The A53 is a

primary route Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

in the English Midlands, that runs from

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

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 ...

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 ...

Route of Road

The A53 begins in the centre of Buxton off the

A6 road This is a list of roads designated A6. * A006 road (Argentina), a road connecting Las Cuevas with the Christ the Redeemer monument in the border between Argentina and Chile * ''A6 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A6 (Sydney), a road conn ...

, before meeting the

A515 road The A515 is a primary route in England, which runs from Lichfield in Staffordshire to Buxton in Derbyshire. Route The A515 begins off the A51 road just outside Lichfield. It crosses the Trent and Mersey Canal and passes through the villages ...

at a

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

. Out of the town, it has a junction with the

A54 road A54 may refer to: Roads * A54 road (England), a road connecting Chester and Buxton * A54 motorway (France), a road connecting Salon-de-Provence and Nîmes * A54 motorway (Italy), a ring road around Pavia * A-54 freeway (Spain), a road connectin ...

(to

Congleton Congleton is a market town and civil parish in Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is on the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2021 census, the parish had a population of 28,497 and the built-up area ha ...

) before continuing in a south-westerly direction. It crosses the border into the county 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, ...

, and after leaving the

Peak District The Peak District is an Highland, upland area in central-northern England, at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire, it extends into Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire. It is subdivi ...

travels through the town of

Leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

. It meets the

A523 road The A523 is a road in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, and Staffordshire, England running from a junction with the A52 north west of Ashbourne to the A555 near Woodford, passing through Leek and Macclesfield and near Poynton. In ...

(to

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

) and the A520 road (to

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

). It crosses the

Caldon Canal Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the Froghall Tunnel. History The first plans by the proprietors of ...

and travels through the

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

conurbation, including

Hanley Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke- ...

and

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...

, where it meets a number of major routes such as the

A50 road The A50 is a major trunk road in England between Warrington and Leicester; historically it was also a major route from London to Leicester. Route The current A50 runs south-east from Warrington via Junction 20 of the M6 motorway, M6, Knu ...

(to

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

), the A500 "D-Road," the Winchester-Salford A34 and the

A525 road The A525 is a major route from Rhyl in Wales to Newcastle-under-Lyme in England. The route passes near Denbigh, through Ruthin, through Wrexham and near Whitchurch. The route is a dual carriageway just south of Rhyl. As of 10 March, 2010, the ...

(to

Whitchurch Whitchurch may refer to: Places Canada *Whitchurch, Ontario, since 1971 part of Whitchurch-Stouffville, Ontario England *Whitchurch, Bristol *Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire *Whitchurch, Devon, in Tavistock **Whitchurch, Devon (parish), a civil ...

). It crosses 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 ...

and goes through the village of

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

. It crosses the border into Shropshire, and

bypasses 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 b ...

the town of

Market Drayton Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the banks of the River Tern in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is located between the towns of Whitchurch, Shropshire, Wh ...

, and passes the

Müller Müller may refer to: Companies * Müller (company), a German multinational dairy company ** Müller Milk & Ingredients, a UK subsidiary of the German company * Müller (store), a German retail chain * GMD Müller, a Swiss aerial lift manufacturi ...

factory. It meets the

A41 road The A41 is a trunk road between London and Birkenhead, England. Now in parts replaced by motorways, it passes through or near Watford, Kings Langley, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Bicester, Solihull, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton, New ...

(to

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 ...

) at a roundabout, then meets the

A442 road The A442 is a main road which passes through the counties of Worcestershire and Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. __TOC__ Route From Droitwich in Worcestershire it runs towards Kidderminster where it meets the A449 from Wor ...

(to

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

). It goes through the village of

Shawbury Shawbury is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The village is northeast of Shrewsbury and northwest of Telford. The village straddles the A53 between Shrewsbury and Market Drayton. The nearest railway station is at Yorton ...

, before it terminates at its junction with the

A49 road The A49 is an A road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. It runs north from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire via Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, then continues through central Cheshire to Warrin ...

, north-east of Shrewsbury town centre at

Battlefield A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...

. The 1.9 km section to the south-west of Shawbury was bypassed in the 1950s - the original A53 road runs adjacent to Shawbury Heath and is now an unclassified country lane. The road is single carriageway apart from a section of dual carriageway between the A500 and Stoke-on-Trent City Centre (Hanley).

Road safety

The A53 has been reported as a high risk road for several years. According to a report done by the Road Safety Foundation for the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP), the A53 is one of the most dangerous roads in the UK. In June 2008, a stretch of the A53 between Leek and Buxton was named as the most dangerous road in the West Midlands.A53 IS WEST MIDLAND'S MOST DANGEROUS ROAD
/ref> This single carriageway stretch had fourteen fatal and serious injury collisions between 2003 and 2005, and was rated as red—the second highest risk band—in the

EuroRAP European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international nonprofit (Association without lucrative purpose, vzw) organisation registered in Belgium. It operates from Worting House, Basingstoke, Hampshire. In partnership with national m ...

report publish by the Road Safety Foundation. The challenging character of this section of road makes it attractive to

motorcyclists Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. For some people, motorcycling may be the only affordable form of individual motorized transportation, and small-displacement motorcycles are the most common motor vehicle in the most populous co ...

Junction list

References

External links

SABRE page on the A53

EuroRAP GB Tracking Survey Results 2008

Road Safety Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:5-0053 Roads in England Roads in Derbyshire Transport in Shropshire Transport in Staffordshire Transport in Stoke-on-Trent