| A46 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
A46 nearWoolley andSwainswick | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 183.5 mi[1][2][3] (295.3 km) | |||
| History | Construction completed: Warwick andKenilworth Bypass – 1974 Newark-On-Trent Relief Road – October 1990 Leicester Western Bypass – November 1995 Lincoln Relief Road – December 1985 Newark toWidmerpool dualling – June 2012 Alcester toEvesham dual carriageway – August 1995 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| From | ||||
| Major intersections |
| |||
| To | ||||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Counties | Somerset,Gloucestershire,Worcestershire,Warwickshire,West Midlands,Leicestershire,Nottinghamshire,Lincolnshire | |||
| Primary destinations | Stroud,Cheltenham,Royal Leamington Spa,Coventry,Leicester,Newark-on-Trent,Lincoln | |||
| Road network | ||||
| ||||
TheA46 is a majorA road inEngland. It starts east ofBath,Somerset and ends inCleethorpes,Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced bymotorway development. BetweenLeicester andLincoln the road follows the course of theRomanFosse Way, but between Bath and Leicester, two cities also linked by the Fosse Way, it follows a more westerly course.
The original (1923) route of the A46 was from Bath toLaceby, passing throughCheltenham,Broadway,Stratford-on-Avon,Coventry,Leicester,Newark andLincoln. Unusually for such a long road, no changes were made to its route until the 1970s. In recent years the central sections of the road have been rerouted and renumbered substantially, and there are now two sections where there are gaps of over 10 miles (16 km) where the road does not exist at all. The A46 has also been extended from Laceby toGrimsby and Cleethorpes – the road between Laceby and Grimsby was originally part of theA18. The section that connects Caistor and Nettleton has a couple of dangerous junctions.
The major realignments have been
Bypasses were also built aroundMarket Rasen, Lincoln and Newark.
The A46 starts at Isaac's Hill roundabout with the A1098 and theA180.[citation needed] It meets the A1031 at a roundabout and passes the King George V Stadium on the right. It meets the B1213 from the right, then crosses theA16 Peaks Parkway where it gains primary status. It heads intoGrimsby, meeting the A1243 Bargate (former A16). It meets the B1444 where the road becomes a dual carriageway. It meets theA18 at a roundabout. This was the old terminus of the A46, and what is now the A46 heading east into Grimsby used to be the A18. The road becomes the single carriageway road once again and runs alongside the north part of theLincolnshire Wolds. It bypassesIrby upon Humber and enters theEast Midlands. It bypassesSwallow to the North. It climbs a hill to meet the B1225, A1173, and A1084 just east ofCaistor. The road crosses the Nottingham – Grimsby railway at a level crossing.[5] The road becomes very straight and flat, passing through Middle Rasen Plantation and meets the A1103 from the right. The A631 leaves to the right at aT junction. The road bypassesDunholme to the south then it passes close to the formerRAF Dunholme Lodge.[6] It passes the headquarters forLincolnshire Police on the left.[7] It meets theA158 (forSkegness) and the B1182 (former route into Lincoln) at a roundabout.
The A46 Lincoln Relief Road is coincident with theA15.[8] The A15 leaves to the right at a roundabout. The road becomes dual carriageway and traverses theLincoln Cliff. It meets theA57 at the Carholme roundabout and crosses theLincoln – Gainsborough railway. After bypassing Lincoln, it starts following the route of the oldFosse Way (bar bypasses). The A46 passes the former airfield ofRAF Swinderby. The road becomes the boundary of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire for 1 mile (1.6 km). The road entersNottinghamshire and the road bypassesBrough. The new section of road finishes at the roundabout with the A1133.[citation needed] TheA17 joins from the left at a roundabout.

The road crosses theA1. Newark is bypassed to the North and West ending on a roundabout with the B6166. The road continues south-west, meeting the A6097 andA52 nearBingham. The single carriageway section between Newark and theWidmerpoolA606 junction was replaced by a new dual carriageway road which was completed in April 2012.[9] Heading South from the A606 junction, the existing dual carriageway still following the route of the Fosse Way. The road crosses the A6006 North of Six Hills. Syston is bypassed to the West, and at a roundabout with the A607 the route continues in a Westerly direction onto theLeicester Western Bypass. There are grade separated junctions with the A6, A5630 andA50.[10] This section of the road ends at a junction with the B5380, with the forward route flowing on to theM1. It originally continued towards Coventry until the opening of theM69 motorway in the 1970s, which replaced the A46 as the main route between Leicester and Coventry, with the former A46 being downgraded.
