A1081 road

A1081
Route information
Length	20 mi (32 km)
Major junctions
North end	Luton Airport 51.8697°N 0.3970°W / 51.8697; -0.3970 (A1081 road (northern end))
Major intersections	A505 M1 A4147 A5183 A414 M25 A1 A1000
South end	A1000 road, High Barnet 51.6563°N 0.2019°W / 51.6563; -0.2019 (A1081 road (southern end))
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The A1081 is a road in the south of England. It starts at Luton Airport in Bedfordshire and runs to High Barnet in Greater London via Harpenden, St Albans and London Colney, a distance of around 20 miles (32 km). For most of its length, the A1081 follows the route of the original A6.

The route

The first section of the A1081 runs south-west from Luton Airport to the spur of the M1 motorway on the southern outskirts of Luton. This section is a dual carriageway known as New Airport Way. Just west of the airport, there is a junction with the A505.

At the M1 spur, the A1081 turns south to join the route of the original A6. It skirts the grounds of Luton Hoo estate, then crosses into Hertfordshire, passing through Harpenden before reaching St Albans.

In St Albans, the road has a junction with the A4147 and A1057 (both making up the former A414), then meets the A5183 (the former A5). At this point, it bears south-east, bypassing London Colney before reaching junction 22 of the M25 motorway. There is a junction with the current A414, the North Orbital Road, just north of London Colney.

The A1081 then multiplexes with the M25 to junction 23 at South Mimms, the junction with the current A1 and A1(M). From here, it continues south-east to High Barnet, ending at a junction with the Great North Road (the former A1, now the A1000).

History

The A1081 designation was originally used on a 1920s-built road in east London, from South Woodford to the A12 at Gants Hill; this road is now part of the A406 North Circular Road and the A1400.

The current A1081 was established in the 1950s, when the section of the A6 from South Mimms to High Barnet was so renumbered following the re-routing of the A1 onto the 1920s-built Barnet Bypass.

When the M25 was built in the 1980s, it took over the section of the A6 from London Colney to South Mimms, which was already dual carriageway. The section from Luton to London Colney was then renumbered the A1081.