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A1 road (Great Britain)

Coordinates: 51°30′55″N 0°05′50″W / 51.5153°N 0.0972°W / 51.5153; -0.0972
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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by GrahamSmith (talk | contribs) at 11:56, 31 May 2012 (Disambiguated: Haddington → Haddington, East Lothian, Stamford → Stamford, Lincolnshire, Barton → Barton, Cumbria). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the road in Great Britain. For other roads designated A1, see A1 road (disambiguation).

For more detailed information about the same road as it passes through Greater London, see A1 road (London)

A1 shield
A1
Route information
Part of E15
Length410 mi (660 km)
Major junctions
South endCity of London[1]
Major intersections M1

M25
M18
M62

A66(M)

A194(M)

A14

A15

A17

A19

A40

A41

A43

A46

A47

A406
A421
A428

A52

A57

A61

A63

A64

A66
A689
A690
A1231
A69
A167
A606

A720
North endEdinburgh55°57′08″N 3°11′19″W / 55.9522°N 3.1886°W / 55.9522; -3.1886
Location
CountryUnited Kingdom
Primary
destinations		Hatfield, Hertford, Stevenage, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, Pontefract, Leeds, Wetherby, Harrogate, Scotch Corner, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Haddington, Edinburgh
Road network

The A1 is the longest numbered road in the UK, at 410 miles (660 km). It connects London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom, with Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It passes through and near North London, Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, Letchworth, Huntingdon, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark-upon-Trent, Retford, Doncaster, Leeds, York, Ripon, Darlington, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne and Berwick-upon-Tweed.[2]

It was designated by the Ministry of Transport in 1921, and for much of its route it followed various branches of the Great North Road, the main deviation being between Boroughbridge and Darlington. The course of the A1 has changed where towns or villages have been bypassed, or where new alignments take a slightly different route. Several sections of the route have been upgraded to motorway standard and designated A1(M). Between the M25 (near London) and A696 (near Newcastle upon Tyne) the road is part of the unsigned Euroroute E15.

History

The A1 is the latest in a series of routes north from London to York and beyond. It was designated in 1921 by the Ministry of Transport under the Great Britain road numbering scheme.[3] The earliest documented northern routes are the roads created by the Romans during the period from AD 43 to AD 410, which consisted of a number of itinera (plural of iter) recorded in the Antonine Itinerary,[4]. A combination of these were used by the Anglo-Saxons as the route from London to York, and together became known as Ermine Street.[5] Ermine Street later became known as the Old North Road,[6]. Part of this route in London is followed by the current A10.[7] By the 12th century, because of flooding and damage by traffic, an alternative route out of London was found through Muswell Hill, and became part of the Great North Road.[6][7] A turnpike road, New North Road and Canonbury Road (A1200 road), was constructed in 1812 linking the start of the Old North Road around Shoreditch with the Great North Road at Highbury Corner.[8] While the route of the A1 outside London mainly follows the Great North Road route used by mail coaches between London and Edinburgh, within London the coaching route is only followed through Islington.[9]

The A1 route was modified in 1927 when bypasses were built around Barnet and Hatfield. In the 1930s bypasses where added around Chester-le-Street and Durham, and the Ferryhill Cut was dug. In 1960 Stamford and Doncaster were bypassed, as were Retford in 1961 and St Neots in 1971. During the early 1970s plans to widen the A1 along Archway Road in London were abandoned after considerable opposition and four public inquiries during which road protesters disrupted proceedings.[10] The scheme was finally dropped in 1990.[11] The Hatfield tunnel was opened in 1986.[12]

A proposal to upgrade the whole of the A1 to motorway status was investigated by the Government in 1989[13] but was dropped in 1995, along with many other schemes, in response to road protests against other road schemes (including the Newbury Bypass and the M3 extension through Twyford Down).[14]

Inns

The inns on the road, many of which still survive, were staging posts on the coach routes, providing accommodation, stabling for the horses and replacement mounts.[9] Virtually none of the surviving coaching inns can be seen while driving on the A1, because the modern route now bypasses the towns with the inns.

Route

See also: A1 road (London)

The A1 runs from the City of London at St. Paul's Cathedral to the centre of Edinburgh. The road skirts the remains of Sherwood Forest, and passes Catterick Garrison. It shares its London terminus with the A40, in the City area of Central London. It runs out of London through Islington (where Upper Street forms part of its route), up Holloway Road, through Highgate, Barnet, Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn, Stevenage, Baldock, Biggleswade, Sandy and St Neots.

