 is Great Wyrley. From the A449 roundabout there is another garage. The road passes under Telford's Shropshire Union Canal aqueduct and past Belvide Reservoir, and then runs along part of the northern boundary of Weston Park, at which point the road is heading due west. The road enters Shropshire at the A41 roundabout. At Telford, it deviates from the old route and meets the A442 and the M54 at junction 5. This is very close to the central shopping area of Telford.

Telford to the Welsh Border

From Telford, it multiplexes with the M54 for a short stretch. The old route is now the B5061 and towards Shrewsbury the B4380. At junction 7 of the M54, the A5 resumes. The A5/A49 17-mile £79m dual-carriageway Telford-Shrewsbury Bypass opened in August 1992.

Here the road passes close to The Wrekin. Nesscliffe has been bypassed by a dual carriageway [6]. The A5/A483 ten-mile £18m Oswestry Bypass opened in December 1986. After this Shropshire section, the A5 enters Wales just west of Chirk and leaves the A483 multiplex.

English Border to Holyhead

Admirality Arch on Salt Island, Holyhead, the tradtional end of the A5 road.

It continues through the middle of the towns of Llangollen and Corwen, crossing the River Conwy over Waterloo Bridge into the village of Betws-y-Coed and then ascends through Capel Curig and reaches its maximum height at 312 metres shortly before passing Llyn Ogwen. When Telford rebuilt the road, he built it on the opposite side of the Ogwen Valley, as the old road had steep gradients exceeding 5%. The road then descends between some of Snowdonia's greatest peaks before passing through Bethesda and through Bangor before crossing the Menai Strait on the Menai Suspension Bridge near Bangor.

The A5 then crosses Anglesey in parallel to the A55, passing through Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, before arriving at the port of Holyhead, where it has traditionally ended at Admiralty Arch (1821, designed by Thomas Harrison to commemorate a visit by King George IV en route to Ireland).