“A dual-carriageway by-pass road, on the main Lichfield-Leamington route, spanning the Cole Valley at Coleshill, is being constructed and, it is expected, will be completed within the next 18 months,” stated the Tamworth Herald in January 1939.
“The new by-pass … will consist of cycle tracks, footpaths and grass verges in addition to the 22ft. carriageways,” added the newspaper.
According to a newspaper report the following month “good progress had been made with the excavations work at the southern end [of the bypass].”
However, a year later it was reported that “work on the Coleshill by-pass road scheme shall be closed down,” a decision of the Minister of Transport opposed by Warwickshire County Council.
“We cannot believe that this decision of the Ministry is a wise one in view of the fact that approximately £30,000 out of a total estimated expenditure of £76,800 has already been spent,” complained the council.
The protest must have worked because the bypass was open by January 1941, reported the Midland Counties Tribune.
The newspaper did not state whether the bypass retained its proposed footpaths or cycle tracks. Today, there’s a narrow asphalt path on one side of the road only. It’s not known whether this is a footpath or the planned cycle track.
