A43 | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Length | 60 mi (97 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
From | M40 J10 | |||
M1 J15a A1 A14 J7 & J8 A45 A47 A5 | ||||
To | Stamford | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United Kingdom | |||
Primary destinations | Northampton Kettering Corby | |||
Road network | ||||
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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 section of the road between the M40 and M1 is designated a trunk road, managed and maintained by National Highways. The remainder of the route is the responsibility of local authorities.
The A43 starts at M40 junction 10 (the location of Cherwell Valley Services) which is widely regarded[ by whom? ] as being one of the worst motorway junctions in the country despite improvements made in the early 2000s. There are often long tailbacks at the junction, even at off-peak times.[ citation needed ]
Following the junction with the M40, the A43 first meets a roundabout with the B4100 for traffic headed north-west for the village of Aynho or south for the town of Bicester. Continuing north, the A43 passes many Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire rural villages and towns before meeting the A421 which spurs towards Buckingham and later, Milton Keynes.
The stretch of A43 through south Northamptonshire was upgraded to dual carriageway standard between the M1 and Towcester in 1991 and through to the M40 in the early 2000s. This was primarily to provide a link from the M1 to the M40 and also to Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix. During the Grand Prix the A43 is closed to through traffic between Brackley and Towcester. [1]
The town of Brackley was bypassed in 1987. Just south of Brackley, drivers will approach a traffic island which spurs off in one direction for the A422 (for the M40 at Banbury and the A423 for motorists heading for Warwickshire) or the other direction which continues as the A43 into Northamptonshire. The A422 is met once again to the east of Brackley, allowing motorists an additional route into Buckinghamshire. Two miles north of Brackley, the B4525 (a B classified route for traffic from South Northamptonshire to reach the M40 at Banbury) joins the A43.
From here, the A43 leaves the Oxfordshire borders and continues in a north-easterly direction towards Silverstone, where the road joins the A413 at a grade-separated junction.
Later, the A43 bypasses Towcester, where it meets the A5 (Roman Watling Street) at a roundabout created when the road was built from Towcester in 1991. This roundabout was dangerously unsuited to the traffic volumes but was upgraded with traffic light controls during the first half of 2015. A flyover may need to be installed when the expansion of Towcester begins in 2018–2022. [2] Continuing towards Northampton, it by-passes Blisworth and Milton Malsor villages, before reaching the M1 at junction 15A, at Rothersthorpe services. This stretch has four dangerous crossover junctions - one from Towcester via Old Towcester Road, two from Tiffield and one from Blisworth, unlike the rest of the route from the M40 where the junctions are either fully graded, as at Silverstone, or have roundabouts.
From M1 junction 15a the A43 runs concurrently southbound on the M1 to junction 15. It then follows the A45 Nene Valley Way up to the Lumbertubs Way Interchange. From here it splits from the A45 and continues via dual carriageway where it meets the Round Spinney roundabout. North of Northampton, it rejoins the old course of the A43 and passes through Moulton. A new 1.6 km dual carriageway bypass is currently being constructed which will link the Round Spinney roundabout with the existing road just north of the Moulton roundabout, which is due for completion in Spring 2018.
Following this, the road has a straight, rural stretch before reaching a roundabout at Broughton. After bypassing Broughton, it continues towards Kettering. It overlaps the A14 at its Junction 8, to bypass Kettering. At Junction 7 the A43 re-emerges on a new dual carriageway bypass. The old route of the A43 through Kettering town centre is still intact.
After bypassing Kettering, the road previously travelled through the historic village of Geddington. The old road is still regularly used, possibly due to poor signage or lack of SatNav updates. A new bypass, called the Corby Link Road, opened in 2014, from Barford Bridge on the A6003 to the A43 west of Stanion. [3] [4] Continuing from here, it passes the Euro-Hub site at Corby, and then it passes Corby and reaches several roundabouts.
After bypassing Corby and Weldon, it heads out on a rural stretch, past Deene Park, and then bypassing Bulwick, the only village on this stretch. It passes some splendid woodland, and then heads towards Duddington.
Bypassing Duddington, it meets the A47. After 2.5 miles (4.0 km) it passes through Collyweston and Easton-on-the-Hill.
Then it meets the A1, before continuing towards Stamford. Previously, the A43 stopped at a junction with the Old A1 (Great North Road) in Stamford, but now that Stamford is bypassed, the A43 continues over the River Welland, until it reaches the A1175.