Continuing north, the A1 runs on modern bypasses around Stamford, Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Bawtry, Doncaster, Knottingley, Garforth, Wetherby, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Scotch Corner, Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, Durham and Chester-le-Street, past the Angel of the North sculpture and the Metrocentre in Gateshead, through the western suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, into Scotland, past Haddington and Musselburgh before arriving in Edinburgh at the East End of Princes Street near Waverley Station, at the junction of the A7, A8 and A900 roads.

Scotch Corner, in North Yorkshire, marks the point where before the M6 was built the traffic for Glasgow and the west of Scotland diverged from that for Edinburgh. As well as a hotel there have been a variety of sites for the transport café, now subsumed as a motorway services.

Overview and post-First World War developments

Most of the English section of the A1 is a series of alternating sections of primary route, dual carriageway and motorway. From Newcastle upon Tyne to Edinburgh it is a trunk road with alternating sections of dual and single carriageway. The table below summarises the road as motorway and non-motorway sections.[15] Most of the non-motorway sections do not have junction numbers, with the exception of the Newcastle Western Bypass which continues the junction numbering of the A1(M).

Road name Junctions Length Ceremonial counties Primary destinations
miles km
A1 16.58 26.68 London
Hertfordshire 		London
Edgware,
Barnet, Borehamwood
A1(M) 1–10 24.14 38.84 Hertfordshire Hertford
Stevenage
A1 26.25 42.24 Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire
Cambridgeshire 		Bedford,
Cambridge,
Huntingdon
A1(M) 13–17 12.84 20.66 Cambridgeshire Peterborough
A1 72.99 117.44 Cambridgeshire, Rutland
Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire 		Stamford, Grantham
Newark on Trent
A1(M) 34–38 15.13 24.34 South Yorkshire Worksop, Blyth, Doncaster,
Rotherham, Barnsley
A1 7.51 12.08 South Yorkshire
West Yorkshire 		Pontefract, Castleford,
Wakefield
A1(M) 40–65 93.27 150.10 West Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
County Durham
Tyne and Wear 		Selby, Leeds, York, Wetherby, Harrogate,
Thirsk, Ripon, Catterick, Richmond, Scotch Corner,
Darlington, Teesside, Bishop Auckland, Durham,
Chester-le-Street, Stanley, Beamish,
Birtley, Washington (Sunderland), Gateshead
A1 65-80
(Newcastle Western Bypass only) 		128.29 206.42 Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, Berwickshire
East Lothian, Edinburgh 		Gateshead, Blaydon, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Cramlington,
Morpeth, Alnwick, Belford, Lindisfarne, Berwick-upon-Tweed,
Eyemouth, Dunbar, Haddington,
Tranent, Prestonpans, Musselburgh, Edinburgh
397.00 638.78
A single carriageway section of the A1 skirting the Scottish coastline just across the border from Northumberland.

A 13-mile (21 km) section of the road in North Yorkshire, from Walshford to Dishforth, was upgraded to motorway standard in 1995.[16] Neolithic remains and a Roman fort were discovered.

A 13-mile (21 km) section of the road from Alconbury to Peterborough was upgraded to motorway standard at a cost of £128 million (£284 million as of 2024),[17]which opened in 1998[18] requiring the moving the memorial to Napoleonic prisoners buried at Norman Cross.[19]

A number of sections from the Scottish border to Edinburgh were dualed between 1999 and 2004, including a 1.9-mile (3 km) section from Spott Wood to Oswald Dean in 1999, 1.2-mile (2 km) sections from Bowerhouse to Spott Road and from Howburn to Houndwood in 2002–2003 and the 8.5-mile (13.7 km) "A1 Expressway", from Haddington and Dunbar in 2004. The total cost of these works was some £50 million.[20]

Signs at the northern terminus of the A1 in central Edinburgh. Previously the sign had read 'London and the South' instead of Berwick upon Tweed.[citation needed]

Plans to dual the single carriageway section of road north of Newcastle upon Tyne were shelved in 2006 as they were not considered a regional priority by central government. The intention was to dual the road between Morpeth and Felton and between Adderstone and Belford.[21]

In 1999 a section of A1(M) between Bramham and Hook Moor opened to traffic along with the extension of the M1 from Leeds.[22] Under a DBFO contract,[23] sections from Wetherby to Walshford and Darrington to Hook Moor were opened in 2005 and 2006, taking the section to a junction.

