| A458 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byNational Highways,English local authorities and North & Mid Wales Trunk Road Agency | ||||
| Length | 86 mi (138 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end | Mallwyd | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end | Halesowen | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Primary destinations | Welshpool,Shrewsbury,Bridgnorth,Stourbridge | |||
| Road network | ||||
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TheA458 is a route on theUK highway network that runs fromMallwyd, nearMachynlleth, inWales, merging with the A456Hagley Road and the Quinton Expressway on the outskirts ofBirmingham, inEngland. On the way it passes throughWelshpool,Shrewsbury,Much Wenlock,Bridgnorth,Stourbridge andHalesowen.
The road was one of several from "Welch Gate and Cotton Hill" (sic)turnpiked on 1758.[1] BetweenButtington andHalfway House the original course of the road was abandoned after it was disturnpiked in 1837. It was replaced by a new road built along the foot of Moelygolfa (hill), built in 1801. This Turnpike Trust ended in 1877.[2]
This road is likely to be Anglo-Saxon in origin, as it links theburhs of Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury. It was used by the army ofHenry I, which cleared trees near it onWenlock Edge to make the road safe.[citation needed] The road wasturnpiked in 1752, the trust being solely concerned with this road. It remained a turnpike until 1875.[3][4]
The Bridgnorth bypass, opened in 1985, was classified as A458, taking the main road around the south of the town,[5] previously it ran through Low Town, but ran along low ground at the foot of the hillside up to the town centre.
The final section of the road was a late creation, consisting of a road laid out in 1805 when Morfe Heath was enclosed (as far asSix Ashes and then various existing roads for the rest of its route. This was turnpiked in 1816 and remained under the control of a trust until 1877. It terminates in theQuinton area on Halesowen's border withBirmingham andOldbury. The split junction with Stourbridge Ring Road on the western side of the town replaced the formerly two way narrow section of the road but which necessitated the demolition of buildings on the new alignment.
Until the 1950s, it terminated in Halesowen town centre, but was extended approximately two miles eastwards in the 1950s along the former route of the A456, which was by-passed on a new road around the south of the town.[6][7]
52°42′43″N2°52′45″W / 52.71183°N 2.87928°W /52.71183; -2.87928
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