A5 road

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A5 road

Direction	North-west - South-east
Start	Marble Arch, Westminster
Primary destinations	Bangor Cannock Hinckley Oswestry Milton Keynes St Albans Tamworth Telford
End	Holyhead
Roads joined	M25 motorway M10 motorway M1 motorway A505 road A421 road A509 road A508 road A43 road A45 road M69 motorway A444 road M42 motorway A51 road A38 road A34 road M6 motorway A449 road A41 road M54 motorway A49 road A483 road A494 road A470 road A55 road

The A5 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs for about 260 miles (including sections concurrent with other designations) from London to Holyhead, following in part the route of the Roman Watling Street.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Notable Features 1.2 Telford's road survives 2 Route 3 Alternative routes 4 References 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] History

The history of the A5 begins with Thomas Telford in the early nineteenth century. Following the Act of Union 1800, which unified Great Britain and Ireland, the government saw the need for improving communication links between London and Dublin. A Parliamentary committee led to an Act of Parliament of 1815 that authorised buying out existing turnpike road interests and, where necessary, constructing a new road, to complete the route between the two capitals. This made it the first major civilian state-funded road building project in Britain since Roman times.

Through England, the road largely took over existing turnpike roads, which mainly followed the route of the Roman Watling Street.

From Shrewsbury and through Wales, Telford's work was more extensive. In places he followed existing roads, but he also built new links, including the Menai Suspension Bridge to connect the mainland with Anglesey and the Stanley Embankment to Holy Island.

Telford's road was complete with the opening of the Menai Suspension Bridge in 1826.

[edit] Notable Features

The road was designed to allow stagecoaches to carry post between London and Holyhead, and thence to Ireland: throughout its length the gradient never exceeds 5%.

The route through Wales retains many of the original features of Telford's road and has, since 1995, been recognised as an historic route worthy of preservation. These features include -

• many surviving and distinctive toll houses
• 'depots' along the route, being roadside alcoves to store grit and materials
• distinctive milestones at each mile - many originals having survived and been restored, others now replaced by replicas
• distinctive gates in a a 'sunburst' design, a few of which have survived
• a weighbridge at Lon Isaf, between Bangor and Bethesda

[edit] Telford's road survives

In 1997, a section of bends on Telford's road at Tŷ Nant was by-passed by a modern cutting. To the embarassement of the authorities, rock falls forced its closure in 2005; the old road was bought back and reopened, proving its worth nearly 200 years on.

[edit] Route

Marble Arch, London – start of the A5

Sign of Telford's Historic Route

Admiralty Arch, Holyhead – end of the A5

Starting at Marble Arch in London, the A5 runs north-west up the Edgware Road through Kilburn and Cricklewood. The A5 number disappears near Edgware, but the Roman Road continues as the A5183 through Elstree, Radlett, St Albans and Redbourn, to junction 9 of the M1, where it becomes the A5 again. From there on, it passes through Dunstable, Milton Keynes (where it passes through the city as the A5D), Towcester then joins the Grand Union Canal and the M1 Motorway through the Watford Gap. The next phase to the Welsh border takes it through Hinckley, bypasses Tamworth, Cannock, Telford and enters Wales just west of Chirk. From the English border, it continues through Llangollen, Corwen, Capel Curig, and Bangor before arriving at Holyhead.

[edit] Alternative routes

Parts of the A5 have been replaced by sections of the M1 north of London, the M54 through Telford, the M6, and the M6 Toll. The A55 route in North Wales is now the usual way to get from Chirk to Holyhead, avoiding the mountainous A5 route through Snowdonia and instead going via the much gentler Cheshire Gap and along the coast.

[edit] References

• Quartermaine et al (2003) Thomas Telford's Holyhead Road: The A5 in North Wales, Council for British Archaeology ISBN 1-902771-34-6

[edit] See also

• A5 road (Isle of Man)
• A5 road (Northern Ireland)

[edit] External links

• Society for All British Road Enthusiasts entry for the A5
• Road to Nowhere: A5
• Nesscliffe bypass opened 21 March 2003.
• Milestonesweb entry

	A roads in Zone 5 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme	edit
A5	A50 - A51 - A52 - A53 - A54 - A55 - A56 - A57 - A58 - A59
	A500 - A501 - A505 - A508 - A509 - A511 - A512 - A514 - A518 - A519
	A525 - A528 - A530 - A533 - A556 - A562 - A563 - A565 - A570 - A574 - A580 - A583
	A590 - A591 -A592 - A594 - A595 - A596 -
	A5012 - A5025 - A5036 - A5038
	A5103 - A5112 - A5117 - A5124 - A5127 - A5130
	A5183 - A5199 - A5300
	List of A roads in Zone 5