A47 road
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| A47 road | |
| Direction | |
| Start | Aston University |
| End | Great Yarmouth |
| Roads joined | |
The A47 is a trunk road in England linking Birmingham to Great Yarmouth (although most of the section between Birmingham and Nuneaton has been reclassified as the B4114).
Contents |
[edit] Route
From west to east, the road goes through:
- Birmingham
- reclassified as B4114
- Coleshill
- Nuneaton
- Hinckley
- Earl Shilton
- Leicester
- subsumed into inner ringroad
- Uppingham
- Peterborough
- Wisbech
- King's Lynn
- Swaffham
- Dereham
- Norwich
- forms new southern by-pass (previously formed outer ringroad)
- Blofield
- Acle
- Great Yarmouth
[edit] Detail
 |
This section is written like a personal reflection or essay and may require cleanup. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (April 2008) |
[edit] Birmingham - Castle Vale
Starting from the junction with the A441 (James Watt Queensway) near Aston University as the dual-carriageway Jennens Road, it meets the A4540 Middleway (middle ring road) one mile from the centre of Birmingham becoming Nechells Parkway. It leads in a north-easterly direction meeting the B4132 at a roundabout becoming Saltley Road, is crossed by the Chase Line and meets the B4114 (former route) at a roundabout. A new section of road begins as the Heartlands Parkway, following the Cross Country Route and River Rea. It meets a roundabout and there is a roundabout with the B4137 at Nechells (for Star City). It runs more or less parallel to the M6 for about three miles. It meets the A4040 at a large roundbout which passes under the M6. It meets two roundabouts close to Fort Dunlop and terminating at the Sentinel sculpture of three spitfire aeroplanes near Castle Vale and junction 5 of the M6 with the A452. Here the road becomes the B4114, after a short diversion under the M6 at Castle Bromwich, leaving the Birmingham conurbation to pass through Coleshill.
[edit] Nuneaton - A1
At Nuneaton, the road re-emerges as Hinckley Road from a junction with the A444, near a BP garage at the Anker Service Station on Weddington Road. Leaving Nuneaton, it passes North Warwickshire and Hinckley College on the left and a Total garage. It meets the A4254 at a roundabout becoming The Long Shoot and the A5 Watling Street near the Longshoot Hotel. It follows the A5 for a half-mile entering Leicestershire and the district of Hinckley and Bosworth, then leaves at a roundabout to bypass Hinckley as Dodwells Road then Normandy Way. The former route continues as the B4666. This section passes through a large industrial estate and close to a Tesco, crossing the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal. It meets a roundabout near the Triumph motorbike factory. It passes a large Morrisons store next to a roundabout near Redmoor High School and the Milestone pub. It meets the A447 and B4667 at crossroads, then meets the B4668 former route at a roundabout, becoming Leicester Road then Carrs Hill. It passes close to Barwell, then enters Earl Shilton[1] as Hinckley Road, passing the Heathfield High School, meeting the B581 near the Lord Nelson. There is a left turn for Kirkby Mallory. The road forms the boundary between the Hinckley and Bosworth district and Blaby district as Hinckley Road. At a right turn for Thurlaston, the road enters the district of Blaby, and there is a left turn for Desford and the large Caterpillar factory. It passes the Bulls Head on the right and near to the B582 crossroads, there is a BP garage. It enters Leicester Forest East, crossing the M1 near the service station. It passes the Red Cow Hotel on the left and enters the City of Leicester. There is a busy roundabout with the A563 Leicester outer ring-road. Braunstone Park and the new Braunstone Leisure Centre is passed on the right. It crosses a railway and passes Western Park on the left and the BP St James Service Station. Entering the city centre, it becomes King Richard's Road then Saint Augustine Road and crosses the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal. Leaving Leicester, it becomes Humberstone Road, then Uppingham Road. It passes under the Midland Main Line, then passes the Total St Matthews Service Station. It meets the A6030, becoming part of the Leicester outer ring road. At Humberstone, just before the A563 junction near St Joseph's church it passes the Shell Trocadero Service Station. This was once the site of Leicester's Trocadero Theatre which was burned down in a huge fire many years ago. The Rolling Stones played here in 1965. At Thurnby, it passes the Texaco Harris Motors garage and enters Leicestershire and the district of Harborough, passing Bushby.