The A46 reappears at Coventry at junction 2 of theM6, it follows the boundary between the district of Rugby and the borough of Coventry, always staying inside Warwickshire. AtBinley Woods theA428 is crossed at a roundabout. The next roundabout is the signal controlled Tollbar Roundabout, where there are exits for theA45 andCoventry Airport. There is a break in the road here, and it resumes again at Festival Island where it takes the southern exit on to the three-lane Kenilworth bypass. Along the bypass there are exits forStoneleigh and theUniversity of Warwick,Kenilworth andLeamington Spa (A452). At theWarwick (A429) exit, the bypass drops down to two lanes, closely followed by an exit for theA4177 andWarwick Parkway railway station. TheM40 is passed over west of Longbridge roundabout, as a new bypass now brings the mainline carriageway away from Junction 15, the A46 meets a small roundabout, connecting with the B4463 and a link to Junction 15 for northbound A46 traffic to access the M40 and A429 respectively.
The 3-mile (4.8 km) dual carriageway section south of the improved Longbridge island is the only part of the A46 on its original routing between Leicester and Cheltenham. Stratford is bypassed to the north as a single carriageway road, crossing theA3400 and meeting theA422. Between here andAlcester the A46 is coincident with the A422, with the A46 taking priority. Alcester is bypassed to the south of the town. At a roundabout theA435 leaves to the North forRedditch andBirmingham. The A46 takes a dual carriageway route to the south towardsEvesham, meeting the B439 at a roundabout nearBidford on Avon. Almost immediately after the roundabout, the road entersWorcestershire andWychavon district, then goes back into Warwickshire, before going back into Worcestershire NearHarvington. At the northern end of the Evesham bypass, the A44 joins at a roundabout and becomes coincident with the A46. The next roundabout on the bypass is the B4035, followed by the A44 (forOxford), The final roundabout on the bypass is with the A4184 and the A46 continues to head south. The villages ofSedgeberrow (bypassed) andBeckford are on the route. At the Teddington Hands roundabout, the A435 heads south toCheltenham, while the A46 heads west. It passesAshchurch close toAshchurch for Tewkesbury railway station. This section of the A46 ends on theM5 roundabout at junction 9.

After a gap filled in by the A435, the A46 reappears on its original route in the centre ofCheltenham. It then heads through Brockworth,Stroud, throughNailsworth, to theM4 motorway, where since 2003 access to the roundabout has been controlled by traffic lights. From the M4, the A46 heads toBath, ending at its junction with theA4 to the east of the city. From here there is a continuous route toSouthampton via theA36 and toPoole via theA350.
The 3-mile (4.8 km) £45 million dual-carriagewayBatheaston/Swainswick Bypass, opened in summer 1996, contains 1-mile (1.6 km) of the A46.[11][12] In February 1994, a camp was set up onSolsbury Hill, to protest theBatheaston bypass, however this was ultimately unsuccessful and construction was completed by November 1995.[13][14]
A small section of the A46 betweenPainswick andStroud subsided during the floods on Friday 29 July 2007 and was shut for over 6 months, causing quite an impact on the local area. The road re-opened on 15 February 2008.[citation needed]
This articlemay beconfusing or unclear to readers. In particular, there needs to be some distinction which destinations are north bound and which are south bound, having a list of destinations does not mean that they can be got to from both directions, probably need splitting into 2 colums 1 for each direction. Please helpclarify the article. There might be a discussion about this onthe talk page.(September 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset | Bath | 0.0 | 0.0 | Southern terminus | |
| Gloucestershire | Cold Ashton | 4.3 | 6.9 | ||
