Shropshire

This article is about the county.
For the Highway Authority, see Shropshire Council.

Shropshire is a traditional county in the Midlands, meeting the Welsh border on its western side. It is a mostly rural county, with its only settlement with a population of over 100,000 being the New Town of Telford. However, with the rural nature of the county, smaller settlements such as the county town of Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Ludlow and Oswestry play a much more important role in the road network than would otherwise be the case.

Across the County

The Iron Bridge

The most important route through the county is the A5, which passes from the northwest of the county to Shrewsbury before heading eastwards out of the county, though its importance on the eastern side of the county has been undermined since the opening of the M54 in the Telford area in 1975, and its extension towards Wolverhampton, which opened in 1983.

As befits its status as the county town, despite its relatively small size (albeit not for Shropshire), Shrewsbury dominates the road network of the county, being the focal point of the majority of the county, being on the A5 as well as the A49, which runs north-south through the county, and the A458 into mid-Wales.

In the east of the county, Telford forms a hub of lesser importance, but this is due to the historical position of the New Town being an expansion of a previously extant group of towns, such as Wellington (a former Primary Destination in its own right), Oakengates and Dawley, and also to the presence of The Wrekin, a large, prominent hill immediately to the west of the town which funnelled the routes in the area into the A5. Telford also marks the north-western point of where Thomas Telford's Holyhead Road diverged from the A5 to take in what is now the A464 towards Wolverhampton.

Of the other Primary Destinations in the county, Oswestry and Bridgnorth form minor network hubs in their immediate area, whilst Whitchurch is one of the smallest Primary Destinations in England, with a population of under 10,000; it probably owes its status to being the largest settlement between Wolverhampton and Chester on the A41, and Shrewsbury and Warrington on the A49, rather than its own importance.

In the south-east of the county, the road network is focussed on the large city of Wolverhampton across the Staffordshire boundary, and the towns of Stourbridge and Kidderminster across the Worcestershire boundary.

Much of the southern section of Shropshire is hilly and so the road network is more fragmented. Roads that do enter this part of the county either follow the valleys or wind their way across the hills.

Highways Management

The A49 north of Shrewsbury

The majority of the road network in the county is managed by Shropshire County Council, whilst a large section in the east of the county is managed by Telford and Wrekin Council.

There are five roads managed by National Highways in the county - the M54, the A5 west of Telford, the A49 south of Shrewsbury, the A458 west of Shrewsbury and the A483.