The road passes through Houghton on the Hill and the JET garage. It heads down Palace Hill then crosses the River Sence. The two-mile £2.5m Billesdon Bypass opened in October 1986. The transmitter for Leicester Sound is situated here. It meets the B6047 (for Tilton on the Hill) at crossroads then passes through Skeffington then Tugby. The one-kilometre £1.2m East Norton Bypass, in Leicestershire, opened in December 1990. It crosses the Eye Brook and the next ten miles are in Rutland. There is a left turn for Belton-in-Rutland and a right turn for Allexton. The two-mile £1.9m Wardley Hill Improvement opened in October 1987. The one-and-a-half-mile £1.4m Uppingham Bypass opened in June 1982. This is the home of Uppingham School. It meets the A6003 (for Oakham) at a roundabout and passes through Glaston. At Morcott, there is a popular Little Chef, Travelodge and the Texaco Morcott Service Station where the road meets the A6121 and B672. The road crosses the River Welland. The Duddington Bypass, where the road enters Northamptonshire and the district of East Northamptonshire, opened in 1975. This section has a busy roundabout where it meets the south-west/north-east corridor A43. From here to the A1, the road goes close to the runway of RAF Wittering, where the road enters the borough of Peterborough.
[edit] A1 - Kings Lynn
It is crossed by the Roman road Ermine Street.The dual-carriageway £9m Ailsworth-Castor Bypass opened in September 1991. Around Peterborough, the Peterborough Longthorpe Grade separated junction (GSJ) opened in December 1987 where it meets the A1260. There is a GSJ for Bretton and a Sainsbury's, and it passes the Bretton Woods Community School. The £1.2m Peterborough Westwood GSJ opened in January 1987. This section of road is called the Soke Parkway (named after the Soke of Peterborough). When this was first built, in the mid-1970s, the A47 followed what is now the A1139 Paston Parkway. It crosses the East Coast Main Line and meets the A15 at New England near to a Morrisons (former Safeway), and Boulevard and Brotherhood retail parks. There is another GSJ at Paston and it meets the other strand of the A15 at a GSJ near Gunthorpe. It meets the A1139 at a roundabout. The three-mile £7.2m Eye Bypass opened as Eye Road in October 1991, diverting traffic from the Paston Parkway. There is a roundabout with the A1073 (for Crowland) at Eye Green near the Esso Eye Green Service Station and a Travelodge, where it becomes Thorney Road, the The Causeway. The landscape becomes very flat. A three-mile dual-carriageway bypass of Thorney opened on December 14 2005. The road meets the B1040 and B1167 at roundabouts. At Thorney Toll, the road enters Cambridgeshire and the district of Fenland near the New Toll Service Station. It enters Guyhirn, meeting the B1487 and crossing the River Nene and the Nene Way. The half-mile £3.7m Guyhirn Diversion opened in October 1990. The road heads north-east, following the east bank of the River Nene. The five-mile £6m Wisbech/West Walton Bypass opened in autumn 1984. The former route leaves as the B198 at a roundabout. It meets a level crossing, and it enters Norfolk and the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk just before a roundabout with the A1101 for Elm and Emneth at the Shell Wisbech Filling Station. It passes the Total Wisbech Services and a Little Chef then meets the old route (B198) at a roundabout and becomes the six-mile £23m dual-carriageway Walpole Highway/Tilney High End Bypass which opened in summer 1996. There is an exit for Walpole Highway, and another for Terrington St John. It passes near Tilney High End. Near Tilney All Saints, it meets the old route at a roundabout, becoming the single cariageway Main Road, then Pullover Road. It meets the end of the A17 at a large roundabout and Little Chef.