| Tormarton | 7.8– 8.0 | 12.6– 12.9 | The Midlands signed northbound only; M4 junction 18 | ||
| Sodbury | 9.9 | 15.9 | Castle Combe signed southbound only; eastern terminus of A432 | ||
| Hawkesbury | 13.7 | 22.0 | South-western terminus of A433 | ||
| Kingscote | 20.0 | 32.2 | |||
| Rodborough | 26.4 | 42.5 | No access from A46 south to Dudbridge Road | ||
| Stroud | 27.2 | 43.8 | Brimscombe signed southbound only; southern terminus of A419 concurrency | ||
| Cainscross, Ebley and Stonehouse signed northbound only, Gloucester and Cheltenham southbound only; northern terminus of A419 concurrency | |||||
| 27.7 | 44.6 | Stonehouse signed southbound only; eastern terminus of A4171 | |||
| Pitchcombe | 29.1 | 46.8 | Southern terminus of A4173 | ||
| Badgeworth | 36.4 | 58.6 | Junction on A417 | ||
| Cheltenham | 40.4– 40.5 | 65.0– 65.2 | |||
| 40.8– 42.1 | 65.7– 67.8 | Northern terminus; northern terminus of A4015; eastern terminus of A4019 | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
| County | Location | mi[2] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gloucestershire | Northway–Ashchurch boundary | 0.0 | 0.0 | Southern terminus | |
| Teddington | 3.1 | 5.0 | Northern terminus of A435 | ||
| Worcestershire | Evesham | 9.9 | 15.9 | To B4084 signed northbound only; southern terminus of A4184 | |
| 11.4 | 18.3 | Broadway signed southbound only; southern terminus of A44 concurrency | |||
| 13.7 | 22.0 | To A4184 and Lenchwick signed southbound only, Harvington signed northbound only; northern terminus of A44 concurrency | |||
| Warwickshire | Alcester | 21.3 | 34.3 | The North signed southbound only; southern terminus of A422 concurrency; southern terminus of A435 | |
| Stratford-upon-Avon | 26.8 | 43.1 | Stratford signed southbound only; northern terminus of A422 concurrency | ||
| 28.1 | 45.2 | ||||
| Snitterfield | 32.1 | 51.7 | Destinations signed northbound only; north-eastern terminus of A439 | ||
| Shelbourne | 33.9 | 54.6 | Leamington signed northbound only | ||
| Begin freeway | |||||
| Budbrooke–Warwick boundary | 34.9 | 56.2 | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| Leek Wooton and Guy's Cliffe–Budbrooke–Warwick boundary | 36.0– 36.3 | 57.9– 58.4 | Southern terminus of A4177; north-western terminus of A425 | ||
| Leek Wootton and Guy's Cliffe | 38.0– 38.4 | 61.2– 61.8 | B4115 –Leek Wootton, Hill Wootton | B4115 and Hill Wootton signed northbound only, A429 and Warwick southbound only; southern terminus of A429 concurrency | |
| Leek Wootton and Guy's Cliffe–Ashow boundary | 39.6– 40.1 | 63.7– 64.5 | Northern terminus of A429 concurrency | ||
| Stoneleigh | 42.0– 42.4 | 67.6– 68.2 | Stoneleigh | ||
| Warwickshire–West Midlands boundary | Baginton–Coventry boundary | 43.8– 44.5 | 70.5– 71.6 | Canley, Earlsdon and Baginton signed northbound only, Whitley southbound only; southern terminus of A45 concurrency; southern terminus of A444 | |
| West Midlands | Coventry | 44.7– 45.0 | 71.9– 72.4 | Coventry Airport | Grade-separated junction; no northbound exit |
| West Midlands–Warwickshire boundary | Coventry–Brandon and Bretford boundary | 45.2– 45.9 | 72.7– 73.9 | Grade–separated junction; B4110 and Willenhall signed northbound only, Baginton and Ryton southbound only; northern terminus of A45 concurrency | |
| Warwickshire | Binley Woods | 47.3– 47.8 | 76.1– 76.9 | Grade–separated junction | |
| Ansty | 50.0– 50.7 | 80.5– 81.6 | Northern terminus; south-western terminus of M69; north-eastern terminus of A4600; M6 junction 2 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
| County | Location | mi[3] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicestershire | Kirby Muxloe–Glenfield boundary | 0.0 | 0.0 | B5380 –Braunstone Firth,Kirby Muxloe | Southern terminus; M1 north junction 21A |
| Groby | 1.1– 1.5 | 1.8– 2.4 | The Brantings Roundabout | ||
| Anstey | 1.9– 2.5 | 3.1– 4.0 | North-western terminus of A5630 | ||
| Wanlip | 5.3– 5.7 | 8.5– 9.2 | Wanlip signed northbound only, Birstall and Rothley southbound only | ||
