The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

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 ...

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

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 ...

The southern section of the road, between

Ross on Wye Ross-on-Wye (Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye and ...

and Newport forms part of the trunk route from the English Midlands to South Wales, avoiding the Severn Bridge

Route

Newport - Ross-on-Wye

The A449 starts on the M4 at the Coldra Interchange (J24) in Newport and is dual carriageway all the way to

Raglan Raglan may refer to: People *FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855), British Army officer, commander of British troops during the Crimean War *Raglan (surname) *Raglan Squire (1912–2004), British architect Places Australia *Count ...

. The section from the A40 junction at Raglan to the A472 junction at Usk, known as the ''New Midlands Road'', was one of the first sections to be dualled, opening on 16 October 1970. A special postmark dated 8 December 1972 was produced showing the opening of the A449 by The Secretary of State for Wales. Between Raglan and Ross-on-Wye the A449 is concurrent with the A40.

Ross-on-Wye - Worcester

The road becomes quite twisty on departing Ross-on-Wye, but straightens out a little before arriving at

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...

. The road turns northwards upon crossing into Worcestershire at Little Malvern and skirts the eastern slopes of the Malvern Hills through the town of

Great Malvern Great Malvern is an area of the spa town of Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, on the eastern flanks of the Worcestershire Beacon and North Hill, and is ...

. It then crosses Worcester's ring road, the A4440, at a roundabout near Powick.

Worcester - Wolverhampton

North of Worcester, a spur road of the same number heads towards the M5 Junction 6, while the main route continues towards Kidderminster, concurrent with the A442. Between Claines and

Hartlebury Hartlebury is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England which is in Wychavon district centred south of Kidderminster. The civil parish registered a population of 2,549 in the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census. The Hartlebury ra ...

the A449 is once again dual carriageway, but much tinkering has left the road with a single lane each way and speed restriction. The road becomes urban again while passing through Kidderminster. It then heads north into

, passing between Kinver and Stourbridge and crossing the A458 at Stourton. The

A491 The A491 is an A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A road in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme. History The road north of Oldswinford forms part of an ancient road, probably of Anglo-Saxon origin, joining the bur ...

meets it just north of Kingswinford. Continuing northwards, it passes Wombourne (becoming dual carriageway once more) being joined by the A463 before turning sharply north-east into the outskirts of Wolverhampton and meeting the

Ring Road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

Wolverhampton - Stafford

The road resumes its journey northwards, passing

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889. The first stadium built for use by a Football League club, it was one of the first British grounds ...

(home of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.) and leaving the city just south of Junction 2 of the M54. It originally ran through the centre of Wolverhampton until the 1980s, when all roads within the new ring road were declassified. Around the same time, the section of Waterloo Road on which Molineux Stadium stands was declassified and the A459 Stafford Street (north of the Ring Road) and Lower Stafford Street became part of the A449. From there it forms part of the link between the M54 and the M6 North. It crosses the A5 at the Gailey Roundabout near the village of Gailey, a short distance west of M6 Junction 12, at which point it reverts to a single carriageway. It passes through

Penkridge Penkridge ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Staffordshire, South Staffordshire District in Staffordshire, England. It is to the south of Stafford, north of Wolverhampton, west of Cannock and east of Telford. ...

before crossing the M6 at Junction 13, reaching its terminus at its junction with the A34 in Stafford. Originally turnpiked under an Act of 1760, the Wolverhampton-Stafford road was part of the historic London-Liverpool coach route. Notoriously narrow in the 19th century, much of it was turned into dual carriageway between the world wars. The Gailey Roundabout was improved in 1929 and again in 1937, removing parts of the churchyard and the historic Spread Eagle Inn (although the latter was replaced by a new building). Widening at Penkridge between 1932 and 1934 reshaped the western part of the town, resulting in the demolition of many ancient buildings. The dual carriageway between Wolverhampton and Gailey was constructed between 1936 and 1939.Victoria County History: Staffordshire: Volume 5, chapter 8: Brewood, s.1.
/ref> This section of the road was featured in

Citizen Khan ''Citizen Khan'' is a British sitcom produced by the BBC and created by Adil Ray. Five series have been shown so far. It is set in Sparkhill, South Birmingham, described by its lead character, a British Pakistani man Mr Khan (Ray), as "the capita ...

episode "Alia's University".

Former Routes

* The original routing of the road was from Bromsgrove - Stourbridge – Wolverhampton – Stafford * The villages of Hartlebury and Ombersley have been bypassed * Part of Ledbury is now bypassed * Between Raglan and Newport the A449 used to run through the towns of Usk and Caerleon, along a now mostly unclassified road to the west, terminating at junction 25 of the M4

Water Crossings

River Trothy The River Trothy ( cy, Afon Troddi) is a river which flows through north Monmouthshire, in rural south east Wales. The river rises on Campston Hill, northeast of Abergavenny. It flows southwards until Llanvapley, where it turns east. About so ...

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

* River Monnow,

River Wye The River Wye (; cy, Afon Gwy ) is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, fourth-longest river in the UK, stretching some from its source on Plynlimon in mid Wales to the Severn estuary. For much of its length the river forms part of Wal ...

, Ross-on-Wye *

River Leadon The River Leadon () is a river in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, England, a tributary of the River Severn. It rises just south of the village of Acton Beauchamp, and flows south past Bosbury to the town of Ledbury, which takes its name fro ...

* River Severn, Worcester *

Stourbridge Canal The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal (at Stourton Junction, affording access to traffic from the River Severn) with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingha ...

, Stourton * River Stour, Kinver *

Wom Brook The Wom Brook is a stream in South Staffordshire, England. It flows through the large village of Wombourne, and has played an important part in its industrial history. It is an important tributary of the River Smestow and part of the Severn ca ...

, Wombourne * Birmingham Canal, Wolverhampton *

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the English Midlands. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent and Mersey Canal at Haywoo ...

Coven A coven () is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman ''covent, cuvent'', from Old French ''covent'', from Latin ''conventum'' = convention) remained largely unused in English until 1921 when Margaret Murray promote ...

River Penk The River Penk is a small river flowing through Staffordshire, England. Its course is mainly within South Staffordshire, and it drains most of the northern part of that district, together with some adjoining areas of Cannock Chase, Stafford, Wo ...

References

External links

Road to Nowhere: A449
{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0449 Roads in England Roads in Wales Transport in Herefordshire Transport in Monmouthshire Transport in Newport, Wales Transport in Staffordshire Roads in Worcestershire Transport in Worcester, England Malvern, Worcestershire Transport in Wolverhampton