Coseley

Coseley is a town around 3 miles north of Dudley, and 6 miles south of Wolverhampton, and slightly north of the centre of the Black Country. It is located within historic Staffordshire, and is functionally part of Wolverhampton.

The first new inter-city highway of the twentieth century, the A4123 Birmingham - Wolverhampton New Road, goes through the town.

Unlike many larger towns in the vicinity (such as Dudley, Bilston, Sedgley, West Bromwich and Wednesbury), Coseley actually has a railway station. It makes Wolverhampton only a six-minute train journey away, and it is the only railway station on the line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham that is located within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

History

Coseley in 1923, looking very different without the additional 20th century network

Coseley was originally called Lower Sedgley when the first settlements appeared where the town is now, but soon changed its name when it became clearly separate from Sedgley. It was an industrial town, including being home to Cannon, an ovens and gas fires manufacturer, and Bean Cars.

The first inter-city highway, the A4123 Birmingham New Road, as it is called as it runs through Coseley, opened on the 2nd November 1927. It was built to bypass the many town centres that the A41 passes through between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. The A4123 effectively runs along the back of one side of the town's main 'high street', Castle Street, making Coseley the only town centre that the A4123 runs by.

There were plans for a motorway to reach and terminate in Coseley, called the Bilston Link Motorway. It would have reached the M6 at Junction 10. However, these plans were scrapped, meaning Coseley (as well as Bilston) had to settle for the Black Country Route, consisting of parts of the A463 and the A454.

Highways Management

Coseley is split between three different councils, who have jurisdiction over the roads. They are, from the largest to smallest shares, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, the City of Wolverhampton Council, and Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.

There have been no Trunk Roads within the town since the A4123 was detrunked within the parts of the town administered by Dudley MBC on 13th November 2008.

Named Junctions

The only named junctions that can be classed as in Coseley are both on the A463. The first is Sedgemoor Park, the western-most roundabout, with four exits, on the Black Country Route, with the northern exit leading on to the estate with the same name, and the southern exit leading to a household recyling centre and a restricted access road that joins on to, incidentally, the old route of the A463 at Biddings Lane. The other named junction is the next roundabout along, called Spring Vale Island. Only a three-exit island, the northern exit leads on to Springvale Way, which in turn leads to another roundabout, with Springvale Industrial Park, including a Poundland Distribution Centre, on the western side, and Springvale Way Business Park on the eastern side, which includes a B&Q, Halfords, and Matalan.

Routes

The classified roads through Coseley are the A4123, A4126, A457, A463, B4163, and the B4483. Coseley has good links with nearby towns and cities, such as Dudley and Wolverhampton. The town also has good motorway access, with the M5 being accessible via the A4123 to Junction 2, and the M6 can be accessed via the aforementioned A463.

Route	To	Notes
A4123	Wolverhampton
A4123	Dudley, Birmingham
A463	Walsall, Bilston
A463	Sedgley
A4037	Wednesbury
A4037	Dudley, Tipton
A4098	Bilston
A4126	Ettingshall
B4163	Bilston
B4163	Dudley Port
B4483	Dudley
B4162	Ettingshall	now A4126
B4164	Bilston	now A4098

Other Transport

The B4483 through the town

The National Cycle Network Route 81 also passes through Coseley as does the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford branch of the West Coast Main Line, serving Coseley with a railway station. The Birmingham Canal Navigation's Birmingham Main Line Canal also passes through the town and under part of the town centre, in the Coseley Tunnel. The NCN 81 follows the canal towpath through Coseley except for through the tunnel; it detours (north to south) by coming off at Kenelm Road, then following the B4483 (Fullwoods End and Tunnel Street), Bayer Street and Bridge Street, and finally Central Drive where it joins back to the canal. There is also the Bradley Arm Canal in the north of the town, which is the only remaining part of what used to be the Wednesbury Oak Loop Canal that, as well as having a few of branch canals conencted to the Walsall Canal, later joined back onto the main line canal in Tipton at Bloomfields Junction (the Wednesbury Oak Loop was there first, and only made the 'loop' when the main line was cut).