The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford,

Kings Langley Kings Langley is a village, former Manorialism, manor and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of Westminster in the historic centre of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part o ...

, Hemel Hempstead,

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton,

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

, Whitchurch,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and Ellesmere Port. With the opening of the M40 extension in 1990 from junction 8, much of the route was downgraded. The sections between Bicester and the M42 near Solihull in the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

have been re-classified B4100, A4177 and A4141.

Route

London to Kings Langley

Leavesden Green, A41 North Western Avenue - geograph

The route begins at Marble Arch from its junction on the

A40 road in London The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales. The A40 in London passes through seven London Boroughs: the City of London, Camden, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon, to meet ...

with Portman Street/Gloucester Place (northbound) and

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

/Orchard Street (southbound). Named the Finchley Road, the A41 is dual-carriageway through Swiss Cottage and

Hendon Way Hendon Way is one of London's busiest roads. It connects Finchley Road to Watford Way. It passes through Hampstead and Hendon, and forms part of the A41 road The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts rep ...

and intersects with the North Circular Road near Brent Cross shopping centre. The road passes through

Hendon Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...

and after the junction with the A5150, (close to the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

's police college and the RAF Museum). The A41 overlaps the A1 at ''Five Ways Corner'' with the section known as ''Watford Way''. It passes through Mill Hill, separating with the A1 at ''Apex Corner'' roundabout After crossing the M1, near Elstree, it links the M1 at Junction 4, and then meets the A5 at a roundabout (where the A5 becomes the A5183). The A41 continues alongside the M1 into

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. This section is known as ''Elton Way'', as far as the roundabout with the B462. Running parallel to the M1, it intersects with junction 5 (Berrygrove Interchange). The road continues north, passing over the River Colne, to the east of Watford, crossing the

A412 The A412 is a road in England between Slough and Watford. It was the main artery for this corridor and used to continue to St Albans prior to the construction of the M25. It provides interchange to the A4 in Slough, the A40/ M40 at the Denh ...

near Garston at "the Dome roundabout". After passing under the junction with the A405, the A41 turns towards the west. At a roundabout, with the A411 to Watford to the south, and the M25 spur straight ahead to join the M25 westbound at junction 19, the A41 continues north through Hunton Bridge crossing the River Gade and the Grand Union Canal to meet the M25 at junction 20. The old route through Kings Langley is now classified A4251. It used to follow the route of the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

, Akeman Street, between Berkhamsted and Bicester. The London to Aylesbury section was a similar route to the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road.

Kings Langley to Tring

North of the M25, the road is a near motorway standard "A" road with all junctions

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tran ...

via underpasses or flyovers, but curves and gradients a little steeper. There are no hard shoulders but frequent lay-bys. It climbs through the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

then descends into the valley of the River Bulbourne crossing water meadows just outside Hemel Hempstead at Boxmoor. There are grade-separated junctions with the A414, A4251 and A416. The route returns to open country north of here, passing west of Berkhamsted. It passes the National Film Archive. Before Tring, near Wigginton, it crosses the Icknield Way Path and

Chiltern Way The Chiltern Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in the Chiltern Hills of southern England. It was created by the Chiltern Society as a Millennium project. Route The Chiltern Way runs for around .Tring (for the Ridgeway footpath) and descends the Chiltern

scarp Scarp may refer to: Landforms and geology * Cliff, a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure * Escarpment, a steep slope or long rock that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevatio ...

into the Vale of Aylesbury. The Tring bypass was built in 1973 as the first section of the Watford-Aylesbury A41(M) motorway. On 6 July 1987, this section was downgraded to A41. The Tring bypass ends with the junction with the B4635, B4009 (the former route through Aston Clinton) and B488. The A41 from junction 20 of the M25 to the Tring bypass was built in the early 1990s and opened in two sections: the £23.9m Berkhamsted bypass opened September 1993 and the £32.7m

bypass opened August 1993.

