A4137

The A4137 connects the A49 and A40/A449 west of the Herefordshire town of Ross-on-Wye. It serves, very effectively, as a link road for traffic cutting the corner between the road from the Marches towards South Wales. It was originally the B4230 but gained the A4137 number in the late 1920s. It is a primary route throughout its brief length.

St Owen's Cross

The A4137 begins its short journey at a fairly conventional T junction with the A49. It runs in a southerly direction and soon meets the B4521 in the pleasingly named village of St Owen's Cross. There is a 40mph speed limit in force here, but our road has priority. The B4521 follows the original route of the A40 between Ross and Abergavenny, before it was diverted to take its present route through Monmouth; a left turn here will take you straight back to the A49, whereas a right turn will take you through Skenfrith (with its castle) to Abergavenny.

Once the road returns to open countryside, the speed limit rises to 50mph, and to the National Speed Limit soon afterwards. The A4137 is a gently winding road, passing through fairly level terrain. It passes through Whitfield and Marstow, although you'd scarcely notice. Towards its end, it does become more twisty and undulating, and where the road passes through a small clump of trees, there is a metal bridge carrying a footpath high over the road.

The A4137 ends on the A40/A449 near Whitchurch, at what is effectively an unconventional trumpet junction. If you remain on the priority route, you will be taken down the northbound slip road and pointed back in the direction of Ross. In order to join the southbound slip road onto the A40/A449 you will need (somewhat counter-intuitively) to turn off to the left, and cross over the dual carriageway, to continue towards Monmouth and Newport. On the branch that stretches over the A40/A449, the road also meets the B4229 to Goodrich (with another castle), before it expires.