B4517
| B4517 | ||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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| From: | Tipton Green (SO951920) | |||
| To: | Great Bridge (SO977925) | |||
| Distance: | 2 miles (3.2 km) | |||
| Meets: | A4037, A457, B4163, A461 | |||
| Former Number(s): | A41 | |||
| Highway Authorities | ||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||
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The B4517 runs across the Black Country, from Tipton Green, just northeast of Dudley, to Great Bridge, north of West Bromwich. With the exception of the eastern end, which was part of the A461, the road was originally unclassified but gained its number in the early 1930s.
Route
The road starts at traffic lights on the A4037 Dudley Road and heads northeast along Tipton High Street, which is more light industry than a typical High Street. The A457 is soon crossed at a roundabout, where the road decides it has learnt its lesson of not being a 'high street', and changes its name to Owen Street. We then cross a canal, go along a shopping street (which should be called the high street, but isn't, because the B4517 is rubbish at thinking of names) and then cross another canal to reach Tipton station.
Originally the railway line was crossed by a level crossing, making this road a sizeable bottleneck; this is the main line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham and sees quite a few trains every hour. However, traffic was diverted to the right in 2010 and now runs through an underpass before rejoining its old route on Alexandra Road. The B4163 is crossed at a roundabout by the leisure centre and the B4517 then passes a school and a cemetery to reach traffic lights.
Originally the B4517 ended here on the A41. However, with the opening of the A41 improvement between Wolverhampton and West Bromwich in the late 1990s our road was extended to the right and now follows New Road to end at a roundabout on the A461. A few maps indicate that it continues along part of Great Bridge Street (the former A4035) and Whitehall Road (former route of the B4166) but this is not indicated on the ground.
History
Tipton: Owen Street Relief Road
The 0.2 mile road from Owen Street to Alexandra Road, and bypassing the West Coast Main Line level crossing, was opened on 18 January 2010 by Ian Austin, Regional Minister for West Midlands. It included the 190 foot “Tipton Tunnel” under the railway costing £22.5 million of the £27.2 million scheme cost.
