The A483, officially described as the Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road, although now ending in Chester, is a major road in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It runs from

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

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 ...

via

Llandovery Llandovery (; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It lies on the River Tywi and at the junction of the A40 road, A40 and A483 road, A483 roads, about north-east of Carmarthen, north of Swansea and w ...

Llandrindod Wells Llandrindod Wells (; ; ; ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales. It serves as the seat of Powys County Council, and is therefore the administrative centre of Powys. The town was Historic counties of Wales, historically in ...

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

, a distance of around .

Route description

Swansea

The A483 begins at the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...

junction 42, just east of Swansea. It travels west along the

Fabian Way Crymlyn Burrows () is an area in Wales to the east of Swansea city centre, and south of Crymlyn Bog. It is bounded by Jersey Marine Beach to the south and the River Neath to the east. The land west of Baldwin's Crescent falls within the City and ...

towards Swansea city centre, where it turns to a northwesterly direction. It meets the M4 again at junction 47 at Penllergaer, after which it multiplexes with the

A48 A48 may refer to: * A48 motorway (France), a road connecting the A43 and Grenoble * A48 road (Great Britain), a road connecting Gloucester, England and Carmarthen, Wales * Autovía A-48, a motorway under construction connecting Cadiz and Algecira ...

along Swansea Road, Bryntirion Road and Bolgoed Road to Pontarddulais.

Carmarthenshire

After Pontarddulais, the route continues along Heol Fforest and Carmarthen Road. It diverges from the A48 at the M4 junction 49, turning northeast towards

Ammanford Ammanford ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population of 5,445, and the wider built up area had a population of 8,285. Ammanford is se ...

and then north towards

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated where the River Towy is crossed by the A483 road, A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had ...

. At Llandeilo it joins the A40, then multiplexes with this route as far as

. From here, it continues north into Powys.

Powys

The A483 continues through

Llanwrtyd Wells Llanwrtyd Wells ( "church of St Gwrtud") is a market town and community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, in the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire) on the Afon Irfon. The town is on the A483 road, A483 ...

Builth Wells Builth Wells (; ) is a market town and community in the county of Powys and historic county of Brecknockshire (Breconshire), mid Wales, lying at the confluence of rivers Wye and Irfon, in the Welsh (or upper) part of the Wye Valley. In 20 ...

(where it intersects with the

A470 The A470 (also named the Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road) is a trunk road in Wales. It is the country's longest road at and links the capital Cardiff on the south coast to Llandudno on the north coast. While previously one had to navigate th ...

) and

. It intersects with the A44 at Crossgates, just north of Llandrindod Wells, then continues to Newtown. The original route, through the centre of the town, passed under the

Cambrian Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...

at the Dolfor Road Railway Bridge. This low bridge, with a height restriction of , was hit by high vehicles on many occasions. A bypass to the Southeast of Newtown was opened in 2019, crossing the Cambrian Line to the East of the town before rejoining the original route. From Newtown, the road continues to

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

, running roughly parallel to the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

, before crossing the border into England at

Llanymynech Llanymynech is a village and former civil parish straddling the Wales-England border, border between Powys, Wales, and Shropshire, England, about north of the Welsh town of Welshpool. The name is Welsh language, Welsh for "Llan (placename), L ...

Shropshire

From Llanymynech, the A483 continues north, bypassing

. Here, it picks up a multiplex with the A5; the two routes then cross into Wales at

Chirk Chirk () is a town and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, south of Wrexham, between it and Oswestry. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 4,468. Historically in the historic counties of Wales, traditional coun ...

Wrexham

After the A5 diverges to the west at Chirk, the A483 crosses the River Dee, then reaches

Ruabon Ruabon (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough Wrexham County Borough () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough, with city status in the United Kingdom, city status, in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. I ...

. Here, it becomes a dual carriageway with numbered

grade-separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...

junctions. Junction 1 – A539 Ruabon Junction 2 – B5426 Johnstown Junction 3 – A5152 Croesfoel Junction 4 – A525 Ruthin Road Junction 5 – A541 Mold Road Junction 6 – A5156 (A534) Gresford Junction 7 – B5102 Rossett

Cheshire

Just south of

, the A483 intersects with the A55 North Wales Expressway. It then continues as a single carriageway to its terminus at the city centre, crossing the

Grosvenor Bridge Grosvenor Bridge, originally known as, and alternatively called Victoria Railway Bridge, is a railway bridge over the River Thames in London, between Vauxhall Bridge and Chelsea Bridge. Originally constructed in 1860, and widened in 1865 and ...

over the Dee.

Future

There have been demands for a dual carriageway from

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

to Wrexham, including the section of the A483 from Oswestry to Ruabon; also a campaign by residents for a bypassing Llanymynech and Pant.

References

External links

SABRE Roads by 10 – A483
{{DEFAULTSORT:4-0483 Roads in Neath Port Talbot Roads in Swansea Roads in Carmarthenshire Roads in Powys Roads in Wrexham County Borough Roads in Cheshire