South end: Edgware, London | Primary
destinations: St. Albans | |
 | ||
North end: M1 motorway near Redbourn | ||
The A5183 road is a de-trunked section of the A5. It covers the section between Junction 9 of the M1 motorway and Edgware in north London, largely along Watling Street. The renumbering was to prevent drivers of heavy southbound vehicles assuming that a low number '5' indicated a superior quality road which this stretch is not as it is narrow in many places.
Map of A5183, St Albans AL3, UK
The main beneficiary of this renumbering is the city of St Albans that used to be 'host' to both the A5 and the A6. A similar subterfuge has been made with that part of the A6, which is now renumbered to the A1081 road.
A bypass has been built around the small town of Redbourn. The former route of the A5 can still be seen passing through the middle of the town, now reduced to an unclassified road, called High Street and Dunstable Road.