Great Britain road numbering scheme

The road system in the UK is based mainly on three main categories of roads, which are numbered according to a nationwide uniform system. The uppermost level are the highways ( motorways ), characterized by the leading letter M. A- roads (A roads ) are important main roads which correspond most closely to the German roads. B- roads ( B roads ) are compounds of local or regional importance. In addition to these three main categories of roads, there are C- roads ( roads C ) D- roads ( roads D ) and U Streets (U roads ) that have a very low and regional traffic and only minor importance.

In England and Wales the numbering system is aligned with radials take its origin in London. In Scotland the system of Edinburgh centered.

History

UK has a large number of prehistoric roads that are created long before the reign of the Romans. The Sweet Track, a paved trail through a wetland in Somerset, was built around 3800 BC and is one of the oldest known man-made ways of the world.

In this prehistoric roads followed the Roman roads. Many of today's main roads have taken over their lines, such as the Watling Street, which today largely corresponds to the A5. Other prehistoric and Roman roads, such as the Icknield Way and the Fosse Way have completely lost its former importance, they are not or no longer discernible; individual local roads follow its course. The road system of the Middle Ages and the modern era was largely based on that of the Roman period. During the Industrial Revolution, the main routes lost significance, were built as canals and railroads, on which the freight and passenger transport could be handled much faster and cheaper.

With the increasing motorization during the first half of the 20th century, many new roads that had to be categorized and marked according to a standardized method developed. The 1931 came into force Highway Code provided the basis for this; it was introduced a uniform numbering scheme, which essentially applies today. Similar regulations exist for Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

A- roads

For the maintenance and construction of highways category A is directly the Department of Transport. This has been fixed with the Trunk Road Act of 1936 as 30 major roads with a length of 7250 kilometers as trunk roads ( trunk roads) defined and the Highways Agency were subordinated. Since then, the network of trunk roads has grown many times and now includes the motorways it.

The special feature of the A- roads is that many of them are four-lane and direction separately. These types of roads will be referred to as dual carriageway. However, there are some striking differences to highways: all vehicles are allowed ( eg also tractors and bicycles ), the roadways intersect with other roads, there are traffic signals and roundabouts.

Digit A- roads

The main highways have a one-digit number preceded by A. Counting begins from London with the A1 northbound, followed by the other major roads follow clockwise. In Scotland, the road network is centered on Edinburgh.

  • A1: London to Edinburgh ( Great North Road)
  • A2 London to Dover ( Watling Street)
  • A3 London to Portsmouth (Portsmouth Road)
  • A4: London to Bristol ( Great West Road and Bath Road )
  • A5: London to Holyhead ( Watling Street)
  • A6: Luton to Carlisle ( the A6 originally started in the London borough of Barnet, after laying the A1 in the 1970 Luton has been set as a new starting point )
  • A7 Edinburgh to Carlisle
  • A8 Edinburgh to Greenock
  • Falkirk A9 to Thurso

Two-digit A- roads

A- roads with two digits are routes where the traffic volume is low, but which nevertheless are considered state roads. They are not all centered on London, but mostly follow the general scheme with the numbering clockwise. For example, the A10 is the first road in a clockwise direction after A1; on the A10 follow the A11 etc.

  • A30 London to Land's End
  • A31 Guildford after Bere Regis
  • A32 Alton to Gosport
  • A33 Southampton to Reading
  • A34 Winchester to Salford
  • A35 Southampton to Honiton
  • A36 Southampton to Bath
  • A37 Dorchester to Bristol
  • A38 Bodmin to Mansfield
  • A39 Bath to Falmouth
  • A40 London to Fishguard
  • A41 London to Birkenhead
  • A42 Appleby Magna (M42 ) Kegworth (M1 ) ( originally Oxford to Birmingham: taken from A34 )
  • A43 Cherwell Valley to Stamford
  • A44 Oxford to Aberystwyth
  • A45 Birmingham ( originally taken to Felixstowe, eastern section of the A14 ) to Thrapston
  • A46 Bath to Cleethorpes
  • A47 Birmingham to Great Yarmouth
  • A48 Highnam to Carmarthen
  • A49 Ross-on -Wye after Bamber Bridge in Preston
  • A50 Leicester to Warrington
  • A51 Kingsbury to Chester
  • A52 Newcastle-under -Lyme Mablethorpe
  • A53 Shrewsbury to Buxton
  • A54 Chester to Buxton
  • A55 Holyhead to Chester (North Wales Expressway)
  • A56 Chester to Broughton
  • A57 Liverpool to Lincoln
  • A58 Prescot by Wetherby
  • A59 Liverpool to York
  • A60 Loughborough to Doncaster
  • A61 Derby to Thirsk
  • A62 Manchester to Leeds
  • A63 Leeds to Kingston upon Hull
  • A64 Leeds to Scarborough
  • A65 Leeds to Kendal
  • A66 Workington after Grangetown
  • A67 Bowes (A66 ) to Crathorne (A19 )
  • A68 Darlington to Edinburgh
  • A69 Carlisle to Blaydon

More A- roads

The system continues with three - and four -digit numbers, crossing the radial line or branch off of these. The lower numbered streets start closer to London than those with higher numbers. Most of the roads that were built or renumbered since the introduction of road numbers, have a three -digit number. The street number is indicative of the approximate location, once you get familiar with the system.

