A491 road

A491 road shield

A491 road
Route information
Length: 12 mi (19 km)
Major junctions
South end: Lydiate Ash
52°22′44″N 2°02′50″W / 52.3788°N 2.0473°W / 52.3788; -2.0473 (A491 road (southern end))
  [[Image:Motorway Left.svg|[ |x30px|link=]] M5 motorway J4
A38 A38 road
A456 A456 road
A4036 A4036 road
A458 A458 road
A451 A451 road
A461 A461 road
A449 A449 road
North end: Wall Heath
52°30′30″N 2°10′20″W / 52.5083°N 2.1721°W / 52.5083; -2.1721 (A491 road (northern end))
Location
Primary
destinations
:
Stourbridge
Road network

The A491 is an 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 burhs of Worcester and Stafford. The crossing of the River Stour was probably the swine-ford that gave rise to the placenames Kingswinford and Oldswinford, and later to the name Stourbridge.[1]

The road from Wordsley Green to the Market House in Stourbidge and so to Bromsgrove was turnpiked in 1753. The same act also dealt with several other roads from that Market House, as well as the road from Birmingham through Halesowen and Hagley to Blakedown Pool, but that was managed by separate trustees from 1773.[2] Its continuation north of Wordsley Green, through Wolverhampton, and Stafford to Stone, much of it now part of A449 road was turnpiked by the Wolverhampton Turnpike Act of 1760.[3]

In the original 1922 road numberings, A491 was assigned to the Shrewsbury, Welshpool, Mallwyd and Cemmaes Road route, now part of the A458 and A470. The route between Wall Heath and Bromsgrove was assigned the A449 number.[4]

Route

The dual carriageway near Fairfield, Worcestershire

Lydiate Ash - Stourbridge

Starting at junction 4 of the M5, the road heads West on a single carriageway alignment, meeting the B4091 at a roundabout, then becoming a dual carriageway. There are local accesses for the villages of Belbroughton, Clent, Romsley and Holy Cross. Following a roundabout in Hagley the A491 is concurrent with the A456 for a short period before heading north towards Stourbridge. At Pedmore the A4036 leaves at a roundabout towards Dudley. The A491 then continues to join the Stourbridge ring road.

Stourbridge - Wall Heath

The A491 resumes again on the northern side of the Stourbridge ring road. This final section is entirely single carriageway in an urban environment. The road passes through Amblecote, Wordsley and Kingswinford, passing numerous traffic light controlled junctions, before terminating on the A449 at a roundabout just north of Wall Heath.

Former Routes

Bypasses and Realignments

Downgrading

References

  1. P. W. King, 'Some roads out of north Worcestershire' Transactions of Worcestershire Archaeological Society 3rd ser. 20 (2006), 88.
  2. Statutes, 26 Geo. II, c.47; 13 Geo. III, c.107.
  3. Statute, 1 Geo. III, c.38.
  4. "SABRE 1922 Road Lists". Retrieved 2008-09-20.

External links

Media related to A491 road (England) at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 52°25′55″N 2°07′47″W / 52.4319°N 2.1296°W / 52.4319; -2.1296 (A491 road)

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, February 03, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.