A5199

The A5199 is the direct route from Leicester to Northampton. For nearly 70 years (from the late 1920s to the 1990s) it was a section of the A50 and before that it had been the B568.

The road starts in south Leicester on a one-way loop of the A594 ring road. It heads south along Welford Road and soon goes over the Midland Main Line. The route follows an intermittent D2 through the suburb of Knighton and crosses the A563 southern bypass at traffic lights. On the far side of town we go under the Midland Main Line and over the Grand Union Canal at Kilby and finally enter open country, the speed limit rising to NSL.

Welford Road towards Husbands Bosworth

The road now follows a rural route, avoiding all the villages in the area. The next place of any size we reach is Husbands Bosworth. Just before entering the village we bear left onto a one-way system which takes us to a T-junction on the A4304. There's now a short multiplex to the right before the A5199 reappears by turning left at a crossroads; turn right here for the one-way northbound section of the A5199, which has to give way to the (original) southbound route.

We soon reenter open country for the short stretch to the county boundary into Northamptonshire and the village of Welford. A mile or so further on we cross the A14 at J1 and continue south signed Northampton. We pass through Thornby and skirt Creaton and Spratton before going through Chapel Brampton.

The road crosses the Brampton Nene and soon enters Northampton. The speed limit is 40 mph followed by 30 mph. The A5199 runs along the straight Welford Road and ends at traffic lights on the A508 to the north of the town centre.