Tring to Bicester

On 3 October 2003, the dual carriageway section was extended to the £25m Aston Clinton Bypass, which was originally intended to be built at the same time as the two sections further south. It enters

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

and the district of Aylesbury Vale. It crosses the Grand Union Canal, and there is a junction with the B489, and finishes at a roundabout, becoming ''Aston Clinton Road''. The road goes straight through Aylesbury, which is a bottleneck. It meets the A4157 at a junction as ''Tring Road'', and the next roundabout is near Aylesbury Grammar School and a Tesco. It meets the A418 ring-road and becomes ''Exchange Street'', then meets the A413 from Wendover at a roundabout and becomes ''Friarage Road'', passing close to a Morrisons and the railway station. The A418 turns to the left and A41 continues straight ahead to become ''Gatehouse Road'', then at the next roundabout, it leaves to left as ''Bicester Road'' near the Applegreen ''Aylesbury Service Station''. After four roundabouts, it crosses the River Thame. It then meets a roundabout with access for the new ''Berryfields'' development as well as

Aylesbury Vale Parkway Aylesbury Vale Parkway railway station is a railway station serving villages northwest of Aylesbury, England. It also serves the Berryfields and Weedon Hill housing developments north of the town. The station and all trains serving it are oper ...

before passing under a railway line, then through Waddesdon, then passes close to Westcott near the former airfield of RAF Westcott. At Kingswood, it passes the ''Crooked Billet'' (now the "Akeman Inn") and ''Plough and Anchor'' (now an Italian restaurant) pubs. It enters

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

and the district of Cherwell, and at Blackthorn it crosses the River Ray and meets a low bridge which was originally a limit but due to bridge strikes, the road was lowered and the bridge now has a limit. Plans for an Aylesbury bypass exist and are well supported locally but no government decision has been made.Speak now if you want a bypass
by Hartley-Parkinson The Bucks Herald, 21 March 2007. Accessed January 2009.

Bicester to Solihull

The £5.7m first stage of the Bicester bypass opened in November 1990, with the £3.9m second stage (part of the A421 section to Wendlebury) opened in May 1993, and has many roundabouts. Since 1993, the road now heads south-west where it officially becomes part of the M40 at junction 9, meeting with the A34 (which also overlaps the M40 to Birmingham – to draw traffic off the previous routes). The former route went through Warwick. From here to the M42, the original route is now mainly designated as the B4100 (multiplexing at points with the current A361 and A422 through Banbury, plus the A452 and A425 approaching and through Warwick) followed by the A4177 and A4141, the latter two both excellent wide roads. At junction 5 of the M42, the A41 follows its old course. Further north, the road bypasses Solihull and goes through the city centres of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. This renumbering took place in 1991. The A4141 and B4100 are new designations, while the A4177 is an extension of an existing route.

Solihull to Wolverhampton

The road manifests from the junction which opened in November 1976 with the A4141 and M42 near Berry Hall Farmbr>(Picture)
and crosses the River Blythe and bypasses Solihull. The former route through Solihull is now the B4025 and B425, which passes Solihull School. The A41 has a staggered junction with the B4102 (for Solihull and Catherine-de-Barnes) near the

BUPA Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide. Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...

br>Parkway Hospital
At Lode Heath, there is crossroads with the B425 (fo
Solihull Hospital
where the road is the ''Seven Star Road''. The A41 resumes the old route at another junction with the B425, becoming ''Warwick Road'', which is the name of the route all the way into Birmingham. At Worlds End there is the Shell Solihull garage on the left. Next is Ulverley Green and it passes the BP Mereside garage on the right and passes under the Chiltern Main Line (for Leamington) near Olton station
Olton Library
and

Olton Reservoir Olton Reservoir or Olton Mere () is a canal feeder reservoir in the Olton district of Solihull, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The reservoir, constructed in 1799 to supply the Grand Union Canal, was formed from marshland fed b ...

. At the junction with the B4514, there is a Tesco petrol station and the road enters the city of Birmingham. The B4514 leads onto Olton Boulevard and can be used to bypass Acocks Green, although there is one section to be completed near Sparkhill. It passes Archbishop Ilsey RC School at Acocks Green, then meets the B4146 and B4217 at a roundabout near a Sainsburys. It meets the A4040 ring road at a staggered junction and crosses the Birmingham - Stratford Line near Tyseley station and the Tyseley Locomotive Works. At Sparkhill, it crosses the River Cole and meets the B4145 at a roundabout nea
Golden Hillock School
At Sparkbrook, it meets the A34 ''Stratford Road'' and there is a crossroads with the A4540 and B4126. The two main routes overlap around central Birmingham and meet

The Middleway (A4540) The A4540 is a ring road in Birmingham, England, also known as the Middle Ring Road, or the Middleway. It runs around the centre (St Philip's Cathedral) of the city at a distance of approximately . Birmingham City Centre is the area within th ...

