A49 Road - Entering Shropshire

Entering Shropshire

The Whitchurch bypass begins with a roundabout with the B5476, the old route through the town. The three-mile £13.7m Whitchurch Bypass (also part of the A41) opened in July 1992. It passes near Sir John Talbot's Technology College (on the A525), then crosses over the railway and also overlaps the A525 (Newcastle under Lyme to Rhyl). At the end of the bypass, the road overlaps as a dual-carriageway for a few miles with the A41, then leaves the A41 at a roundabout near Prees Heath, near the former RAF Tilstock airfield. It follows a Roman road southwards.

The two-mile £1.3m Prees Bypass opened in August 1988. There is a staggered crossroads with the B5065, then the road passes over the River Roden. RAF Shawbury is a couple of miles to the east, then the road passes over the Shropshire Way and through Hadnall, passing the New Inn. The Welsh Marches Line follows to the west. The Shrewsbury bypass starts at the Battlefield Roundabout (Battle of Shrewsbury) with the A53 and A5124, near a Travelodge. There is a roundabout with the B5062. The bypass travels over the River Severn and under the railway and overlaps the A5 from the Preston Island roundabout. Shrewsbury was bypassed when the £64m east-west A5 bypass was built in August 1992.

The route leaves the A5 at the Bayston Hill Roundabout on the south of the bypass, with the A5112 heading into Shrewsbury. It goes through Bayston Hill, passing the Compasses Inn. It passes near Lyth Hill Country Park, following the Welsh Marches Line (until Wooferton). It crosses the Cound Brook near the Bridge Inn then passes through Dorrington, with The Horsehoes and over the railway. Through Leebotwood it passes The Pound. The road follows an upgraded route through All Stretton and Church Stretton: the old route follows the B5477 (former B4370) to the west. It meets the B4371 at crossroads near Church Stretton railway station, and follows a Roman road. It meets the B4370 to the west at Marshbrook. At Upper Affcot it passes the White House. The road meets the A489 at Wistanstow. At Craven Arms, there is the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre, and it meets the east-west B4368. At Onibury, there is a level crossing, one of only a few on trunk roads in England.

At Bromfield, the road meets the A4113, and crosses the River Onny. Near the B4365 junction the road is crossed by the Shropshire Way. The three-mile £4m Ludlow Bypass opened in the summer of 1979. The bypass passes over then under the railway, then over the River Teme. The former route of the A49 is the B4361. After the bypass, the road passes over the railway. At Woofferton, there is a T-junction with the A456, and a staggered junction with the B4362. Woofferton has a large radio transmitting station with a Mediumwave transmitter for BBC Hereford and Worcester.