Recent developments

A1 Peterborough to Blyth grade separated junctions

Between August 2006 and September 2009 there were six roundabouts on the A1 and the A1(M) to Alconbury were replaced with grade-separated junctions. These provide a fully grade-separated route between the Buckden roundabout (just north of St Neots and approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the Black Cat roundabout) and just north of Morpeth.[24] This project cost £96 million.[25]

Blyth (A614) Fully operational May 2008
Apleyhead (A614/A57) Fully operational January 2008
Markham Moor (A57) Fully operational April 2009
Gonerby Moor (B1174) Fully operational March 2008
Colsterworth (A151) and the junction with the B6403 Fully operational September 2009
Carpenters Lodge (Stamford) (B1081) Fully operational December 2008

A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby motorway

Upgrading the 6.2 miles (10 km) of road to dual three-lane motorway standard between the Bramham/A64 junction to north of Wetherby to meet the section of motorway at a cost of £70 million began in 2006, including a road alongside for non-motorway traffic. The scheme's public inquiry began on 18 October 2006 and the project was designed by James Poyner. Work began in May 2007, the motorway section opened in July 2009 and remaining work on side roads was still ongoing in late August and was expected to be completed by the end of 2009.[26]

A1(M) Dishforth to Leeming motorway

Upgrading of the existing dual carriageway to dual three-lane motorway standard, with a local road alongside for non-motorway traffic, between Dishforth (A1(M)/A168 junction) and Leeming Bar, began in March 2009 and opened to traffic on or about the scheduled date of 31 March 2012.[27] It had originally been proposed that the motorway would be upgraded as far as Barton (between Scotch Corner and Darlington), which is the start of current northernmost section of A1(M). However this second phase was cancelled as part of government spending cuts.[28] If this second stage had been implemented, it would have provided a continuous motorway-standard road between Darrington (south of M62 junction) and Washington, and would have provided the North East and North Yorkshire with full motorway access to London (via the M1).

Proposed developments

Ellington to Fen Ditton scheme

Main article: A14 road (England)

The planned A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton scheme would require a new junction at Brampton, north of which the A1 will be widened to a three-lane dual carriageway from Brampton to the Brampton Hut interchange. The new two-lane dual carriageway section of the A14 would run parallel with the A1 on this section.[29]

Sandy-Beeston Bypass

Sandy-Beeston Bypass
LocationBedfordshire
ProposerHighways Agency
Cost estimate£67 million
Start date2016

In 2003 a proposal for a bypass of Sandy and Beeston, Bedfordshire, was put forward as a green-lighted scheme as part of a government multi-modal study, with a cost of £67 million.[30] However, the Highways Agency was unwilling to confirm the information as the study was preliminary and intended for future publication.[31] In 2008 the proposal was submitted for consideration in the pre-2013/14 Regional Funding Advice 2 Programme of the East of England Development Agency.[32]

Other proposals

The Highways Agency has been investigating an upgrade of the A1 Newcastle/Gateshead Western By-Pass to dual three-lane motorway standard to alleviate heavy congestion which in recent years has become a recurrent problem.[33]

Improvements to junctions near the village of Elkesley, Nottinghamshire are planned: the village's only access to the rest of the road network is via the A1.[34]

Consideration is being given to widening the Brampton Hut interchange to Alconbury sections to a three-lane dual carriageway.[29]

A1(M)

Main article: A1(M) motorway
A1(M) looking southwards from junction 2 at Hatfield

Some sections of the A1 have been upgraded to motorway standard. These are known as the A1(M) and are part of European route E15. These include:

M25 to Stotfold

The M25 to Stotfold section is 23 miles (37 km), and was constructed between 1962 and 1986. The main destinations are Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Stevenage, and Letchworth It opened in five stages: junctions 1 to 2 in 1979; 2 to 4 in 1986; 4 to 6 in 1973; 6 to 8 in 1962; and 8 to 10 in 1967.

Alconbury to Peterborough

The Alconbury to Peterborough section is 14 miles (23 km), and opened in 1998.

Doncaster bypass

The Doncaster bypass opened in 1961 and is one of the oldest sections of motorway in Britain.[35] It is 15 miles (24.1 km) long, and runs from Blyth to Carcroft.

Darrington to Leeming

The Darrington to Dishforth section was constructed between 1995 and 2009. It is 34 miles (55 km), and opened in sections:

  • Walshford to 49 in 1995
  • Junctions 43 to 44 in 1999
When this section opened it ended at a temporary terminus south of the M1. There was a final exit into Micklefield Village for non-motorway traffic onto what is now the access road. During the first week of June 2009, Junctions 44 and 45 were renumbered 43 and 44. At the same time the A1/A659 Grange Moor junction became A1(M) Junction 45.[36] As a result many atlases show incorrect junction numbering for this stretch of motorway.
  • Junction 46 to temporary junction at Walshford opened in 2005[37]
  • Junction 40 to south of 43 opened in 2005 & 2006
The northern section of the upgrade, bypassing Fairburn village opened in April 2005 with a temporary connection with the A1 between Fairburn and Brotherton. The southern section, with a free-flow interchange with the M62 motorway opened on 13 January 2006.
  • Junctions 44 to 46 opened in 2009[38]
  • Junctions 49 to 51 opened as of the 31 March 2012. Work began in March 2009 to upgrade the Dishforth to Leeming section to dual three-lane motorway standard with existing connections being replaced by two new junctions.[39] This work was completed on 31 March 2012.
Scotch Corner to Gateshead

