The A454 is a major road in

central England The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshi ...

. It runs from

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

and is an important primary route linking

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

with 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 ...

Route

Starting from

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, it runs eastwards, crossing a narrow part of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, to

, West Midlands. It then by-passes

Willenhall Willenhall is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census of 49,587. It is ...

where it becomes the eastern section of "The Black Country Route" before meeting the

at Junction 10 on its way to

. It then runs through

Aldridge Aldridge is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is historically, a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from ...

and the

village of

Little Aston Little Aston is a village in the Lichfield District of Staffordshire, England. It is south of the city of Lichfield. It is contiguous with Sutton Coldfield and Streetly. At the 2011 United Kingdom census the population of Little Aston ward was ...

before heading south-east to Four Oaks, to the north of

. Due to its course following part of the

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

s around Wolverhampton and Walsall it has overlapping sections with the A41, A4150,

A449 The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the A48 road at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of the trunk ...

, A4148, A34 and

A461 road List of A roads in zone 4 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the ...

History

Re-numbering has taken place along the route since the 1970s. First, The Keyway was opened to the south of Willenhall town centre and became part of the A454, as did Bilston Lane - previously the A463. In the 1980s, the final stub of the route into Bridgnorth was downgraded to become the B4363 when a

by-pass Bypass may refer to: * Bypass (road), a road that avoids a built-up area (not to be confused with passing lane) * Flood bypass of a river Science and technology Medicine * Bypass surgery, a class of surgeries including for example: ** Heart by ...

(part of the A458) was opened around the south of the town and a new section of the A454 built meeting the A458 near Stanmore. Then, in 1995, the Black Country Route was completed between

Bilston Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, south east of Wolverhampton city centre and close to the borders of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, Sandwell ...

and Junction 10 of the M6. The final section of this route (which began as the A463) was numbered the A454, which led to Wolverhampton Road West on the Willenhall-Walsall border being downgraded to a B-road, as had happened to the rest of the original A454 through Willenhall when The Keyway was opened some 20 years previously.

References

Roads in England Transport in Shropshire Transport in Staffordshire Roads in the West Midlands (county) Transport in Wolverhampton Transport in Walsall {{England-road-stub