A49 - Hereford By-Pass

[jhluxton]

Several times each year I drive from Merseyside to either South Wales or south west England via the A5 / A 49. Generally it is a much more pleasant run than pounding down the M6/5. However, Hereford appears to be one almost permanent bottleneck north or south bound from near the Racecourse to the Asda junction just across the River Wye bridge.
The location of many large retail stores close to this through route, along with the football ground, also appear to add to the congestion.

Given the amount of traffic - much of it north Wales / south Wales traffic one wonders why it has taken so long to provide Hereford with a by-pass when further north both Oswestry and Shrewsbury have long since been by passed.

On the subject of Oswestry I the present by-pass appears to be reaching maximum capacity and one really wonders if it is time to increase it to a D2 or install alternative overtaking lanes.

John

[autismuk]

I lived near there 30 years ago and it hasn't changed much as far as I can see for the better. From memory the only improvement is in the turning towards Brecon/Kington on the A438 westbound just off the main roundabout which looks to have been widened.

However, there is a point that you have chosen to go that way. Shrewsbury is a bit of a red herring as the bypass was really done with the A5 in mind rather than the A49. (Having said that Leominster is bypassed which was about as bad)

[PeterA5145]

On the subject of Oswestry I the present by-pass appears to be reaching maximum capacity and one really wonders if it is time to increase it to a D2 or install alternative overtaking lanes.

Yes, I've driven along there a few times recently and long sections of the bypass have been crawling. Really needs to be a GSJ'd D2 along the entire A5/A483 multiplex. Building the Chirk and Dee viaducts as S2 was very short-sighted.

[Octaviadriver]

I go to Hereford a few times a year on courses that are held at the Three Counties Hotel, which is on the west of the town on the A465. I come into Hereford on the A438 from Brecon and usually use the unclassified road in the link below to avoid going into the centre and back. It is often busy with a queue of cars waiting to pass the narrowest sections, so I'm not alone in using this road as a "bypass". It seems madness that nothing is done to bypass the centre and that traffic uses narrow country lanes as the best alternative!

https://goo.gl/maps/yYhTAZZQWCA2

[A320Driver]

Pretty sure the bypass was binned by New Labour in 1997, possibly even earlier, no current plans to provide one as I think the A49 is de-trunked?

[owen b]

Pretty sure the bypass was binned by New Labour in 1997, possibly even earlier, no current plans to provide one as I think the A49 is de-trunked?

It's still Highways England responsibility ie. strategic road network, according to their website map, here : https://images.highways.gov.uk.s3.amazon ... rk-map.jpg

Edit : better, much more detailed map here : https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... nt_Map.pdf

[Truvelo]

I have a newspaper cutting showing the proposed options. I posted it here some time ago.

[Stevie D]

Shrewsbury and Oswestry are on the main route from London and the Midlands to North Wales, as well as Oswestry being on the north/south route. There is a lot of traffic using the A5 there!

I suspect that a lot less traffic is going past Hereford, and most of the traffic around the town is starting or finishing there or is only making a local journey. The roads around Hereford are not great, and don't really cater for long-distance strategic traffic. It's hard to see any significant traffic flows that would go through Hereford that don't have reasonable alternative routes. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be by-passed, but it is more likely to be a local scheme than a strategic one.

[PeterA5145]

I suspect that a lot less traffic is going past Hereford, and most of the traffic around the town is starting or finishing there or is only making a local journey. The roads around Hereford are not great, and don't really cater for long-distance strategic traffic. It's hard to see any significant traffic flows that would go through Hereford that don't have reasonable alternative routes. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be by-passed, but it is more likely to be a local scheme than a strategic one.

I would have thought there was a pretty pronounced long-distance north-south flow along the A49, and A465 to the south, which can't be avoided without going miles out of your way.