| 6.0 | 9.7 | Wanlip | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| Syston | 6.8 | 10.9 | Roundabout; southern terminus of A607 concurrency | ||
| Cossington–Ratcliffe on the Wreake boundary | 7.7– 8.4 | 12.4– 13.5 | Northern terminus of A607 concurrency | ||
| Ratcliffe on the Wreake | 8.6– 8.9 | 13.8– 14.3 | Ratcliffe on the Wreake,Sileby | ||
| Thrussington–Burton on the Wolds boundary | 12.9– 13.1 | 20.8– 21.1 | B676 –Burton on the Wolds,Ragdale,Barrow upon Soar,Seagrave,Loughborough,Melton Mowbray | Loughboro' and Melton signed northbound only, Barrow and Seagrave southbound only | |
| Broughton and Old Dalby–Wymeswold boundary | 14.0– 14.3 | 22.5– 23.0 | Airport signed northbound only | ||
| Nottinghamshire | Willoughby on the Wolds–Upper Broughton boundary | 15.8 | 25.4 | Upper Broughton,Willoughby | |
| Widmerpool–Hickling–Kinoulton boundary | 17.8– 18.4 | 28.6– 29.6 | Kinoulton signed northbound only | ||
| Stanton-on-the-Wolds–Kinoulton boundary | 19.0 | 30.6 | Kinoulton | ||
| Owthorpe–Cotgrave boundary | 21.2 | 34.1 | Harby,Colston Bassett,Cotgrave,Owthorpe | Cotgrave signed northbound only | |
| Cotgrave | 22.3– 23.0 | 35.9– 37.0 | Cropwell Bishop,Cropwell Butler,Cotgrave | Butler signed northbound only, Cotgrave southbound only | |
| Cropwell Butler–Saxondale boundary | 24.7– 25.5 | 39.8– 41.0 | |||
| Newton–East Bridgford boundary | 26.3– 27.0 | 42.3– 43.5 | No southbound exit; southern terminus of A6097 | ||
| East Bridgford | 28.1 | 45.2 | Southbound exit only | ||
| Kneeton–Screveton boundary | 29.2– 29.4 | 47.0– 47.3 | Kneeton | ||
| Flintham | 30.8– 30.9 | 49.6– 49.7 | Sibthorpe,Flintham,Syerston | Syerston signed northbound only | |
| Elston | 32.1 | 51.7 | Thorpe,East Stoke,Elston,Syerston | Syerston signed southbound only | |
| Farndon | 35.2 | 56.6 | End expressway | ||
| Newark-on-Trent | 37.0 | 59.5 | Eastern terminus of A617; south-eastern terminus of A616 | ||
| Newark–Winthorpe boundary | 38.7– 39.0 | 62.3– 62.8 | Coddington signed northbound only; western terminus of A17 | ||
| Winthorpe–Langford boundary | 39.7 | 63.9 | Collingham and Winthorpe signed northbound only; southern terminus of A1133 | ||
| Brough | 40.4– 41.8 | 65.0– 67.3 | Stapleford,Brough,Carlton-le-Moorland,Norton Disney | Grade-separated junction; Norton Disney signed northbound only | |
| Lincolnshire | Thorpe on the Hill–Aubourn with Haddington boundary | 46.9 | 75.5 | Aubourn,Haddington,Thorpe on the Hill | Grade-separated junction |
| Thorpe on the Hill–South Hykeham boundary | 47.8 | 76.9 | Thorpe signed northbound only; south-western terminus of A1434 | ||
| Lincoln | 53.3 | 85.8 | |||
| 55.0 | 88.5 | B1226, To A18, and Hull signed southbound only; southern terminus of A15 concurrency | |||
| 56.1 | 90.3 | Northern terminus of A15 concurrency | |||
| Middle Rasen | 68.1 | 109.6 | West Rasen, Glentham and Caenby Corner signed northbound only, Scunthorpe southbound only; southern terminus of A631 concurrency | ||
| 68.9 | 110.9 | Louth signed northbound only, To B1202 and Wragby southbound only; northern terminus of A631 concurrency | |||
| Osgodby | 71.3 | 114.7 | Eastern terminus of A1103 | ||
| Caistor–Cabourne boundary | 78.2 | 125.9 | Humber Bridge signed northbound only, Caistor southbound only; southern terminus of A1173 | ||
| Laceby | 84.1 | 135.3 | |||
| Grimsby | 88.1 | 141.8 | A1243 signed southbound only; southern terminus of A1243 concurrency | ||
| 88.3 | 142.1 | Only A1243 and Town centre signed northbound; northern terminus of A1243 concurrency | |||
| 88.9 | 143.1 | To A180 and town centre signed southbound only | |||
| Grimsby–Cleethorpes boundary | 89.8 | 144.5 | Mablethorpe signed southbound only; northern terminus of A1031 | ||
| Cleethorpes | 90.7 | 146.0 | Northern terminus; eastern terminus of A180; northern terminus of A1098 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
Media related toA46 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons