Five Ways (Dunstall Park, Wolverhampton)
Five Ways | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
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Location | |||
Wolverhampton | |||
County | |||
Staffordshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Wolverhampton | |||
Junction Type | |||
Roundabout | |||
Roads Joined | |||
A449 | |||
Junctions related to the B4160 (Wolverhampton) | |||
Junctions related to the A459 | |||
For other junctions called Five Ways in Wolverhampton, see Five Ways (Wolverhampton).
For Junctions in other locations called Five Ways, see Five Ways.
Five Ways is a major junction to the north of Wolverhampton city centre, although now only one route through the junction is classified.
It is where the main northwards flows from the city centre merge - from the east side via Stafford Street, and the west side via Waterloo Road. A few yards to the north of the junction on the southbound A449 Stafford Road, there is a traffic-light controlled bus gate in order to enable buses to complete the movement to Waterloo Road from the bus lane, which conflicted with general traffic in the lane to the right wishing to exit the roundabout earlier. This bus gate caused safety issues when first installed in 2005, as the stop lines on the gate were so close to the roundabout that drivers were assuming that the roundabout itself was light-controlled, and therefore heading straight onto the roundabout when given a green signal. The junction was hurriedly remodelled to move the bus gate further away from the roundabout in order to demonstrate that they were separate junctions.
Perhaps oddly, this was originally the meeting place of six roads (Stafford Street, Stafford Road, Fox's Lane, Dunstall Road, Waterloo Road and North Road), and the name comes from the fact that travellers arriving at the junction had five new directions to choose from. North Road was slightly truncated in the 1960s, and no longer reaches the junction, despite being the original major route northwards from the city centre.
Originally, the A449 from the south used Waterloo Road, with Stafford Street holding the B4160 number. This situation lasted until between 1972 and 1974, when A459 extended over moved to Stafford Street, before the present arrangement came into being in 1986 with the completion of the A4150 Inner Ring Road.
The signage approaching the junction is inconsistent as to the name of the junction - some refer to is as "Five Ways Island" whilst others use "Five Ways Roundabout".
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
(M54, M6(N)), Stafford, Bushbury, Pendeford, Dunstall Hill Industrial Estate, Wolverhampton Science Park | Stafford Road | |
City centre, Ring road, University (South) | Stafford Street | |
Fox's Lane | ||
Dunstall Hill Community Centre, Primary School and Nursery | Dunstall Road | |
University (North) | Waterloo Road | |
Wolverhampton | now A449 | |
Wolverhampton | now A449 |