Below is a list of the number series with the region in which are located the current road:

Important three-digit A- roads are:

  • A205 Woolwich to Kew (southern ring road of London)
  • A259 Folkestone to Havant
  • A272 Pound Ford to A30 at Andover
  • A303 Basingstoke to Honiton ( relieves the A30)
  • Camberley A331 to Farnham
  • A361 Ilfracombe Rugby (the longest three-digit road )
  • A403 Aust Avonmouth
  • A406 Chiswick after Beckton (northern ring road of London)
  • A414 Hemel Hempstead to Maldon
  • A465 Hereford to Neath ( Head of the Valleys Road)
  • A470 Cardiff to Llandudno
  • A483 Swansea to Chester
  • A487 Haverfordwest to Bangor
  • A580 Liverpool to Manchester ( East Lancashire Road)
  • A846 Ardbeg to Craig House
  • A856 Loch Maddy after Lochboisdale
  • A993 Muirhouses after Bo'ness
  • A994 Kincardine to Rosyth

Similar motorway A- roads

Some sections of A- roads have been upgraded to a motorway. These roads maintain the A classification, however, have as a suffix (M). Examples are A1 ( M), A3 (M), A308 (M) A329 (M) A404 (M).

B- roads

B- roads are routes with less traffic than A- roads. The classification has nothing to do with the width or of the quality of the road. B- roads can be equally well or even better than expanded A- roads. The only difference is that the former are responsible for the local authorities, for the latter, the imputed the Ministry of Transport Highways Agency.

At B - roads the same numbering scheme is used as in A - roads ( clockwise around London or Edinburgh ), but there are almost only three or four digit numbers. Most three-digit B- roads outside London are former A- roads that were downgraded due to the construction of new roads.

Roads with even less traffic are referred to as C-, D- or U- roads. These also have a number. This numbering is but purely for administrative purposes and does not normally appear on signs. However, there are a few exceptions (see).

Highways

The first motorway ( motorway ) in the UK was opened in 1958, the bypass of Preston. This section is now part of the M6 ​​and the eastern section of the M55 to Exit 1 and the M1, the M10 and the M45 was followed a year later. At this time, the numbering system was already firmly established. For this reason, the numbers of the highways follow ( prefixed with an M) in general, the radials of the then existing highways. An exception is the M5, which roughly follows the course of the A38. Highways with two locations can be found usually near -digit highways.

United Kingdom: M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 | M5 | M6 | M6 Toll | M8 | M9 | M10 | M11 | M18 | M20 | M23 | M25 | M26 | M27 | M32 | M40 | M42 | M45 | M48 | M49 | M50 | M53 | M54 | M55 | M56 | M57 | M58 | M60 | M61 | M62 | M65 | M66 | M67 | M69 | M73 | M74 | M77 | M80 | M90 | M180 | M181 | M271 | M275 | M602 | M606 | M621 | M876 | M898 motorway

Northern Ireland: M1 | M2 | M3 | M5 | M12 | M22

Highways with A- names: A1 ( M ) | A3 (M ) | A8 (M ) | A28 (M ) | A38 (M ) | A48 (M ) | A57 (M ) | A58 (M ) | A64 (M) | A66 (M ) | A74 (M ) | A167 (M ) | A194 (M ) | A308 (M ) | A329 (M ) | A404 (M ) | A601 (M ) | A627 (M ) | A823 (M)

( See also: road system in the UK | Road System in Ireland)

Controlled-access highway A2 road (Great Britain) Carlisle, Cumbria A7 road (Great Britain) A9 road (Scotland) Rugby (Warwickshire) Stamford (Lincolnshire) Newhaven, East Sussex A28 road Alton (Hampshire) Salford, Greater Manchester Dorchester (Dorset) A39 road Preston, Lancashire Newcastle-under-Lyme Lincoln, England Scarborough, North Yorkshire Irvine, North Ayrshire Tarbet, Argyll Perth, Scotland A90 road A91 road A92 road A93 road A94 road A95 road A96 road A97 road Banff (Aberdeenshire) A98 road Greater London Essex Cambridgeshire East Anglia Sussex Dorset The Midlands Cheshire Cumbria Yorkshire Hebrides Andover (Hampshire) Maldon (Essex) A846 road Craighouse Lochmaddy M1 motorway M10 motorway (Great Britain) M45 motorway M2 motorway (Great Britain) M3 motorway (Great Britain) M4 motorway M8 motorway (Scotland) M9 motorway (Scotland) M18 motorway (Great Britain) M20 motorway M23 motorway M26 motorway M27 motorway M40 motorway M42 motorway M48 motorway M50 motorway (Great Britain) M60 motorway M62 motorway M80 motorway M90 motorway M180 motorway M1 motorway (Northern Ireland) M2 motorway (Northern Ireland) M3 motorway (Northern Ireland) M12 motorway A38(M) motorway
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