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| Route information | ||||
| Length | 22.4 mi (36.0 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end | Banbury | |||
 A361  A422  A425  A426  A445 A45 | ||||
| North end | Near Coventry | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Road network | ||||
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The A423 road is a primary A road in England in two sections. The main section leads from central Banbury to the A45 near Coventry.
It starts in Banbury town centre as Southam Road and goes through the Southam Road Industrial Estate, then just north of Banbury it crosses over the M40, from there it passes close to several Warwickshire villages until it becomes part of the Southam by-pass, it then goes through Long Itchington and Marton before merging with the A45 near Ryton.
The other section of the A423 is part of the Oxford Ring Road between the A34 Hinksey Hill interchange and the A4142/A4074 Heyford Hill roundabout, a distance of 1.4 miles (2.3 km). The section, carrying 50,000 vehicles per day, includes a bridge over the Cherwell Valley railway line and Hinksey Stream. The bridge is in need of replacement which is expected to cost £90 million with work starting in 2023 and completion in 2026. [1] The replacement will include work for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme, a bus lane and improvements in pedestrian and cyclist facilities. [2]
Its original route when first classified in 1922 was from Tamworth in Staffordshire to Oxford, [3] terminating at Two Gates on the old A5. The road north continued as the A51. In the 1930s the route was extended from Oxford to Maidenhead in Berkshire, over parts of the former routes of the A42 and A415. A curious feature of the route was a 3-mile (4.8 km) gap between Benson, Oxfordshire and a point 1.2 miles (1.9 km) north west of Nuffield, which resulted from the construction of RAF Benson across the line of the road. The detour though Crowmarsh Gifford was designated the B479 and A4130 rather than A423.
The last section of the Oxford Ring Road was completed in 1965, and the A423 was rerouted away from the centre of Oxford to form part of the ring road. From 1971 to 1990 the A423 joined the then A423(M) motorway at Maidenhead.[ citation needed ]
On the completion of the M42 motorway in the early 1980s, the phase of the A423 between Tamworth and Coventry became the A51 (to the A47 junction), B4098 between the A47 and Keresley and A4170 into Coventry. Subsequently, the A51 was curtailed at Kingsbury with the B4098 extending along the A4170 into Coventry City Centre.
The final downgrading came in 1990 when the M40 motorway between Oxford and Birmingham was completed. The remainder of the route south of Banbury was renumbered to become parts of the A4260, A4074 and A4130, except for the part of the Oxford Ring Road between the A34 Hinksey Hill interchange and the A4142/A4074 Heyford Hill roundabout. On this stretch of road, heading eastbound, drivers will notice the distance sign showing the name A423 and its original final destination of Maidenhead. Traffic for Maidenhead is now directed onto the A40/ M40 via High Wycombe.
The M40 motorway links London, Oxford, and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately 89 miles (143 km).
The A40 is a trunk road which runs between London and Goodwick (Fishguard), Wales, and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road (A40) in all legal documents and Acts. Much of its length within England has been superseded by motorways, such as the M40, and has lost its trunk road status, though it retains it west of Gloucester, including its length within Wales. It is approximately 260 miles (420 km) long. The eastern section from Denham, Buckinghamshire to Wheatley, Oxfordshire is better served by the M40 and its former function of linking London with Cheltenham and Gloucester has been taken by the M4, A419 and A417 via Swindon.
The A34 is a major road in England. It runs from the A33 and M3 at Winchester in Hampshire, to the A6 and A6042 in Salford, close to Manchester City Centre. It forms a large part of the major trunk route from Southampton, via Oxford, to Birmingham, The Potteries and Manchester. For most of its length, it forms part of the former Winchester–Preston Trunk Road. Improvements to the section of road forming the Newbury Bypass around Newbury were the scene of significant direct action environmental protests in the 1990s. It is 151 miles (243 km) long.
The A44 is a major road in the United Kingdom that runs from Oxford in southern England to Aberystwyth in west Wales.
The A46 is a major A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway development. Between Leicester and Lincoln the road follows the course of the Roman Fosse Way, but between Bath and Leicester, two cities also linked by the Fosse Way, it follows a more westerly course.
The A45 is a major road in England. It runs east from Birmingham past the National Exhibition Centre and the M42, then bypasses Coventry and Rugby, where it briefly merges with the M45 until it continues to Daventry. It then heads to Northampton and Wellingborough before running north of Rushden and Higham Ferrers and terminating at its junction with the A14 in Thrapston.
The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at 195 miles (314 km) is the longest three-digit A road in the UK.
The A426 road is a road in England which runs from the city of Leicester to the market town of Southam in Warwickshire via the towns of Lutterworth and Rugby.
The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands and northern South East England, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, Kettering and Corby which are the three principal destinations on the A43 route. The A43 also links to the M1 motorway.
The A428 road is a major road in central and eastern England. It runs between the cities of Coventry and Cambridge by way of the county towns of Northampton and Bedford. Together with the A421,, the eastern section of the A428 forms the route between Cambridge and Oxford. The A428 was formerly part of the main route from Birmingham to Felixstowe before the A14 was fully opened in 1993.
The A51 is a road in England which runs for 85 miles (137 km) from Chester, Cheshire to Kingsbury, North Warwickshire.
The Cherwell Valley line is the railway line between Didcot and Banbury via Oxford. It links the Great Western Main Line and the south to the Chiltern Main Line and the Midlands. The line follows the River Cherwell for much of its route between Banbury and Oxford.
The Oxford Ring Road circles the city of Oxford, England. It is a dual carriageway ring road for most of its length apart from a short section between Woodstock Road and Banbury Road in the north of the city. The severe restrictions on traffic in Oxford city centre mean that it is the only practical way for long-distance traffic to get past Oxford, especially as there are few road bridges over the rivers Isis and Cherwell. Five Park and Rides are close to the ring road.
The A445 road is a road in Warwickshire, England. It runs between the town of Warwick and the A45, also passing through the north of Leamington Spa. The road provides the major link between Leamington/Warwick and north-east Warwickshire, including Rugby and the M45/M1 motorways. The M45/M1 provided the major route to London until the early 1990s but have now been superseded by the M40, which passes to the south of the Leamington/Warwick conurbation.
The A452 is a road in England, which runs from Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire to Brownhills in the West Midlands. It is the major link to the M6 motorway for both Leamington and Warwick in addition to serving as Leamington's link to the M40 motorway and to Coventry.
The A404 is a road in the United Kingdom that starts at Paddington in London and terminates near Maidenhead in Berkshire. It is 44.6 miles (71.8 km) long.
The A4074 is a British A road from the Reading suburb of Caversham to the Heyford Hill roundabout on the Oxford Ring Road.
The A4130 is a British A road which runs from a junction with the A404 at Burchetts Green (Maidenhead), Berkshire to the A417 at Rowstock in Oxfordshire. It passes through Henley-on-Thames, and Nettlebed, and bypasses Wallingford and Didcot.
The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales. The A40 in London starts in the City of London and passes through six London Boroughs: Camden, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing and Hillingdon, to meet the M40 motorway junction 1 at Denham, Buckinghamshire.
The A42 is a major trunk road in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It links junction 23A of the M1 motorway to junction 11 of the M42 motorway. The A42 is in effect a continuation of the M42, and its junctions are numbered accordingly.
A roads in Zone 4 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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