[trickstat]

I suspect that a lot less traffic is going past Hereford, and most of the traffic around the town is starting or finishing there or is only making a local journey. The roads around Hereford are not great, and don't really cater for long-distance strategic traffic. It's hard to see any significant traffic flows that would go through Hereford that don't have reasonable alternative routes. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be by-passed, but it is more likely to be a local scheme than a strategic one.

I would have thought there was a pretty pronounced long-distance north-south flow along the A49, and A465 to the south, which can't be avoided without going miles out of your way.

It is a few years since I've been to Hereford so I can't claim to be an expert, but it does look to me that a western bypass linking the A49 to the north and south of the city would be the most helpful option short of a ring road or three-quarter ring road option. The A417 must take a fair amount of traffic travelling to or from Ross-on-Wye or further east.

[Owain]

I suspect that a lot less traffic is going past Hereford, and most of the traffic around the town is starting or finishing there or is only making a local journey. The roads around Hereford are not great, and don't really cater for long-distance strategic traffic. It's hard to see any significant traffic flows that would go through Hereford that don't have reasonable alternative routes. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be by-passed, but it is more likely to be a local scheme than a strategic one.

I would have thought there was a pretty pronounced long-distance north-south flow along the A49, and A465 to the south, which can't be avoided without going miles out of your way.

I used to use it frequently when driving from Lancaster to Tutshill. A great alternative to the M6/M5.

[Ambosc79]

I normally turn off the A49 onto the A417 at Dinmore, follow it through and onto the A4172 to meet the A449 at Preston Cross, then take that road to the A40 at Ross. Nearly always quicker than queuing in Hereford and much quieter roads than the A49.

It adds only about 8 miles going to Monmouth or Newport, for Abergavenny though it would add more. If I do brave Hereford (ie if it's the middle of the night) I never use the signed A4137 route, it's pointless. It's no quicker than just going right down the A49 and along the A40: it comes out on the A49 so far south of Hereford you have to use a good part of the A49 route anyway, and its junction with the A40 is horrible; a nasty merge southbound and leaving northbound in the dark you can't easily tell the A4137 exit from the adjacent layby/minor road. If they really want to cut that corner (in combination with a Hereford bypass...) they ought to improve the A466 instead.

[Owain]

... they ought to improve the A466 instead.

A great road! Although the bit to the south of Monmouth is much more fun than the bit to the north.

[haymansafc]

I know this route well, on my annual treks down to North Devon. I almost always use the A41/A49/A466 over the M6 and the top half of the M5. It's a really pleasant drive, there's lots to see and generally speaking, journey times are reliable. Back in September I done this drive and did record the footage on my dashcam is anyone is interested.

Personally speaking, I've never found much benefit using the A483/A5 over the A41/A49 if you're heading from Chester/the Wirral area. Sure, the former is straighter and the average speed is usually higher, but it's also slightly longer. Also, the A5 between Oswestry and Shrewsbury eats up some of the time saved by heading directly north/south along the A41/A49. Each to their own though…

As for Hereford itself, I find it's very 'hit and miss'. I find it depends on what time you hit it – the mid-mornings usually being about the best time. Sometimes I have a reasonably clear run (as I did in my dashcam footage) and other times it can be a first/second gear crawl throughout. I don’t really have much problem with it but I do fully understand why a bypass is called for.

A bypass for Hereford was discussed a while ago, Truvelo is correct. From memory, wasn’t the B4399 meant to form part of the bypass? As things stand, it's only real use is to serve the industrial estate. The trail seems to have turned completely cold on this since the road was built, though.

A great road! Although the bit to the south of Monmouth is much more fun than the bit to the north.

Both 'halves' of the A466 are very different aren't they?! Personally, I really enjoy using this road. North of Monmouth it cuts through some excellent countryside and can be a real driver's road. It's a pity most of it is in desperate need of resurfacing though… The second south of Monmouth winds through some excellent forest scenery and of course, passes by Tintern Abbey.

