For other uses, see A40, for details of the A40 in london, see A40 road (London).

The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales. It is 256 miles long.

It is one of the few remaining of the "old" trunk routes not to have been superseded by a direct motorway link, though some parts, such as the southern section from London to Oxford are now better served by the M40. Part of the A40 forms a section of the unsigned Euroroute E30.

History

The original (1923) route of the A40 was the City of London to Fishguard. The road still begins and ends in the same places, but a number of changes have been made to its route.^[1]

The first change dates from 1935, between Ross-on-Wye and Abergavenny. The original route of the A40 was via Skenfrith; this road was renumbered the B4521. The A40 was rerouted via Raglan; between Ross and Raglan it replaced part of the A48, between Raglan and Llanvihangel nigh Usk it replaced the B4234, and between Llanvihangel and Abergavenny it replaced part of the A471.

Subsequently, the A40 was rerouted within west London. Western Avenue dates from the 1930s, but was originally opened as the A403. After the Second World War, the A40 was rerouted along part of the A219 (west of Notting Hill) and Western Avenue. The old route (via Acton, Ealing, Southall,Hayes, Hillingdon and Uxbridge) was renumbered the A4020.

Route

Central London - Denham

In central London, it forms High Holborn and Oxford Street. For the A40 in London, see A40 road (London). At Paddington, it forms the Westway, an elevated motorway which takes the A40 to meet Western Avenue. With two exceptions, Western Avenue forms a grade-separated motorway standard dual-carriageway between Paddington (Westway) and the M40 motorway, which goes off towards Oxford and Birmingham. The two exceptions are Gypsy Corner and Savoy Circus, both of which cause the traffic to stop at traffic lights. For the greater part, the road is six lanes wide, with stretches of four lane road. At Denham Roundabout, the six lane Western Avenue becomes the M40.

Denham - Oxford

The A40 branches off Denham roundabout and runs alongside the M40 as a dual carriageway, concurrent with the A413. After the A413 branches off the A40 becomes single carriageway, still roughly following the route of the M40, passing through the towns of Beaconsfield and High Wycombe. Beyond Stokenchurch the road is much quieter, when meeting the B5009 and A329 those roads have priorty. East of Oxford the A40 becomes a busy dual carriageway again, carrying traffic from the M40 to Oxford and beyond. The route forms the Eastern section of the Ring road crossing the A44 and A34 at the Northern tip.

Oxford - Cheltenham (M5)

After the road passes under the A34, the A40 reverts back to single carriageway for ten miles. It then turns to dual carriageway again to form the Witney bypass, with a grade separated junction. The dual carriageway then finishes at a roundabout. For the rest of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire until Cheltenham, the road is single carriageway. The road travels through Cheltenham city centre and afterwards becomes dual carriageway and has a junction with the M5 motorway. The junction is a three-level stacked roundabout, where neither road is interrupted.

Cheltenham (M5) - Abergavenny

The A40 then forms the Gloucester bypass, most of which is dual carriageway. For the rest of Gloucestershire, and a part of Herefordshire, the road is single carriageway until Ross-on-Wye. It then connects with the M50 motorway. After this, forms part of a high quality dual carriageway between South Wales and the Midlands. In Monmouthshire, the A40 has a grade separated junction with the A449, which continues as dual carriageway to Newport and the M4. The A40 now travels west, still as dual carriageway to Abergavenny.

Abergavenny - Fishguard

Beyond Abergavenny road returns to single carriageway, for a trip through the Brecon Beacons. The Breacon Bypass is a short dual carriageway to bypass the town, before becoming single carriageway again until Carmarthen, where dual carriageway resumes for fifteen miles to St. Clears. After this, the road remains as single carriageway for the rest of way to Fishguard.

The future

There is call for the stretch between Haverfordwest and St. Clears to be dualled. This would then allow for a dual carriageway all the way from London (via the M4 and A48) to Haverfordwest. This stretch currently has to handle all traffic going to/from the ferry port at Fishguard to Rosslare, and is very busy. The dualling would relieve this congestion.

See also

• British road numbering scheme

References

Further reading

• Edward Platt, Leadville: A Biography of the A40 (Picador, 2001). ISBN 0-330-39263-8.

Gallery

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Image:High Holborn 1.jpg|High Holborn Image:New Oxford Street 1.jpg|New Oxford Street image:marble.arch.london.arp.jpg|Marble Arch Image:Hoover Building 1.jpg|The Hoover Building, now a Tesco supermarket, is on the A40

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cy:A40

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