A41 (M25 to M42)

[M4Simon]

I have expanded my earlier article on the A41!
Simon
The A41 ? M25 to Aston Clinton / Aylesbury
I hope Jonathan will forgive my intrusion on a section of road that he had promised to write up. It?s just that for a number of reasons, I am particularly acquainted with this road.
The A41 between junction 19 of the M25 and the eastern end of the Tring bypass was opened to traffic in 1993. It was built under two contracts ? the Kings Langley bypass was started by Budge and completed by (I think) Alfred McAlpine when Budge went bust during the contract. At the time I was working on a maintenance job in Hemel Hempstead and I can remember seeing a fleet of low-loaders from the various plant hire firms and sub-contractors retrieving their kit before it got into the hands of the receivers.
The Berkhamsted Bypass was built by Amey Construction Ltd. They survived the construction process and went on to build other major roads, but have recently opted out of mainstream contracting to concentrate on long term asset management ? they have a number of prestigious contracts with the Highways Agency.
This section of the A41 is built to dual 2 lane standard with grade separated junctions. Whilst the main line is built to a reasonably high standard, frequent changes to the design requirements during the planning stages meant that the junctions themselves are very tight. Why else would you wish to plaster a load of anti-skid surfacing on a modern slip road?
Heading north west from the M25, the first junction is a diamond junction with a dumbbell roundabout underneath. From here, the A414 begins its trek to Malden in Essex. In my opinion, this is not a good junction, but it is better than the others on this stretch of the A41.
Continuing in a westerly direction, the road comes alongside the west-coast main line, crosses the old A41 (now the A4251), skirts Boxmoor common before arriving at the Bourne End junction with the A4251. Cue a set of dodgy slip roads in a half cloverleaf arrangement. The antiskid surfacing is required to help deter traffic leaving the A41 from missing the bend on the slip road and ploughing straight across the on-bound traffic.
Next up is a less important junction leading to a farm, afew industrial units, a filling station and the obligatory Drive Thru McDonalds.
The A41 continues to the south of Berkhamsted, past its junction with the A416 (cue another junction arrangement like the one at Bourne End. Soon we pass under a reinforced concrete arched bridge which carries the Ridgeway long distance trail across the road. We then join up with the Tring Bypass ? well known to the Sabristi as the former A41(M).
The Tring bypass was built in the 1970s to dual two lane standard. As it has subsequently been despecialised and is now just the A41, they have had to put up clearway signs on the hard shoulder to prevent people parking there. From memory, the Tring bypass is no more than 2 miles long. If you want to know what the western terminus roundabout on the Herts / Bucks border looked like, then you?re probably too late. Work is continuing apace to build the Aston Clinton bypass which will see this roundabout replaced by a grade separated dumbbell arrangement. See here http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/area/0 ... /index.htm for more information.
Meanwhile, the present A41 is a single carriageway road, running through Aston Clinton and on to Aylesbury. A number of mini / small roundabouts cause continued traffic congestion, which should be relieved by the new bypass. Aylesbury itself seems to be a collection of roundabouts joined by some very short lengths of road. The A41 meanders around the edge of the town centre, passing junctions for the Rign Road, the A413 and countless local roads before making a left turn at a double mini roundabout concoction to head out towards Bicester.
Rural Buckinghamshire takes us past a number of speed camera sites. The road is a reasonable single carriageway between Aylesbury and Waddesdon (stop here for the Manor, which is the home of the Rothschilds).
Continuing westwards, the road becomes rural in nature with few junctions of any note. There is a low bridge under a railway between Waddesden and Bicester, complete (I think) with the electronic warning systems.
Arriving on the outskirts of Bicester, the road becomes wider (and very bumpy) on an embankment past one of those factory outlet villages. Eventually we arrive at a roundabout where we turn left onto a dual carriageway which takes us to the M40 at junction 9. The dual carriageway continues south west to Oxford as the A34.
These days, there is no trace on the map of the A41 between M40 junction 9 and the M42. Indeed, both the A34 and A41 traffic are signed north to Birmingham on the M40. In fact, the route of the old A41 is not too difficult to find ? just follow the B4100 towards Banbury and Warwick.