B4184
B4184 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
| ||||
From: | Redditch (SP042685) | |||
To: | Bromsgrove (SO956706) | |||
Via: | Batchley, Tardebigge, Aston Fields | |||
Distance: | 6.8 miles (10.9 km) | |||
Meets: | A441, A448, B4096, A38, A448 | |||
Former Number(s): | A448 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
|
For the original B4184 in the Black Country, see B4184 (Lye).
The B4184 is a minor route linking Redditch and Bromsgrove. The route only came into existence as a consequence of the upgrade to dual carriageway of the A448 as part of the Redditch New Town construction. Apart from the eastern section through Redditch, the B4184 follows the route formerly taken by the A448, with minor realignments.
Route
Starting off at a roundabout on the A441 in northern Redditch the road heads west to follow the edge of the Batchley area on a bypass constructed in the 1990s to facilitate the expansion of the Batchley housing estate. It then meets the A448 at a modified trumpet interchange and runs alongside that until it meets the B4096 outside the Tardebigge Inn. Some maps claim the whole route from the A448 trumpet is also part of the B4096 but that is unlikely.
The B4184 TOTSOs by the inn and passes under the A448 to run alongside it on the southern edge. It passes over the entrance to the Tardebigge Tunnel on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and heads towards the village of Finstall. In the village, the B4184 must TOTSO again, at a junction where the former A449, later the A491 used to continue straight ahead.
The route is now heading into the suburbs of Bromsgrove, making another TOTSO in Aston Fields; here the straight-ahead route used to be the A4024. It is now on its final straight towards Bromsgrove, crossing the A38 bypass at a set of traffic lights, however under the original bypass plans this would have been a bridge with no junction, and travelling along the High Street for a short distance before terminating on the A448 inner relief road.
History
The B4184 was created when the A448 was diverted onto a new D2 alignment between Redditch and Bromsgrove, its number taking most of the former route. In the early 1990s, a new housing estate was constructed on the north western edge of Redditch, as part of this, a new bypass was constructed on the B4184, with roundabouts connecting to parts of the new estate. Unusually, in the late 2000s, the speed limit on this stretch of road was raised from 30 mph to 40 mph.