Newport – Ross-on-Wye The A449 starts on the
M4 at the Coldra Interchange (J24) in Newport and is dual carriageway all the way to
Raglan. The section from the
A40 junction at Raglan to the A472 junction at
Usk, known as the
New Midlands Road, was one of the first sections to be dualled, opening on 16 October 1970. A special postmark dated 8 December 1972 was produced showing the opening of the A449 by The Secretary of State for Wales. Between Raglan and
Ross-on-Wye the A449 is
concurrent with the A40. The Raglan to
Mitchel Troy section opened on Saturday 1 February 1969, being five miles of dual carriageway. The Monmouth to Mitchel Troy section, directly south of Monmouth opened on Friday 30 June 1967. There was 2.5 miles of dual carriageway, costing £2.25m, and included a tunnel. It was the first of four sections to Newport, being 20 miles, costing £11m in total. The
Dixton Church to Wye Bridge section, forming the Monmouth bypass started in early August 1965. The £574,315 contract, north of
Dixton, was awarded to Tarmac Civil Engineering. A worker was killed. It opened around February 1967, costing £750,000 for one mile, and was six months early. The
Goodrich Cross to Hereford county boundary section started around early 1962, being part of the 'Ross to Monmouth Improvement'. The contract of £1,409,827 was awarded in late August 1961 to Turiff Construction for 4.4 miles of dual carriageway. The contract of £600,655 for 3.5 miles of dual carriageway of the Ross to Goodrich Cross Improvement was awarded in 1961 to Hadsphaltic Construction, of Hatchlands Road, Redhill in Surrey.
Ross-on-Wye – Worcester The road becomes quite twisty on departing Ross-on-Wye, but straightens out a little before arriving at
Ledbury. The road turns northwards upon crossing into
Worcestershire at
Little Malvern and skirts the eastern slopes of the
Malvern Hills through the town of
Great Malvern. It then crosses
Worcester's ring road, the A4440, at a roundabout near
Powick.
Worcester – Wolverhampton North of
Worcester, a spur road of the same number heads towards the
M5 Junction 6, while the main route continues towards
Kidderminster, concurrent with the
A442. Between
Claines and
Hartlebury the A449 is once again dual carriageway, but much tinkering has left the road with a single lane each way and speed restriction. The road becomes urban again while passing through Kidderminster. It then heads north into
Staffordshire, passing between
Kinver and
Stourbridge and crossing the
A458 at Stourton. The
A491 meets it just north of
Kingswinford. Continuing northwards, it passes
Wombourne (becoming dual carriageway once more) being joined by the
A463 before turning sharply north-east into the outskirts of
Wolverhampton and meeting the
Ring Road.
Wolverhampton – Stafford The road resumes its journey northwards, passing
Molineux Stadium (home of
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.) and leaving the city just south of Junction 2 of the
M54. It originally ran through the centre of Wolverhampton until the 1980s, when all roads within the ring road were declassified. Around the same time, the section of Waterloo Road on which Molineux Stadium stands was declassified and the A459 Stafford Street (north of the Ring Road) and Lower Stafford Street became part of the A449. From there it forms part of the link between the M54 and the
M6 North. It crosses the
A5 at the
Gailey Roundabout near the village of
Gailey, a short distance west of M6 Junction 12, at which point it reverts to a single carriageway. It passes through
Penkridge before crossing the M6 at Junction 13, reaching its terminus at its junction with the
A34 in Stafford. Originally
turnpiked under the
Stafford, Worcester and Warwick Roads Act 1760 (
1 Geo. 3. c. 39), the Wolverhampton-Stafford road was part of the historic London-Liverpool coach route. Notoriously narrow in the 19th century, much of it was turned into dual carriageway between the world wars. The Gailey Roundabout was improved in 1929 and again in 1937, removing parts of the churchyard and the historic Spread Eagle Inn (although the latter was replaced by a new building). Widening at Penkridge between 1932 and 1934 reshaped the western part of the town, resulting in the demolition of many ancient buildings. The dual carriageway between Wolverhampton and Gailey was constructed between 1936 and 1939. This section of the road was featured in
Citizen Khan episode "Alia's University". == Former routes ==