The original (1923) route of the A43 was from the A42 (later the A34) at Kidlington to Stamford. After completion of the Oxford Ring Road, the southern terminus was changed to the Pear Tree Roundabout between Kidlington and Oxford. When the M40 was opened in 1991 the road from the Pear Tree Roundabout to Weston-on-the-Green was renumbered A34, and the stretch through Middleton Stoney between the A34 and junction 10 of the M40 was downgraded to the B430.
Northamptonshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire, Rutland, and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire to the south, and Warwickshire to the west. The county town is Northampton.
The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting the City of London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its 67-mile (108 km) length, it is classified as a trunk road and therefore managed by National Highways. Almost all of the road has been built to dual carriageway standards or wider. Apart from bypass sections in London, the road travels in a southwest direction and, after Liss, south-southwest.
Towcester is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. Until April 2021, it was the administrative centre of the South Northamptonshire district, but has since formed part of West Northamptonshire.
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 A5 is a major road in England and Wales. It runs for about 243 miles (391 km) from London to the Irish Sea at the ferry port of Holyhead. In many parts the route follows that of the Roman Iter II route which later took the Anglo-Saxon name Watling Street.
The A6 is one of the main north–south roads in England. It runs from Luton in Bedfordshire to Carlisle in Cumbria, although it formerly started at a junction with the A1 at Barnet. It is the fourth longest numbered road in Britain; only the A1, A38 and A30 are longer.
The A57 is a major road in England. It runs east from Liverpool to Lincoln via Warrington, Cadishead, Irlam, Patricroft, Eccles, Salford and Manchester, then through the Pennines over the Snake Pass (between the high moorlands of Bleaklow and Kinder Scout), around the Ladybower Reservoir, through Sheffield and past Worksop. Between Liverpool and Glossop, the road has largely been superseded by the M62, M602 and M67 motorways. Within Manchester a short stretch becomes the Mancunian Way, designated A57(M).
The A14 is a major trunk road in England, running 127 miles (204 km) from Catthorpe Interchange, a major intersection at the southern end of the M6 and junction 19 of the M1 in Leicestershire to the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk. The road forms part of the unsigned Euroroutes E24 and E30. It is the busiest shipping lane in East Anglia carrying anything from cars to large amounts of cargo between the UK and Mainland Europe.
The A47 is a major road in England linking Birmingham to Lowestoft, Suffolk. Most of the section between Birmingham and Nuneaton is now classified as the B4114. From Peterborough eastwards, it is a trunk road.
For other roads with the same name see List of A21 roads.
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 A350 is a north–south primary route in southern England, that runs from the M4 motorway in Wiltshire to Poole in Dorset.
The A509 is a short A-class road for north–south journeys in south central England, forming the route from Kettering in Northamptonshire to the A5 in Milton Keynes, via M1 J14.
The A505 is a road in the East of England. It follows part of the route of the Icknield Way and the corresponding Icknield Way Path and runs from Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire to the A11 Abington Interchange North in Cambridgeshire.
The A6 road in Northern Ireland runs for 71.4 miles (114.9 km) from Belfast to Derry, via County Antrim and County Londonderry. From Belfast to Randalstown the route has been superseded by a motorway. Mostly single carriageway, there are sections of dual carriageway in Antrim town centre and from Randalstown to Toome, including the Toome bypass. In urban and suburban districts of Belfast and Derry the route is single carriageway with 4 lanes. In rural parts, there are numerous climbing lanes along the route. The A6 is one of Northern Ireland's most important arterial routes, as the road runs between its two largest cities and urban areas. Between Randalstown and Derry the road forms part of European route E16. There is a new dual carriageway between Drumahoe and Dungiven, which is still under construction as of February 2023.
The A556 is a road in England which extends from the village of Delamere in Cheshire West and Chester to the Bowdon Interchange in Cheshire East, bordering Greater Manchester. The road contains a mixture of single and dual carriageway sections and forms a large part of the route between Manchester and Chester. It also acts as a major access route to Chester/North Wales to the west and to Manchester to the east for the conurbation of towns and villages around the Dane Valley centering on Winsford and Northwich. The central part, which forms the Northwich Bypass between Davenham and Lostock Gralam, suffers because of the amount of commuter traffic from this area. The part of the route between the M6 motorway Junction 19 and the M56 motorway Junction 7 is a major route into Manchester and has been recently upgraded to a four-lane dual carriageway.
The A26 is a road in Northern Ireland. It travels in a north–south direction from Coleraine, County Londonderry to Banbridge, County Down.
The A6003 links Kettering and Corby in Northamptonshire, with Oakham in Rutland, via Leicestershire. The road forms the principal link between Rutland and Northamptonshire.