The A426 road is a road in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It runs from the city of

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

to the market town of Southam in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

via the towns of

Lutterworth Lutterworth is an historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwicks ...

and Rugby.

History

Until the

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

was completed in the 1960s this route formed the main route between Rugby and

; but since that time it has become much quieter, for all but local traffic uses the motorway. However, the local traffic has increased as Magna Park, a prominent East Midlands warehouse facility, has developed close to Lutterworth.

Broughton Astley Broughton Astley is a large village and civil parish located in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the south of Leicestershire, about east of Hinckley, about from the centre of Leicester, and about 14 mil ...

, a couple of miles north-west of Dunton Bassett, and other local villages can often become congested with goods vehicles en route between Magna Park, the M1 motorway and the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 motorway, M1 and the western end of t ...

. At rush hours the road can become gridlocked and reduced to less than 40 mph, in particular for the reason that agricultural traffic frequently uses the stretch. Hence, journeys between Blaby and Rugby during rush hour can take much longer than anticipated. The A426 crosses the route of the former A45 in

Dunchurch Dunchurch is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Rugby, approximately south-west of central Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby in Warwickshire, England. The civil parish, which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, Warwickshire, Toft, had ...

; this formed one of the main routes between the Midlands and the South East. Dunchurch is now bypassed to the south by the

M45 motorway The M45 is a motorway in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, England and is long. It runs between junction 17 of the M1 motorway south east of Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby and a junction with the A45 road southwest of Rugby. It has one of the lo ...

, and the A426 no longer meets the A45.

Route

The A426 begins on the Leicester Inner Ring Road and heads south through the suburbs of the city, crossing the Outer Ring Road and bypassing the village of

Blaby Blaby () is a town in the Blaby District in central Leicestershire, England, some five miles south of Leicester city centre. At the time of the 2011 census, Blaby had a population of 6,194, falling slightly from 6,240 in 2001. Given Blaby's pr ...

. It crosses over the M1, to which it runs parallel for the next or so. The road becomes rural in nature until it enters the small town of

and crosses the A4303 Southern Bypass. A further south, it crosses the A5

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...

at a roundabout and eventually the M6 junction 1. It begins a descent into Rugby as a dual carriageway, with five local access roundabouts. Approaching the town centre, the road becomes single-carriageway again and crosses under the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

. It passes the main town centre to the west and heads southward out of the town towards Dunchurch, after which it passes over the M45 and again becomes a rural road for its final stretch, terminating at the A423 Southam bypass.

Former routes

The A426, compared to other routes is a relatively untouched road, with only a single bypass: * The road used to travel through the village of Blaby, which is now bypassed.

Bus corridor

A controversial decision to allow a bus corridor to be constructed on the A426 from Blaby into Leicester was given the go-ahead, despite heavy local opposition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0426 Roads in England Roads in Leicestershire Roads in Leicester Roads in Warwickshire