inner ring road. The former route of the A41 through inner Birmingham is now the B4100 heading past the National Express Birmingham coach station, and passes near St Chad's RC Cathedral. The A41 previously resumed at

Constitution Hill Constitution Hill may refer to: *Constitution Hill, New South Wales, Australia *Constitution Hill, Aberystwyth * Constitution Hill, Birmingham * Constitution Hill, London, a road in the City of Westminster in London * Constitution Hill, Swansea *Con ...

near Snow Hill train station but following downgrading of much of the former Inner Ring Road, resumes in Hockley where it meets the northern section of the A4540. (The section from the A4540 to city centre is another part of the B4100). There is a staggered junction with the A4040 as the road passes through Handsworth (at this point known as Soho Road) which is a particular bottleneck with narrow lanes, on-street parking, bad drivers and several close-set junction, often very badly congested. Just before The Hawthorns football stadium, home of

West Bromwich Albion F.C. West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, it leaves Birmingham and enters the borough of

Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. According to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, t ...

. It meets the M5 at junction 1, where it also meets the A4252. In 2004, there were plans to re-route the road between Birmingham & West Bromwich along the current A457 via

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire. In 2019, the ward of Smethwick had an estimated population of 15,246, while the wider bu ...

& up to the M5 at Junction 1 along the current A4252. These plans were scrapped soon after. It bypasses West Bromwich on a dual-carriageway called the ''Expressway'', which opened in 1973. There is a grade separated roundabout with the A4031 and the former route follows the A4196 from a roundabout. The grade separated roundabout opened over 20 years after the Expressway, relieving what had been a major bottleneck. The new route opened in 1995 and is called the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

New Road, and crosses the West Midlands Metro tram near Guns Village. There is a roundabout with the B4149 at Swan Village. From the roundabout with the A461 (for Dudley) at Great Bridge, it overlaps the A461 (to Walsall), crosses the Tame Valley Canal, meets the

A4037 List of A roads in zone 4 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island ...

at a roundabout and goes under the West Midlands Metro near

Wednesbury Parkway tram stop Wednesbury Parkway is a tram stop in Wednesbury, Sandwell, England. It was opened on 31 May 1999 and has park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections th ...

. The A461 heads off to junction 9 of the M6 and Walsall. The A41 follows the old route from the next roundabout and enters the borough of Walsall. At the junction with the A4444 (the final phase of the Black Country New Road) it crosses the Walsall Canal. There are junctions with the A4098 (where the road enters the borough of Wolverhampton) and B4163. The road goes straight through the middle of Bilston, where it meets the dual-carriageway A463

Black Country Route The Black Country Route is a road in the West Midlands region of England. Original plans for an urban motorway were drawn up in 1962 to ease congestion in the Black Country towns of Bilston and Willenhall, as well as giving the residents of Dud ...

at a busy roundabout. Close by is the Bilston Central tram stop, near Morrisons. There is a junction with the B4484 (for the A454) near The Crescent tram stop. At Priestfield, it meets the B4162, and passes the City of Wolverhampton College Wellington Road Campus (Bilston) near Priestfield tram stop. From here, the West Midlands Metro runs down the centre of the road. There is a signalised junction with the A4126 (trams and buses use the nearside lane towards Wolverhampton) and the road passes under the Wolverhampton loop of the West Coast Main Line at

Monmore Green Monmore Green is an area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated about to the south-east of the city centre, in the East Park ward. It is where Monmore Green Stadium is situated, which is home to the Wolverhampton Wolves sp ...

, and crosses the Birmingham Canal. It overlaps the A4150 Wolverhampton Ring Road, then passe
West Park Hospital
and crosses the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. It passes through Tettenhall, pas
Tettenhall College

Wolverhampton to Newport

After leaving the borough of Wolverhampton, it crosses the River Penk, then runs into

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

passing Perton, Codsall and the golf course at Wrottesley Hall. Next is a junction with the A464 (for Shifnal), and the road enters Shropshire. It crosses the Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line on the Albrighton bypass. The road passes close by the RAF Museum at Cosford. After junction 3 of the M54 motorway, the road passes through Tong. The road meets the A5 at a roundabout, which is on the border with

. At Weston Heath, there is a junction with the B5314. At the junction of the B4379, the road enters Telford and Wrekin. The £6m

bypass opened in early 1985. The former route went through Chetwynd Aston. The A41 meets the A518 for Telford at a roundabout, followed by another roundabout with the A518 for travelling east, and then a roundabout with the A519 and the B5062.

