A441
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| A441 | ||||||||||
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| From: | Birmingham (SP069853) | |||||||||
| To: | Cookhill (SP054571) | |||||||||
| Length: | 20 miles (32.2 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A4540, A4040, M42, A448, A442 | |||||||||
| Now part of: | B4088 | |||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
| Birmingham • Redditch • | ||||||||||
| Highways Authorities | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Contents |
Route
Section 1: Birmingham City Centre - Hopwood (M42)
For about a mile North of West Heath, we drop down to single carriageway, part of which is wide enough to be dualled. Once we resume dual carriageway status we only keep it for a short while, after the next roundabout with an unclassified road, the A441 is single again. Another roundabout is passed, taking away the B4096 towards Longbridge, and suddenly we are out of Birmingham.
We pass through the village of Hopwood, where the former A441 heads off into Alvechurch, while we approach the M42 at junction 2, with Hopwood Park services.
Section 2: Hopwood (M42) - Cookhill
After the motorway junction, the A441 is dual carriageway; this was constructed in the 1990s as the Alvechurch bypass. The section of single carriageway to the North of the M42 already existed prior to this, as a spur to the motorway junction. At the end of the bypass the road reverts back to single carriageway and we pass through the village of Bordsley, and a junction with the B4101. We meet the B4184 at a roundabout on the edge of Redditch, this has space for an A441 flyover, presumably part of the Bordsley bypass, but hasn't yet happened. Another roundabout is passed, this time with the A4023, once again, there is space for a flyover to create a 3 level stack, as the A4023 already passes under the roundabout.
Our next major junction is with the A448 and A4184, this isn't just any old junction, this is a cloverleaf junction, the only one in England. It is named such because of the way it looks from the air. For the next mile the A448 multiplexes with us, we pass another roundabout with some unclassified roads and finally on the South side of Redditch we reach a tiny roundabout, with 5 exits, one of which is where the A448 leaves us, and we head off to the South, passing through the village of Astwood Bank.
The final short section meets the B4092 and B4090 before terminating on the A442 near Cookhill. The road ahead, the B4088, formerly was the continuation of the A441, and as such is still signposted to Evesham.
History
Birmingham City Centre
The A441 originally started on the A41 in the Bull Ring and ran along Spiceal Street, Jamaica Row, and Sherlock Street out of the City Centre. From the 1960s onwards, the A441 followed various routes from the A41 to approximate to the original route.
Alvechurch Bypass
In the 1990s a short dual carriageway was constructed to the South of M42 junction 2, this connected to the existing A441 South of Alvechurch. Together with the existing A441 spur to the North, this created the Alvechurch Bypass.
Coookhill - Dunnington
This section was downgraded to B4088 when the A46 Norton-Lenchwick bypass was opened in the 1990s. At Dunnington the A441 used to terminate on the A435, though this was also downgraded at the same time.
Redditch Town Centre
When Redditch was developed as a new town in the 1960s, the A441 was rebuilt on new alignments, mostly dual carriageway. The former road still exists as (North-South) Birmingham Road - Prospect Hill - Church Green West - Evesham Walk - Evesham Street - Mount Pleasant - Evesham Road. The central section of this cannot be driven though - part of it is buses only, part has been cut off by the ringway, and part (Evesham Walk) is within the Kingfisher Shopping Centre!
Future
Bordsley Bypass
The final single carriageway between the M42 and Redditch sits between the Alvechurch bypass and Redditch itself. Plans have been on and off for sometime about building this bypass.
