A444 road

The A444 is a primary road running between Coventry and Burton on Trent in England, usually referred to as the "A treble four".

Route

Starting on the A4600 Sky Blue Way in Coventry, the road heads north on a dual carriageway road, crossing the M6 at junction 3. It bypasses Bedworth to the west and heads into Nuneaton passing the George Elliot Hospital. The road continues into Nuneaton Town Centre and is notoriously bad for traffic during busy periods. The road then heads away from Nuneaton, through Weddington and crossing the A5 Watling Street, becoming a rural single carriageway road passing through Leicestershire countryside passed the site of the Battle of Bosworth. It meets the end of the M42 south of Measham, eventually descending into Burton on Trent to terminate on the A511. To the south of Coventry, starting at the Stivichall A45/A46 Interchange, there is a short section of the A444 as the Stivichall and Cheylesmore Bypass, this continues into the city centre as the A4114, and was formerly part of the A46 until construction of the Coventry Eastern Bypass.

Improvements

Between the late 1980s and mid 1990s, a dual carriageway road was constructed in phases connecting Coventry, Sky Blue Way and Nuneaton to provide a more direct link between Coventry city centre and the M6 motorway. The town of Bedworth had already been by-passed during the 1970s and this followed a continuation of this route, the first phase opening in 1989 and the final in 1995.

This section of road is known as Phoenix Way and was constructed along the course of a disused railway line. The former route of the A444 was then reclassified as part of the B4113. Initially, there were plans to create a north-south link road through Coventry, extending Phoenix Way south past its current terminus roundabout, as there is a section of dual carriageway that continues as the A46, numbered as the A444 to the south of the city, but such plans were dropped during the construction of the Coventry to Nuneaton section.

Former routes

• Between Coventry and Nuneaton, the A444 used to follow what is now the B4113 road.
• The A444 used to run between Coventry and Leamington Spa following the B4113. There is still a road sign on the B4113 indicating this.

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