The Scotch Corner to Gateshead section is 30 miles (48 km), and opened in stages:

  • Junctions 56 to 59 in 1965
  • Junctions 59 to 63 in 1969
  • Junctions 63 to 65 in 1970

Cultural references

The A1 is celebrated in song. It is mentioned by Jethro Tull on the title track of the album Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! "Up on the A1 by Scotch Corner". "Scotch Corner," by the Welsh band Man, on the album Rhinos, Winos, and Lunatics is about an encounter there. Near the southern end, signs saying "Hatfield and the North" inspired the eponymous 1970s rock band Hatfield and the North. The A1 is mentioned in The Long Blondes' song, "Separated By Motorways", along with the A14. The A1(M) is mentioned in the song "Gabadon" by Sheffield band, Haze.

References

  1. ^ 51°30′55″N 0°05′50″W / 51.5153°N 0.0972°W / 51.5153; -0.0972
  2. ^ Roadlists[unreliable source?]
  3. ^ Chris Marshall (2011 [last update]). "CBRD » In Depth » Road Numbers » How it happened". cbrd.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  4. ^ Thomas Codrington (1903). Roman Roads in Britain - Antonine Itinerary. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. Retrieved 23 August 2011. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Thomas Codrington. "LacusCurtius • Codrington's Roman Roads in Britain — Chapter 4". penelope.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  6. ^ a b Frank Goddard (2004). Great North Road. Frances Lincoln Ltd. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-7112-2446-9. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  7. ^ a b Christopher Hibbert, Ben Weinreb (2009). The London Encyclopedia. Pan Macmillan. p. 343. ISBN 978-1-4050-4925-2. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  8. ^ Christopher Hibbert, Ben Weinreb (1983). The London Encyclopedia. Macmillan. p. 541. ISBN 978-0-333-32556-8. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  9. ^ a b Norman W. Webster (1974) The Great North Road
  10. ^ Adams, John (1981). Transport planning, vision and practice. ISBN 978-0-7100-0844-2.
  11. ^ "Road Victories" (PDF). Road Block. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "A1(M) Hatfield Tunnel Refurbishment".
  13. ^ "http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/written_answers/1989/jul/14/a1-motorway-status". Hansard. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  14. ^ "Column: 1180". Hansard. 20 December 1995. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ The table was drawn up by reading values from the AA Route Planner for the journey Bank of England, London to Waverley Station, Edinburgh via Wittering. Adjustments were made for sections of the route that were not part of the A1."Route planner". AA. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  16. ^ "A1(M). Walshford to Dishforth". Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  17. ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  18. ^ "A1(M) Alconbury to Peterborough". Highways Agency.
  19. ^ "Norman Cross Eagle Appeal". Local Heritage Initiative. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "A1 expressway opened".
  21. ^ "Northumberland Today – A1 dualling hopes dashed". Northumberland Today. 13 July 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  22. ^ [1]
  23. ^ "Darrington to Dishforth". Highways Agency. p. 1. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  24. ^ "A1 Peterborough to Blyth Grade Separated Junctions Scheme". Highways Agency. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  25. ^ "Bigger and bigger pricetag"..
  26. ^ "A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby Improvement Scheme". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  27. ^ "A1(M) upgrade in North Yorkshire nears completion - even more motorway for road users". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 9 February 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "Details emerge of dumped road schemes". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  29. ^ a b "A14 Ellington to Fen Ditton Scheme". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ "List of schemes announced". The Daily Telegraph. 9 July 2003. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  31. ^ "Route of Proposed Sandy/Beeston Bypass" (PDF). Highways Agency. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  32. ^ "Regional Funding Advice – Transport Update" (PDF). East of England Development Agency. 11 December 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  33. ^ Highways Agency – A1 Western By-pass
  34. ^ Highways Agency – A1 Elkesley Junctions Improvement
  35. ^ "The Motorway Archive. Oldest, widest, longest, highest". ciht.org.uk. 2008 [last update]. Retrieved 28 July 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  36. ^ "A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby". Highways Authority. Archived from the original on 27 June 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  37. ^ "A1(M) Wetherby to Walshford". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  38. ^ "A1(M) Bramham to Wetherby". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  39. ^ "A1 Dishforth to Leeming Improvement Scheme (A1 Dishforth to Barton)". Highways Agency. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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