Great Britain road numbering scheme
In Great Britain, roads are given a letter with 1-4 numbers after it. This is how they are named. The letter is the category of the road. There are two main types of categories: motorways (with the letter M) and non-motorways. There are two types of non-motorways: A roads (with the letter A) and B roads (with the letter B). A roads are more important than B roads. There are also a very small number of C roads.
This system only applies to the island of Great Britain. Northern Ireland and other islands have their own systems.
Motorways (M roads) Edit
A roads Edit
Single-digit A roads Edit
In England and Wales, the six A roads with one number are most important roads coming out of London. Starting with the A1 which goes north, numbers go clockwise around London:[1]
- A1 London to Edinburgh, (Also known as the Great North Road)
- A2 London to Dover, (The southern part of Watling Street, also known as the Dover Road), however, the A2 past Rochester has been replaced by the M2.
- A3 London to Portsmouth, (Also known as the Portsmouth Road)
- A4 London to Avonmouth, (Also known as the Great West Road or the Bath Road), although this route is not used anymore to travel far since the M4 was built.
- A5 London to Holyhead, (The Northern part of Watling Street)
- A6 Luton to Carlisle (The A6 first started in Barnet on the old A1).
In Scotland, important roads from Edinburgh have A roads with one number:
- A7 Edinburgh to Carlisle, although the M74 and M8 motorways now are mainly used.
- A8 Edinburgh to Greenock, which used to link Edinburgh to Glasgow, however it now ends and carries on as the M8 25 miles (40 km) away from Glasgow.
- A9 Falkirk to Scrabster. First went from Edinburgh to Inverness.
Other A roads Edit
B roads Edit
References Edit
- ↑ "Road Numbering". The Vauxhall Motorist. Vauxhall Motors. January 1935. Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2007-12-29.