Route	From	To	Length
M54	Essington	Wellington, Shropshire	23 miles	View
A5(M)	Priorslee	Cluddley	5 miles	View
A5	London	Holyhead	252 miles	View
A41	London	Birkenhead	204 miles	View
A49	Ross on Wye	Bamber Bridge	158 miles	View
A51	Chester	Kingsbury	79 miles	View
A53	Buxton	Battlefield, Shrewsbury	55.1 miles	View
A442	Droitwich	Hodnet	50.4 miles	View
A454	Bridgnorth	Sutton Coldfield	29 miles	View
A456	Five Ways, Birmingham	Woofferton	41 miles	View
A458	Quinton	Mallwyd	86.6 miles	View
A464	Oaken	Telford	10.0 miles	View
A464	Oaken	Nantwich	37.5 miles	View
A483	Earlswood	Chester	153.6 miles	View
A488	Shrewsbury	Penybont	49.5 miles	View
A489	Machynlleth	Wistanstow	53.0 miles	View
A490	Church Stoke	Llanfyllin	22.0 miles	View
A491	Shrewsbury	Cemmaes Road	49 miles	View
A495	Llanfair Caereinion	Redbrook	38.2 miles	View
A518	Trench	Uttoxeter Bypass	33.9 miles	View
A519	Newport, Shropshire (N)	Newcastle-under-Lyme	19.7 miles	View
A525	Newcastle under Lyme	Rhyl	73 miles	View
A528	Marchwiel	Shrewsbury	26.0 miles	View
A529	Nantwich	Hinstock	18.9 miles	View
A529	Chester	Hinstock	33.6 miles	View
A4083	Queen's Head	Oswestry	3.5 miles	View
A4112	Burford	Eardisley	23.6 miles	View
A4113	Bromfield	Knighton	14.0 miles	View
A4117	Ludlow	Fingerpost	14.8 miles	View
A4169	Shifnal	Much Wenlock	12.3 miles	View
A4539	Hollinswood	Priorslee	0.3 miles	View
A4541	Meole Brace	The Column	1.4 miles	View
A4640	Priorslee	Donnington	3.8 miles	View
A5012	High Street	St Mary's Street	0.1 miles	View
A5013	Mardol	Chester Street	0.3 miles	View
A5014	Talbot Street	High Street	0.1 miles	View
A5064	Emstrey	Shirehall	1.3 miles	View
A5112	Bayleys roundabout	Battlefield	5.3 miles	View
A5112	Emstrey	Shrewsbury	1.3 miles	View
A5113	Harmer Hill	Whitchurch	12.8 miles	View
A5124	Battlefield	Broadoak	1.2 miles	View
A5191	Meole Brace	Ditherington	3.4 miles	View
A5223	Shawbirch	Horsehay	5.5 miles	View
A5223	Haygate	Wellington	5.5 miles	View
A5266	Snedshill	Donnington	2.5 miles	View
A5523	Shawbirch	Horsehay	5.5 miles	View
B4176	Dudley	Brockton	17.0 miles	View
B4194	Astley Cross	Kinlet	9.9 miles	View
B4199	near Buttonbridge	Bradley Farm, Kinlet	0.9 miles	View
B4200	Callow Hill	Henley	14.3 miles	View
B4201	Mawleytown Farm	Six Ashes	0.9 miles	View
B4202	Mawley Oak	Abberley	6.7 miles	View
B4214	Cleehill	Ledbury	28.4 miles	View
B4361	Ludlow bypass (N)	Cadbury's roundabout, Marlbrook	16.5 miles	View
B4362	Walton	Woofferton	20.2 miles	View
B4363	Bridgnorth (E)	Mawley, Cleobury Mortimer	12.3 miles	View
B4364	near Henley	Bridgnorth	17.2 miles	View
B4365	Pedlar's Rest	Bromfield	4.8 miles	View
B4366	Bromfield	Knighton	13.9 miles	View
B4367	Brampton Bryan	Long Meadowend	8.8 miles	View
B4368	Morville	Abermule Bypass	44.7 miles	View
B4369	Broome	Aston on Clun	0.6 miles	View
B4370	Horderley	Marshbrook	2.7 miles	View
B4371	Church Stretton	Much Wenlock	12.4 miles	View
B4372	Morville	Shipton	7.1 miles	View
B4373	Donnington Wood	Bridgnorth	16.7 miles	View
B4374	Northgate	Salop Street	0.2 miles	View
B4375	The Dunge	Marsh Gates	3.1 miles	View
B4376	Broseley	Much Wenlock	3.7 miles	View
B4377	Ironbridge	Broseley	1.9 miles	View
B4378	Shipton	Much Wenlock	6.6 miles	View
B4379	Brockton	Bloomsbury	9.1 miles	View
B4380	Montford Bridge	Buildwas	17.9 miles	View
B4381	Lawley	Coalbrookdale	3.2 miles	View
B4382	Dawley	Horsehay	1.1 miles	View
B4383	Lydham Heath	Lydham Manor	1.0 mile	View
B4384	Bishop's Castle	Foul Lane End	0.4 miles	View
B4386	Shrewsbury	Abermule	27.1 miles	View
B4387	Halfway House	Minsterley	5.4 miles	View
B4393	Llanwddyn	Ford	40.1 miles	View
B4394	Wroxeter	Shawbirch	6.0 miles	View
B4396	Abertridwr	Knockin Heath	21.9 miles	View
B4397	Knockin Heath	near Horton	11.7 miles	View
B4398	Vyrnwy New Bridge	Knockin	5.6 miles	View
B4399	Porth-y-Waen	Stonehouse	6.7 miles	View
B4400	Leg Street	Beatrice Street	0.2 miles	View
B4456	Ashford Bowder	Ludlow	3.5 miles	View
B4473	Ford	Montford Bridge	1.0 mile	View
B4499	Brockton	Minsterley	4.2 miles	View
B4543	Dawley	Donnington		View
B4555	Bridgnorth	near Kinlet	9.9 miles	View
B4579	Glyn Ceiriog	Oswestry eastern bypass	10.5 miles	View
B4580	Oswestry By Pass	Rhos-y-brithdir	16.2 miles	View
B4589	Telford	?		View
B5009	Gobowen bypass	Queen's Head	5.5 miles	View
B5026	Irelands Cross	Walton, Stone	16.9 miles	View
B5060	Snedshill	Donnington	2.4 miles	View
B5060	Priorslee	Muxton	3.9 miles	View
B5061	Priorslee	Attingham Park	7.8 miles	View
B5061	Haygate	Wellington	1.4 miles	View
B5062	Shrewsbury	Forton	17.3 miles	View
B5063	Welshampton	Shawbirch	21.1 miles	View
B5064	Battlefield, Shrewsbury	Prees Heath	14.1 miles	View
B5064	Ditherington	Shrewsbury	1.8 miles	View
B5065	Wem	Sandford	5.4 miles	View
B5066	Prees Higher Heath	Darliston	0.8 miles	View
B5067	Baschurch	Shrewsbury	7.7 miles	View
B5068	St Martins	Ellesmere	5.1 miles	View
B5069	Hampton Heath	Nant y Caws	23.8 miles	View
B5070	Bryn-er-Eos	St Martin's Moor	3.7 miles	View
B5072	Rampart Way	Lawley	1.6 miles	View
B5314	Weston-under-Lizard	Weston Heath	1.8 miles	View
B5316	Oakengates	Ketley Bank	0.4 miles	View
B5354	Mill Street	Newport Road	0.2 miles	View
B5364	Chemistry	Whitchurch town centre	1.2 miles	View
B5395	Malpas	Whitchurch	6.8 miles	View
B5398	Broughall	Chemistry	2.2 miles	View
B5406	St. George's	Oakengates	2.1 miles	View
B5462				View
B5476	Harmer Hill	Whitchurch (N)	14.7 miles	View
B5477	All Stretton	Little Stretton	4.3 miles	View
T11	London	Holyhead		View
T14	E of Birmingham	Birkenhead		View
T17	Newport	Shrewsbury		View
T18	Swansea	Manchester		View
T50	NW of Wolverhampton	Oakengates	13 miles	View
T57	Shrewsbury	Warrington		View
T83	Shrewsbury	Dolgellau		View

Key

Motorway

Primary Route

Non Primary Route

Former Motorway

Defunct Route

E Road

Future Motorway

Future Primary

Future Non Primary

Historical Route

Tourist Route

Roman Road

Unbuilt Motorway

Unbuilt Primary

Unbuilt Non Primary

National Cycle Network

Cycle Route

Eurovelo Cycle Route

Turnpikes

Main Article: Shropshire Turnpikes

Junctions

Main Article: Junctions in Shropshire

Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings

Main Article: Crossings in Shropshire