[edit] Kings Lynn - Great Yarmouth
From Kings Lynn, the road goes over the River Great Ouse and Fen Rivers Way, near to some sugar beet factories on a very busy concrete dual-carriageway built in the 1970s. It meets the A148 at a GSJ. The A10 and the A149 have their terminus here, at the Hardwick Flyover (opened on October 30 2003) near the large Hardwick Industrial Estate (home of Campbell's Soup) and a Ramada Hotel. It becomes Constitution Hill, passing North Runcton then Middleton, where it passes the Crown and St Mary's church as Lynn Road. Next is East Winch, where it passes All Saints's church, then West Bilney where it passes St Cecilia's church. There is a right-turn for Pentney and it meets the B1153 for East Walton. The half-mile £2.8m Narborough Bypass, opened in November 1992, where the road crosses the River Nar and enters the district of Breckland. It meets the A1122 (for RAF Marham) at a roundabout at the start of the five-mile £5m part-dual-carriageway Swaffham Bypass, which opened in June 1981. There is an exit for Swaffham, and a GSJ with the A1065 (for Fakenham). It passes some wind turbines and there is a roundabout where it joins the former route just before it is crossed by the Peddars Way. There is a left turn for Sporle and it passes Necton then heads north-west through Little Fransham, passing the Canary and Linnet. The seven-mile £5m part-dual-carriageway East Dereham Bypass opened in spring 1978, which crosses over a level crossing on the Mid-Norfolk Railway. It passes near Wendling and St Peter and St Paul church then meets the B1146 (for Dereham) and A1075 (for Shipdham) near a Tesco and B1135. The B1147 leaves for Swanton Morley. The three-mile £9m East Dereham-North Tuddenham Improvement opened in August 1992, being built on an old disused railway line, which passes North Tuddenham. It bypasses Hockering. It enters the district of Broadland at the start of the bypass of Honingham, where it crosses the River Tud. Just before the roundabout at Easton, it enters the district of South Norfolk. The dual-carriageway £62m Norwich Bypass opened in September 1992. At the Longwater Intersection, the A1074 follows the former route through Norwich near the Longwater Retail Park and Sainsbury's. Near Bawburgh, it crosses the River Yare. There is a GSJ with the B1108, for Little Melton and Colney. At Cringleford, it meets the A11 at the Thickthorn Interchange and Total Thickthorn Services with a Little Chef and crosses the Breckland Line. Near Keswick Hall, it meets the A140 at a GSJ, then crosses the Great Eastern Main Line. It is crossed by Boudica's Way, then meets the A146 at a GSJ. It crosses the River Yare again at the Postwick Viaduct and enters the district of Broadland. It crosses the Wherry Line and meets the A1042 at a GSJ. The section from the end of this bypass to Blofield, the one-mile £1.2m Postwick-Blofield Dualling, was opened in November 1987. There is a left turn to Great Plumstead. The one-mile £4m dual-carriageway Blofield Bypass opened in February 1983, which starts at a roundabout for Brundall near the Total Broadlands Services and Little Chef. It becomes single carriageway and passes North Burlingham near the staggered White House crossroads with the B1140. The three-mile £7.1m dual-carriageway Acle Bypass opened in March 1989, which ends at a roundabout with the A1048 near a Travelodge and Little Chef, becoming the single carriageway New Road. From Acle, the road enters the infamous Acle Straight which is nearly seven miles of dead straight and near level single carriageway all the way to Great Yarmouth, with just one curve at Road House Diner. The road is notorious for congestion, especially during the holiday season, and also for the number of accidents, which due to the drainage ditches on either side of the road are often fatal, and demands for dualling have been heard for many years, although there are no current plans to go ahead with this. It enters the district of Great Yarmouth, then passes close to Breydon Water. The northern section of the two-mile £19m Great Yarmouth Western Bypass (A12) opened in March 1986, and the southern section opened in May 1985.
[edit] History of the road number
The original (1923) route of the A47 was Birmingham to Great Yarmouth, but there were some changes made to its route in the early years. At its eastern end, the A47 originally ran through Filby and Caister, with the Acle Straight bearing the number B1140. The A47 was rerouted along the Acle straight in 1935, with the old route being renumbered as the A1064 (Acle to Caister) and part of the A149 (Caister to Great Yarmouth).
The second change also dates from 1935. The A47 originally ran via Downham Market, not King's Lynn. In 1935, it was rerouted via King's Lynn, replacing part of the A141 (Wisbech to King's Lynn) and part of the A17 (King's Lynn to Swaffham). The old route via Downham Market was renumbered as the A1122 (Outwell to Swaffham) and part of the A1101 (Wisbech to Outwell).
The third change took place some time before 1932. The original route of the A47 between Guyhirne and Wisbech was via Wisbech St Mary, with the direct route being part of the A141. This is because there was no road bridge over the River Nene at Guyhirne, and hence no junction between the A47 and the A141. Some time between 1923 and 1932 a bridge was built, and the A47 and the A141 swapped routes between Guyhirne and Wisbech.
[edit] External links
|
||||||||||||||||||||
