A4123 road

The A4123, is a major road in the West Midlands of the UK linking Wolverhampton with Birmingham via Dudley, also known as the Birmingham New Road (Wolverhampton to Dudley) and Wolverhampton Road (Dudley to Birmingham). It was one of the first major new roads constructed for use by motor traffic, and was designed as an unemployment relief project.[1] It runs roughly northwest to southeast from the Wolverhampton Ring Road via Dudley to Harborne, west Birmingham.[2]

A4123
Route information
Length	12 mi (19 km)
History	Construction completed 1927
Major junctions
Northwest end	Wolverhampton Ring Road 52.579389°N 2.125453°W / 52.579389; -2.125453 (A4123 road (north end))
	A4150 A4039 A463 A457 A461 A4034 M5 Jnc. 2 A456 A4040
Southeast end	Harborne, Birmingham 52.458971°N 1.963203°W / 52.458971; -1.963203 (A4123 road (southeastern end))
Location
Primary destinations	Birmingham, Wolverhampton
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

Construction of the road began on 4 February 1924, and was built in individual sections.[3] It provided jobs for at least 470 unemployed workers in surrounding areas including Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, West Bromwich, Smethwick and Oldbury.[4] It was opened by the then Prince Of Wales (later Edward VIII of the United Kingdom) on 2 November 1927.[5]

The road has previously been a Trunk Road (looked after by the Highways Agency), but was detrunked on 13 November 2008.[6]

National Express West Midlands services X8/8 and 126 serves the majority of the A4123 from Birmingham to Wolverhampton. Buses are supposed to run every 10 minutes during peak times.