A41 road
The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, Newport, Whitchurch, Chester and Ellesmere Port.
With the opening of the M40 extension in 1990 from junction 8, much of the route was downgraded. The sections between Bicester and the M42 near Solihull in the Midlands have been re-classified B4100, A4177 and A4141.
Route
London to Kings Langley
The route begins at Marble Arch from its junction on the A40 in central London with Portman Street/Gloucester Place and Baker Street/Orchard Street. Through Swiss Cottage, the A41 runs along Finchley Road, before turning onto Hendon Way and becoming a dual carriageway. There is a grade separated junction with the North Circular Road at Brent Cross. The road passes through Hendon and after the junction with the A5150, the A41 overlaps with the A1 through Mill Hill, between Fiveways Corner and the Apex Corner roundabout, with this section known as Watford Way. Immediately after Apex Corner the road crosses the M1, continuing as Edgware Way towards Elstree, where it links to the M1 at Junction 4, before meeting the A5 at a roundabout. The A41 continues alongside the M1 into Hertfordshire. This section is known as Elton Way, as far as the roundabout with the B462.Running parallel to the M1, it intersects with junction 5. The road continues north, passing over the River Colne, to the east of Watford, crossing the A412 near Garston at "the Dome roundabout". After passing under the junction with the A405, the A41 turns towards the west. At a roundabout, with the A411 to Watford to the south, and the M25 spur straight ahead to join the M25 westbound at junction 19, the A41 continues north through Hunton Bridge crossing the River Gade and the Grand Union Canal to meet the M25 at junction 20. The old route through Kings Langley is now classified A4251. It used to follow the route of the Roman road, Akeman Street, between Berkhamsted and Bicester. The London to Aylesbury section was a similar route to the Sparrows Herne Turnpike Road.
Kings Langley to Tring
North of the M25, the road is a near motorway standard "A" road with all junctions grade-separated via underpasses or flyovers, but curves and gradients a little steeper. There are no hard shoulders but frequent lay-bys. It climbs through the Chiltern Hills then descends into the valley of the River Bulbourne crossing water meadows just outside Hemel Hempstead at Boxmoor. There are grade-separated junctions with the A414, A4251 and A416. The route returns to open country north of here, passing west of Berkhamsted. It passes the National Film Archive. Before Tring, near Wigginton, it crosses the Icknield Way Path and Chiltern Way. An arched footbridge spans the road just near the summit before it passes just east of Tring and descends the Chiltern scarp into the Vale of Aylesbury.The Tring bypass was built in 1973 as the first section of the Watford-Aylesbury A41 motorway. On 6 July 1987, this section was downgraded to A41. The Tring bypass ends with the junction with the B4635, B4009 and B488.
The A41 from junction 20 of the M25 to the Tring bypass was built in the early 1990s and opened in two sections: the £23.9million Berkhamsted bypass opened September 1993 and the £32.7million Kings Langley bypass opened August 1993.
Tring to Bicester
On 3 October 2003, the dual carriageway section was extended to the £25m Aston Clinton Bypass, which was originally intended to be built at the same time as the two sections further south. It enters Buckinghamshire and the district of Aylesbury Vale. It crosses the Grand Union Canal, and there is a junction with the B489, and finishes at a roundabout, becoming Aston Clinton Road. The road goes straight through Aylesbury, which is a bottleneck. It meets the A4157 at a junction as Tring Road, and the next roundabout is near Aylesbury Grammar School and a Tesco. It meets the A418 ring-road and becomes Exchange Street, then meets the A413 from Wendover at a roundabout and becomes Friarage Road, passing close to a Morrisons and the railway station. The A418 turns to the left and A41 continues straight ahead to become Gatehouse Road, then at the next roundabout, it leaves to left as Bicester Road near the Applegreen Aylesbury Service Station. After four roundabouts, it crosses the River Thame. It then meets a roundabout with access for the new Berryfields development as well as Aylesbury Vale Parkway before passing under a railway line, then through Waddesdon, then passes close to Westcott near the former airfield of RAF Westcott. At Kingswood, it passes the Crooked Billet and Plough and Anchor pubs. It enters Oxfordshire and the district of Cherwell, and at Blackthorn it crosses the River Ray and meets a low bridge which was originally a limit but due to bridge strikes, the road was lowered and the bridge now has a limit.Bicester to Solihull