Newport to Whitchurch

The road rejoins the old route and passes Chetwynd Park. The £1.5m Hinstock Bypass opened in late 1983 It then passes through Standford, Standford Bridge and over the River Meese. It passes High Heath
Shakeford
Crickmery which is nea
Wistanswick
Nearby is the former wartime fighter base RAF Ternhill, now an army base known as

Clive Barracks Clive Barracks is a military installation at Ternhill in Shropshire in Western England. History The barracks were established, on the site of the former RAF Tern Hill airfield, in 1976: they were initially named Borneo Barracks before being rena ...

. The road crosses the River Tern, meets the A53 at a roundabout at Ternhill. After Bletchley Manor, there is of dual carriageway. The road passes through Prees Higher Heath near a former airfield (RAF Tilstock), and meets the A49 at a roundabout near Tilstock. The £13.7m Whitchurch Bypass opened in July 1992, where the road meets the A49.

Whitchurch to Birkenhead

Chester Road (A41) from Backford Cross - geograph

The final stretch of the road leaves Shropshire and heads north through Cheshire on a modern alignment bypassing the villages of Tushingham cum Grindley and No Mans Heath before reaching a nineteenth century bypass of the stagecoach road through Broxton. The road crosses the A534 at Broxton Roundabout before passing Beeston,

Bolesworth Bolesworth Castle is a country house south of the village of Tattenhall, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. History Bolesworth Castle was built for George ...

and Peckforton Castles. The road bypasses Chester, before running through the suburbs of Ellesmere Port (where the road was downgraded for safety reasons in the early 1990s). It heads to junction 5 of the M53 motorway and the Merseyside county boundary at Hooton. From this junction it is named New Chester Road, passing through

Eastham Eastham or East Ham, may refer to: People *Ashley Eastham (born 1991), English footballer * George R. Eastham (1914–2000), English footballer * George E. Eastham (born 1936), English footballer and son of the George R. Eastham *Harry Eastham (19 ...

and

Bromborough Bromborough is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire, it is situated on the Wirral Peninsula, to the south east of Bebington and to the north of Easth ...

. At Port Sunlight the A41 diverts onto a dual-carriageway section bypassing New Ferry and Rock Ferry before rejoining New Chester Road at Tranmere Oil Terminal. After passing Green Lane railway station, a spur of the A41 separates at the southern approach to the Queensway Tunnel, which passes under the River Mersey and enters Liverpool to meet the start of the A59. The road then passes a junction with the A554 near Hamilton Square railway station, terminating at the bus station at

Woodside Woodside may refer to: Places and buildings Australia *Woodside, South Australia, a town *Woodside, Victoria, a town Canada *Woodside National Historic Site, the boyhood home of William Lyon Mackenzie King *Woodside, Nova Scotia, a neighborho ...

. The end of the road has views over the Mersey to Liverpool and transport links to Mersey Ferry services.

Major junctions

History of the road number

The original (1923) route was

Stanmore Stanmore is part of the London Borough of Harrow in London. It is centred northwest of Charing Cross, lies on the outskirts of the London urban area and includes Stanmore Hill, one of the highest points of London, at high. The district, which ...

north-west of London to Oakengates, west of Wolverhampton, in Shropshire, meeting the A5 at both ends. The A41 was extended by numbering as follows: The northern extension dates from 1935; in Shropshire, it swapped with a combination of the A464/A529; from Kingswood Common to Nantwich, Cheshire and the original A529 ran from Hinstock to

. North of Chester, the A41 replaced part of the A51. The southern extension dates from after the Second World War using Watford Way which opened in about 1930 as the A5088. In the remaining years after 1935, it was renumbered A500.

Notes

References

External links

BBC News – ''Village gets bypass after 40 years'' – 03/10/2003

Highways Agency – Aston Clinton scheme page.

CBRD – Futures – A41 Aston Clinton Bypass.

Pathetic Motorways – A41(M)
{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0041 Roads in England Roads in Cheshire Transport in Birmingham, West Midlands Roads in Buckinghamshire Roads in Hertfordshire Roads in London Roads in Merseyside Roads in Oxfordshire Roads in Shropshire Roads in the West Midlands (county) Transport in Wolverhampton Transport in Sandwell Transport in Staffordshire Transport in Walsall Newport, Shropshire Transport in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral