Roads in the United Kingdom

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The United Kingdom road network is an extensive network of routes connecting its settlements. The network is of varied quality and capacity. It was subject to major development from the 1950s to the mid-1990s. From then construction of roads has become increasingly controversial with direct action campaigns by environmentalists in opposition.

The earliest roads specifically engineered were during the Roman occupation. Some of these survive and others were lost. New roads were added in the medieval period and from the 17th century onwards. Whilst control has been transferred from local to central bodies and back again, currently management and development of the road network is shared between local authorities, the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Highways Agency. Certain aspects of the legal framework remain under the competence of the United Kingdom parliament.

The United Kingdom uses the imperial system for indicated distances and speed limits. A unified numbering system is in place for Great Britain, whilst Northern Ireland has its own system.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Roman Britain 1.2 Medieval roads 1.3 Pre 20th century 1.4 1900-1950 1.5 1950-1980 1.6 1980s-1990s and growing opposition 2 Classification and administration 2.1 Primary destinations 2.2 Responsibilities 3 Road taxes 3.1 Congestion charges 4 Road signs 5 Driving 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Roman Britain

See also: Roman roads in Britain

The earliest roads, built in the first phase of Roman occupation (the Julio-Claudian period 43–68), connected London with the ports used in the invasion (Chichester and Richborough), and with the earlier legionary bases at Colchester (Camulodunum), Lincoln (Lindum), Wroxeter (Viroconium), Gloucester and Exeter.^[1] As Roman influence expanded, so did the network, until around 180 A.D. when the known network was complete.^[specify]

Few Roman Roads extended into Scotland due to their inability to subjugate the local population: part of the Scottish Lowlands came under Roman control in 142 A.D. and the Antonine Wall was constructed on the northern boundary; however the Roman legions withdrew in 164 A.D. to their former northern boundary, Hadrian's Wall.

The primary function of Roman Roads was to allow the rapid movement of troops and military supplies, but it also provided vital infrastructure for trade and the transport of goods. The roads were paved, a first for the island, and could carry heavy goods in all weathers.^[2] Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain, road maintenance became a very ad-hoc activity.

[edit] Medieval roads

See also: Corpse road, Drovers' road, and Salt Road

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2008)

A network of roadways was developed in Britain in the Medieval period to supplement the use of rivers as a system of transportation. Many of these roadways were developed as a result of trading of goods and services, such as wool, sheep, cattle and salt. They linked together, market towns, towns with bridges, harbours and ports. Other roadways developed to meet the needs of pilgrims visiting shrines, such as Walsingham; and for transporting corpses from isolated communities to local graveyards.

[edit] Pre 20th century

See also: Turnpike trust and History of toll roads in the United Kingdom

The first legislated control in England was introduced under the Highways Act 1555.^[3] Road rates were introduced in England and Wales in the seventeenth century. The first turnpike road, whereby travellers' paid tolls to be used for road upkeep, was authorised by the Highways Act 1663 for a section of the Great North Road in Hertfordshire.^[4][3] The first turnpike trust was established by the Parliament of England through a Turnpike Act in 1706. Scotland continued to maintain its own Parliament until the Acts of Union 1707, when the two parliaments merged to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

In the second half of the eighteenth century turnpike trusts became numerous; with trusts also set up in Wales and Lowland Scotland.^[5] This expansion was facilitated by the ability to use mortgages to fund the work.^[5]

By 1821 there was 18,000 miles (28,968 km) of turnpike roads in England, with 1,000 trusts by 1845^[6] Following several attempts at reform, detrunking began in the 1860s with the last trust ending in 1885.^[3] The Local Government Act 1888 created county councils and gave them responsibility for maintaining the major roads.^[6] After complaints about the first tram companies damaging the road surface, Parliament introduced the Tramways Act 1870, making tram companies responsible for the maintenance of the shared surface of the tramway and several feet either side, as a condition of being granted a licence.^[7] This was a popular move as maintenance was removed from the public purse. Parliament could also purchase the whole line at a later date at a discount, or force the tram company to reinstate the road.

[edit] 1900-1950

See also: Vehicle excise duty and driver's license

The Road Act of 1920 brought in the Road Fund, with the Government receiving revenue from excise duty on road vehicles and from the sale of licences for horse-drawn carriages and driver's licences.^[8] As road traffic began to grow the condition of the road network became an issue, with most of it in a poor state of repair.^[9] The new Ministry of Transport created a classification system for the important routes connecting large population centres or for through traffic, during the 1920s with the definitive list being published in 1926/7.^[10][11]

High unemployment after the end of World War I led the Minister of Transport providing grant funding to the County Councils to improve roads, particularly where labour was recruited from areas of high unemployment and adjoining areas; and men with dependants. Two unemployment relief programmes were run, the first from 1920 to 1925 and the second from 1929 to 1930.^[8] Government grants were limited to truck roads and bridges; with the money coming from the Road Fund.^[8] Some 500 miles of by passes were built by 1935, about half of what was originally planned at the start of the programmes.^[8] In 1930, responsibility for all roads was vested in the County councils.^[3] The first inter-urban new road built in the UK was the East Lancs Road which was built between 1929 and 1934 at a cost of £8 million.^[5][12]

For the first time since the Roman occupation, the Ministry of Transport took direct control of the core road network through the Trunk Roads Act 1936.^[13] During the 1930s both the Institution of Highway Engineers and The County Surveyors' Society had published plans for a network of high speed roads,^[14] whilst the Minister of Transport Leslie Burgin, also visited the autobahn under construction in Germany. Lancashire County Council proposed a new scheme for a motorway and it was agreed to go ahead. This was, however, postponed due to the start of World War II.^[15]

During World War II government plans were drawn up to create a new network of high speed routes across the country.^[9] The passing of the Special Roads Act 1949 gave the government legal powers to build roads that were not automatically rights of way for certain types of user.

[edit] 1950-1980

In 1958 the first motorway was opened as the Preston Bypass, now part of the M6 motorway.^[16] The first major motorway to open was the M1 between Crick and Berrygrove.^[16] From then onwards, motorways opened on a regular basis right into the 1980s;^[17] by 1972 the first 1,000 miles (1,609 km) of motorway had been built.^[18] The 1968-9 Ministry of Transport report Roads in England planned to complement the new interurban routes with £1bn of new urban trunk roads outside London in order to "alleviate traffic congestion", complemented by parking controls, traffic management and public transport.^[19]

Whilst roads outside urban areas continued to be built throughout the 1970s, the urban routes soon ran into opposition. Plans by the Greater London Council for a series of ringways were cancelled following extensive protests and a rise in costs.^[20]

Whilst work on planning motorways in Northern Ireland had begun prior to the Second World War, the legal authority for motorways was not provided for until the Special Roads Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 similar to that in the 1949 Act.^[21] The first motorway to open was the M1 motorway in 1962, though did so under temporary powers until the Special Roads Act had been passed.^[22] Work on the motorways continued until the 1970s when the oil crisis and The Troubles both intervened causing the abandonment of many schemes.^[23]

[edit] 1980s-1990s and growing opposition

See also: Road protest (UK)

The Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher from 1979 adopted a pro roads policy. During this period numerous road upgrades were built and the M25 motorway was completed. In 1989 it announced a large-scale roads programme (stated to be the largest since the Romans) in the Roads for Prosperity White Paper. It proposed 500 road schemes at a cost of £23 billion and foresaw an increase of road traffic of 142 percent cent by 2025.^[24] It would have involved the doubling of the trunk road capacity with around 150 bypasses being built, based on the principle of predict and provide whereby the government predicted the required capacity in forthcoming years and built roads to match.^[25] From 1985 to 1995, the road network expanded by 24,000 miles (38,624 km).^[26]

This road building programme continued into the start of the Premiership of John Major. In the early 1990s the government decided to complete the M3 motorway by building a six lane road in a cutting through Twyford Down. This attracted the first direct action protests against a major road in the country. Construction work was delayed considerably and large amounts of publicity was obtained by anti roads protesters.^[27] The Newbury bypass saw some of the largest protests against a road in the UK. Proposed originally in the 1980s, the bypass was subject to strong support and opposition.^[28] Also in this time frame, there was considerable protest against the upgrade of the A12 in London. Costs increased rapidly on many of the roads built with the A12 showing a 100% increase and the Newbury bypass being 50% over budget.^[29]

By 1994, following the recession of the early 1990s, progress on road upgrades had slowed and the government were stating that the road network was "broadly complete".^[30] The Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment had also concluded in 1994 that predict and provide was not an appropriate way to build roads.^[31] In 1996 the total length of motorways reached 2,000 miles (3,219 km).^[32] After the election of the Labour government in 1997, most road schemes were cancelled^[33][34] and subject to multi modal studies following the introduction of the A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England White Paper.^[35]

The final motorway in Northern Ireland opened in 1994 as the M3 motorway.^[36]

In 1998, it was proposed to transfer parts of the English road network to local councils, with the retained network being for connecting major population centres, ports, airports, key cross-border links and the Trans-European Road Network.^[37] Around 40% of the network was transferred to local authorities.^[13]

Traffic has increased by 80% between 1980 and 2005 whilst road capacity has increased by 10%.^[38]

[edit] Classification and administration

Main articles: Great Britain road numbering scheme and Motorway

See also: List of primary destinations on the United Kingdom road network

Roads in the UK are classified into M (Motorway), A,^[10] B,^[10] C roads,^[39] D^[specify] and U^[39] roads, the later being for Unclassified.^[specify] Each of the roads are given a number which is combined with the prefix, thus M1, A500 and B3130. Roads in Great Britain are numbered according to a zonal system.^[40] There is no available explanation for the allocation of road numbers in Northern Ireland.^[41] Motorways are used for the majority of the major inter-urban routes and are designed to carry long distance traffic. Between them is the primary road network, which are A roads. A primary road is defined as:^[42]

“

...a route, not being a route comprising any part of a motorway, in respect of which the Secretary of State — (a) in the case of a trunk road is of the opinion, and (b) in any other case after consultation with the traffic authority for the road comprised in the route is of the opinion, that it provides the most satisfactory route for through traffic between places of traffic importance

”

[edit] Primary destinations

Primary destinations are usually cities and large towns, where a lot of traffic is expected to head to.^[specify] In more rural areas, smaller towns tend to be awarded primary status.^[specify] In some cases, a small village is used as a primary destination as it is situated at an important road junction, for example Llangurig in Wales and Crianlarich in Scotland. Scotch Corner in northern England is not even a village - just a hotel and a few other buildings - and yet has the status of a primary destination, due to its location at the interchange of the A1 and A66. In addition, some airports, sea ports, bridges and tunnels are primary destinations as they attract a lot of traffic.^[specify] The status of both primary destinations and roads is maintained by the Department for Transport in combination with the Highways Agency in England and Wales and the Scottish Executive in Scotland.^[specify] The concept of primary roads was introduced in the 1960s as part of a national reclassification of roads.^[10]

Connecting primary routes are non primary roads, which can be classified as A,B,C or U.^[specify]

[edit] Responsibilities

Responsibility for the road network is primarily defined between trunk and non trunk routes. Trunk roads, which are the most important roads, are administered by the Highways Agency in England, Transport Scotland and Department of Economy and Transport in Wales.^[43] In England there are 6,500 miles (10,461 km) which account for 33% of all road travel and 50% of lorry travel,^[44] Scotland has 2,174 miles (3,499 km)^[45] (about 7% of the total roads in Scotland) accounting for 35% of all road journeys and over 50% of lorry movements^[46] and Wales has 1,000 miles (1,600 km).^[47] In London, Transport for London is responsible for all trunk roads and other major roads, which are part of the Transport for London Road Network.^[43] All other roads are the responsibility of the relevant local authorities, which is normally the County Council but can be a unitary authority.^[43] In Northern Ireland, the Roads Service Northern Ireland is responsible for all 5,592 miles (8,999 km) roads in the province.^[48][43]

Whilst generally they are trunk roads, several motorways are the responsibility of local authorities, for example the M275.^[49]

[edit] Road taxes

Main article: Motoring taxation in the United Kingdom

Nearly all motorised vehicles in the United Kingdom are required to have a vehicle licence on display.^[50] Fuel for motor vehicles is subject to fuel duty which is levied before adding VAT to the total cost per litre.^[51] Until the early 21st century tolls were generally only applied to major bridges and tunnels, for example the Dartford Crossing^[52] & Forth Road Bridge.^[53] There were also only two public toll roads (Roydon Road in Stanstead Abbots and College Road in Dulwich) together with another five or so private toll-roads. The UK's first privately operated motorway opened in 2003. The M6 Toll (originally the Birmingham Northern Relief Road) is designed to relieve the M6 through Birmingham, which is one of the most heavily used roads in the country.^[54] In 2005, the Government published proposals for a UK wide road pricing scheme. This was designed to be revenue neutral with other motoring taxes to be reduced to compensate.^[55] The plans have been extremely controversial with 1.8 million people signing a petition against them.^[56]

[edit] Congestion charges

Main articles: London congestion charge and Manchester congestion charge

England's first modern-day congestion charge was introduced in Durham in October 2002.^[57] In London, vehicles entering parts of Central & West London are required to pay a daily charge under the London congestion charge. The power to introduce a form of congestion charge was given to any future mayor in the Greater London Authority Act 1999.^[58] Having won the first mayoral election in 2000, Ken Livingstone opted to exercise these powers as promised in his independent manifesto,^[59][60] and carried out a series of consultations with interested parties. The basic scheme was agreed in February 2002, and charging commenced, with some concessions accepted, on 17 February 2003. On introduction, the scheme was the largest ever undertaken by a capital city.^[61] The extension of the zone into West London came into effect on 19 February 2007 despite the majority of residents opposing it in the two consultations.^[62][63] In April 2003 the Dartford Crossing toll, which was due to be scrapped that month as the cost of construction had been paid for and a sufficient maintenance fund accumulated, was instead converted into a congestion charge.^[64]

Proposals in Edinburgh for a system of a £2 charge for one of two cordons were rejected following a public referendum in 2005 by 74% of the votes cast.^[65]

There is currently a proposal for a Manchester congestion charge scheme.^[66] Unlike the current version of the London charge, two cordons will be used, one covering the urban area of Manchester and another covering the city centre.^[67]

[edit] Road signs

Main article: Road signs in the United Kingdom

Signage on the UK network conforms broadly to European norms, though a number of signs are unique to Britain and direction signs omit European route numbers. All length distances are shown in miles or yards,^[68] speed is in miles per hour^[69] whilst height is shown in both metric and imperial units.^[specify] Until recently the government was obliged to convert all signs to metric under a commitment made at the time of the UK's accession to the European Economic Community. The European Commission has now abandoned that requirement.^[70]

The signage system currently in use was developed in the late 1950s and the early 1960s by the Anderson Committee, which established the motorway signing system, and by the Worboys Committee, which reformed signing for existing all-purpose roads.^[specify] It was introduced in 1965 and is governed by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions.^[specify] Signs may be of an informative, warning or instructional nature.^[specify] Instructional signs are generally circular, warnings are triangular and the informative are rectangular or square.^[specify] Motorway informative signs use white text on a blue background, primary roads are indicated by green directional and distance signs with yellow text, whilst non primary use black text on a white background.^[71]

[edit] Driving

See also: Driving in the United Kingdom

In the UK, vehicles drive on the left and on dual carriageways drivers are expected to keep to the left except when overtaking.^[72] In Great Britain, the Highway Code applies to drivers.^[73] In Northern Ireland the Highway Code for Northern Ireland applies.^[74]

Indicated speed limits are shown in mph^[69] and are in increments of 10 ranging from 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) to 70 miles per hour (113 km/h). Unless a speed limit is indicated the national speed limit applies, which varies between class of vehicles and type of road. In a built up area (usually indicated by street lights),^[75] unless signs indicate otherwise, a limit of 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) applies. Other limits are shown in the table.^[76]

National speed limits on roads in the UK

Type of vehicle	Speed limit
	Single carriageway		Dual carriageway		Motorway
	mph	km/h	mph	km/h	mph	km/h
Car/motorcycle, car derived vans and light goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes	60	97	70	110	70	110
Car with caravan or trailer	50	80	60	97	60	97
Bus, Minibus or coach up to 12 m long	50	80	60	97	70	110
Goods vehicle between 3.5 and 7.5 tonnes1	50	80	60	97	70	110
Goods vehicle over 7.5 tonnes1	40	64	50	80	60	97

Notes ¹ Generally in the UK, these vehicles are speed limited to 90 km/h (56 mph). * = 60 if articulated or with trailer
For a road to be classed as a dual carriageway, the two directions of traffic flow must be physically separated by a central reservation.^[77]

[edit] See also

• Transport in the United Kingdom

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Highways Agency network map
• Map of Scottish Trunk Roads

v • d • e Roads in the United Kingdom
Articles	Road numbering scheme (Great Britain · Northern Ireland) · Motoring taxation · Driving · Road signs
A road lists	Zone 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · Northern Ireland
B road lists	Zone 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · Northern Ireland
Other lists	Anomalously numbered roads · Junctions · Motorways · Primary destinations · Unused roads

v • d • e Roads in Europe
Sovereign states	Albania · Andorra · Armenia1 · Austria · Azerbaijan2 · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus1 · Czech Republic · Denmark7 · Estonia · Finland · France6 · Georgia2 · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Ireland · Italy · Kazakhstan3 · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Macedonia · Malta · Moldova · Monaco · Montenegro · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia3 · San Marino · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey3 · Ukraine · United Kingdom (England · Scotland · Northern Ireland · Wales)
Dependencies, autonomies, other territories	Abkhazia2, X · Adjara1 · Akrotiri and Dhekelia · Åland · Azores · Crimea · Faroe Islands · Gagauzia · Gibraltar · Greenland4 · Guernsey · Jan Mayen · Jersey · KosovoX · Isle of Man · Madeira5 · Nagorno-Karabakh1, X · Nakhchivan1 · Northern Cyprus1, X · South Ossetia2, X · Svalbard · TransnistriaX
Included because of cultural, political and historical association with Europe: 1 Entirely in Southwest Asia. 2 Partially or entirely in Asia, depending on the definition of the border. 3 Mostly in Asia. 4 Entirely in the North American Plate. 5 Entirely on the African Plate. 6 Partially in South America. 7 Mostly in North America. X Unrecognised or partially recognised country.