The £5.7m first stage of the Bicester bypass opened in November 1990, with the £3.9m second stage opened in May 1993, and has many roundabouts. Since 1993, the road now heads south-west where it officially becomes part of the M40 at junction 9, meeting with the A34. The former route went through Warwick. From here to the M42, the original route is now mainly designated as the B4100 followed by the A4177 and A4141, the latter two both excellent wide roads. At junction 5 of the M42, the A41 follows its old course. Further north, the road bypasses Solihull and goes through the city centres of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. This renumbering took place in 1991. The A4141 and B4100 are new designations, while the A4177 is an extension of an existing route.Solihull to Wolverhampton
The road manifests from the junction which opened in November 1976 with the A4141 and M42 near Berry Hall Farm, and crosses the River Blythe and bypasses Solihull. The former route through Solihull is now the B4025 and B425, which passes Solihull School. The A41 has a staggered junction with the B4102 near the BUPA Parkway Hospital. At Lode Heath, there is crossroads with the B425 where the road is the Seven Star Road. The A41 resumes the old route at another junction with the B425, becoming Warwick Road, which is the name of the route all the way into Birmingham. At Worlds End there is the Shell Solihull garage on the left. Next is Ulverley Green and it passes the BP Mereside garage on the right and passes under the Chiltern Main Line near Olton station, Olton Library and Olton Reservoir. At the junction with the B4514, there is a Tesco petrol station and the road enters the city of Birmingham. The B4514 leads onto Olton Boulevard and can be used to bypass Acocks Green, although there is one section to be completed near Sparkhill. It passes Archbishop Ilsley Catholic School at Acocks Green, then meets the B4146 and B4217 at a roundabout near a Sainsburys. It meets the A4040 ring road at a staggered junction and crosses the Birmingham -Stratford Line near Tyseley station and the Tyseley Locomotive Works. At Sparkhill, it crosses the River Cole and meets the B4145 at a roundabout near Golden Hillock School. At Sparkbrook, it meets the A34 Stratford Road and there is a crossroads with the A4540 and B4126. The two main routes overlap around central Birmingham and meet The Middleway inner ring road. The former route of the A41 through inner Birmingham is now the B4100 heading past the National Express Birmingham coach station, and passes near St Chad's RC Cathedral. The A41 previously resumed at Constitution Hill near Snow Hill train station but following downgrading of much of the former Inner Ring Road, resumes in Hockley where it meets the northern section of the A4540.. There is a staggered junction with the A4040 as the road passes through Handsworth which is a particular bottleneck with narrow lanes, on-street parking, bad drivers and several close-set junctions, often very badly congested. Just before The Hawthorns football stadium, home of West Bromwich Albion F.C., it leaves Birmingham and enters the borough of Sandwell. It meets the M5 at junction 1, where it also meets the A4252.In 2004, there were plans to re-route the road between Birmingham & West Bromwich along the current A457 via Smethwick & up to the M5 at Junction 1 along the current A4252. These plans were scrapped soon after. It bypasses West Bromwich on a dual-carriageway called the Expressway, which opened in 1973. There is a grade separated roundabout with the A4031. The grade separated roundabout opened over 20 years after the Expressway, relieving what had been a major bottleneck. At the next roundabout, the A41 follows a new route with the original route being designated as the A4196.
The new route opened in 1995 and is called the Black Country New Road, and crosses the West Midlands Metro tram line near Guns Village. There is a roundabout with the B4149 at Swan Village. From the roundabout with the A461 at Great Bridge, it overlaps the A461, crosses the Tame Valley Canal, meets the A4037 at a roundabout and goes under the West Midlands Metro near Wednesbury Parkway tram stop. The A461 heads off to junction 9 of the M6 and Walsall. The A41 follows the old route from the next roundabout and enters the borough of Walsall. At the junction with the A4444 it crosses the Walsall Canal.
There are junctions with the A4098 and B4163. The road goes straight through the middle of Bilston, where it meets the dual-carriageway A463 Black Country Route at a busy roundabout. Close by is the Bilston Central tram stop, near Morrisons. There is a junction with the B4484 near The Crescent tram stop. At Priestfield, it meets the B4162, and passes the City of Wolverhampton College Wellington Road Campus near Priestfield tram stop. From here, the West Midlands Metro runs down the centre of the road. There is a signalised junction with the A4126 and the road passes under the Wolverhampton loop of the West Coast Main Line at Monmore Green, and crosses the Birmingham Canal. It overlaps the A4150 Wolverhampton Ring Road, then passes West Park Hospital and crosses the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal. It passes through Tettenhall, past Tettenhall College.