[Owain]

A great road! Although the bit to the south of Monmouth is much more fun than the bit to the north.

Both 'halves' of the A466 are very different aren't they?! Personally, I really enjoy using this road. North of Monmouth it cuts through some excellent countryside and can be a real driver's road. It's a pity most of it is in desperate need of resurfacing though… The second south of Monmouth winds through some excellent forest scenery and of course, passes by Tintern Abbey.

I re-wrote the "Route" section on the Wiki recently, so it is now more detailed. In the process, I discovered that the A466 was originally two different roads; the section north of Monmouth being the B4232. That explains a lot!

[M4Simon]

Hereford is not a big city (just 60,000 people), but it is the largest place for some distance. To the west, there is nowhere bigger. To the east you travel an hour to Worcester. To the south (ish) you get to Newport, just over an hour away. To the north there is Shrewsbury (1.5 hours) and to the north east, Kidderminster (1.25 hours).

As the largest place, it is an important local centre, and is a lot more important than other towns of similar size located in more urban areas. I have no evidence, but I'd be surprised if much strategic traffic goes through Hereford. Shrewsbury to Newport is 2 hours 24 mins via Hereford, and 2 hours 25 mins via M54 / M5, so there is a slight journey time saving and significant mileage saving going via Hereford, but as soon as you go east from Shrewsbury, the motorway route quickly becomes more advantageous. Shrewsbury to Cardiff routes via Hereford, but as you go west from Cardiff, the google route takes you west of Leominster, then on to Hay, Brecon, Hirwaun and on to Neath.

In other words most of the traffic in the centre of Hereford is either local traffic travelling too or from Hereford, or cross-city journeys from and to the surrounding villages.

I've seen drawings for a western bypass of Hereford, with a cost estimate of £70-80M a few years ago. It is difficult to see how this could be justified in terms of strategic benefit, and therefore, if such a bypass is built, it is likely to be to open up areas around the periphery of the city for development, complete with roundabouts, lower speed limits and development accesses.

The difficult part is building an environmentally acceptable bridge over the Wye. This would be a significant part of the money, and individual developers will be able to build a case for developing their own land using an access that doesn't require a bridge over the Wye.

So, although there is undoubtedly a traffic problem in the middle of Hereford (I've queued there many times), I can't see any prospect of a full bypass being built any time soon. We are far more likely to see sections of road built that might be capable of being linked, but these will be built to facilitate development and won't address the problem caused by a single undercapacity bridge carrying the present A49 over the river.

Simon

[Beardy5632]

The whole of that section of A49 is one big joke IMO. I work in Hereford so have seen the traffic problems for myself.
I always use the B4224/B4225/A449 to get out.

[Owain]

I've sometimes wondered why the M50 wasn't built further north, so as to link Worcester to Hereford. I know the Malvern Hills are there, but if it had left the M5 somewhere near J6 it could have passed to the north of them before shadowing the A4103. Arriving at Hereford, it could have passed north of that city too, before connecting to the A465. That road could then have been dualled instead of the A449, providing dual carriageway access to Swansea, to Cardiff (via A470) and to Newport (via the A4042). To me, that looks more useful then the current arrangement.

[Beardy5632]

Bringing back an old topic, it'll be interesting to see if anything moves forward bypass wise after the effects of Dozza today which saw the A49 bridge closed because the roof of ASDA's petrol station became unsafe. The result? Gridlock in both the city and all the smaller roads. The B4224 was backed up past Hampton Bishop to get over the bridge at Mordiford and I don't think the B4399 was much better by the sounds of it.

Sadly though I can't see anything happening.

[B9127]

I was in Hereford recently and if a town need some relief from traffic this it. It took me 50 minutes to travel from the Tesco on the Abergavenny road to the circle in town at Asda to travel north - the lane markings throughout the town are abysmal or in many cases non existent - with the M5/M6 a shambles I went up the A49 to the M56 - what a dreary road .