B4116
| B4116 | ||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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| From: | Willesley Park (SK346144) | |||||||||
| To: | Furnace End (SP248913) | |||||||||
| Via: | Twycross | |||||||||
| Distance: | 17.7 miles (28.5 km) | |||||||||
| Meets: | A42, A444, B585, B5000, A5, B4098, B4114 | |||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A453, B584, A511 | |||||||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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Route
The B4116 is a long, largely rural B-road running south and southwest from west Leicestershire into Warwickshire.
It starts at a a dumbbell interchange with the A42 (J12) at Willesley Park, 2 km northeast of the village of Measham. From here it heads southwards on what was originally the line of the A453, but TOTSOs to the left within 700 m, at the original starting-point of the B584 – the way straight ahead (which was once the continuing A453) having become an unclassified road since the building of the A42.
Continuing south, the B4116 forms a bypass of Measham and skirts the western edge of Snarestone before reaching the A444 at a mini-roundabout in Twycross. Here the B4116 doglegs across the A444, turning first left, and then right by the war memorial (picking up the former route of the A511).
Sheepy Magna, where the B585 comes in from the left, is the next village encountered, followed by the hamlet of Pinwall, where the B5000 turns off to the right. At Fielden Bridge, some 800 m south of this junction, the B4116 crosses the River Anker and enters Warwickshire.
The original route went straight on through Atherstone. However, the B4116 now bypasses the town to the west, taking the first right turn in Warwickshire, crossing the West Coast Main Line and the Grand Union Canal in quick succession, and then meeting the A5 at the Holly Lane Roundabout. From here, the B4116 skirts the western side of Merevale Park before another couple of TOTSOs enable it to regain its original route at Bentley Common.
A 6-km run southwestward brings the road to its terminus at a crossroads in Furnace End where it meets the B4098 (former A423) and B4114 (former A47).
Atherstone town centre
The major part of the old Watling Street / A5 main road through Atherstone is signed (in the SE to NW direction, at least) as a detached branch of the B4116. Starting from the Mancetter Roundabout, it follows Witherley Road and Long Street through the town centre to the railway station, from where it is linked by a short stretch of dual carriageway to a limited-access grade-separated junction with the A5 Atherstone bypass. However, current maps show this road to be unclassified. In addition, Warwickshire Council's official Road List identifies this section of road as a Class III road, the C145.
History
Originally the B4116 went only from Atherstone to Furnace End. The road from Atherstone to Twycross was the A511, then the B584 continued north to meet the A453 which has already been mentioned. The A511 number disappeared after World War II and the B4116 was extended north of Atherstone to meet the A453.
