Information AboutA6 Road |
This article is about the A6 road in England. For other roads of the same name, and all other uses, go to the A6 (disambiguation Page)
The A6 is a major Road in England . It currently runs from Luton in Bedfordshire to Carlisle in Cumbria . As set out below (see ''Former route south of Luton''), previously it started in Barnet in Hertfordshire and ran northwest through London Colney to St Albans and then due north via Harpenden to Luton. Running northwest from Luton, the road travels through Bedford , bypasses Rushden , Kettering and Market Harborough , continues through Leicester , Loughborough , Derby and Matlock before going through the Peak District to Bakewell , Buxton , Stockport , Manchester , Chorley , Preston , Lancaster , Kendal and Penrith before reaching Carlisle. South of Nottingham, the road is paralleled by the M1 Motorway , and north of Manchester the M6 Motorway approximates its course. Luton - Kettering It begins as ''St Mary's Road'' at an elongated roundabout with the on the border of Northamptonshire and the district of East Northamptonshire , then there is a turn for Wymington . The three-mile £10m part-dual-carriageway Rushden & Higham Ferrers Bypass opened on August 14 2003, where the road meets the A5001 , B645 and A45 . The old route is now the A5028. It crosses the River Nene and the Nene Way , bypassing Irthlingborough and meeting the B571 at a roundabout. The road still goes through Finedon . There is the Shell ''North Bound Service Station'' just north of the village on ''Burton Road''. The two-mile £2.6m Burton Latimer Bypass opened in October 1991. '' Weetabix '' is accessible from the roundabout with the A14. Kettering - Leicester Kettering was bypassed when sections of the east-west corridor Bypass opened on February 19 2003, though operated as a dual-carriageway only after April 4 2003. It crosses the River Sence and there is a roundabout. The bypass ends with a roundabout, just before the road enters the district of Oadby And Wigston . Leicester - Peak District On the outskirts of Leicester the road becomes ''London Road''. There is a roundabout with ''Florence Wragg Way'', where the road becomes ''Glen Road''. It passes a ) at Stoneygate , and a roundabout with the '' Victoria Park Road'' (B568). It passes close to Leicester University and many take-away shops. To the right is Highfields , a largely immigrant community. It crosses the Midland Main Line near Leicester Railway Station . In the centre of Leicester, it is subsumed into Leicester's inner ring-road, the A594 . Before this, it went via ''Charles Street'', and before then, down ''Granby Street'' and ''Gallowtree Gate''. Then around the Clock Tower, and along ''Belgrave Gate''. The current route via the Inner Ring Road and ''Abbey Lane'' is also altered from the old route, which from ''Belgrave Gate'' went via ''Belgrave Road'' (along the ''Fosse Way'') as did the old course of the A46 turning left at Melton Turn onto ''Loughborough Road'' and then into Birstall, where it meets with the current route at the start of the dual carriageway just before the A563 roundabout. It crosses the Grand Union Canal and River Soar as ''St Margarets Way''. It becomes dual-carriageway on the northern outskirts of Leicester, and passes the National Space Centre in Belgrave as ''Abbey Lane'' then meets at a roundabout with the A563 outer ring-road entering the borough of Charnwood , then passes the BP ''St Pauls Filling Station'' on the left. Leicestershire Constabulary have a training college near here in Birstall . North of Leicester, as ''Loughborough Road'' it meets the A46 Leicester Western Bypass just south of Rothley and the start of the four-mile £43.3m dual-carriageway Quorn - Mountsorrel Bypass, which opened in October 1991. The road at this point follows the Soar Valley, and is mostly on embankment or viaduct, crossing the river 4 times. From here the road goes through Loughborough. although a new section of road from a roundabout with ''Ling Road'' ( A6004 ) can be quicker and follows ''Epinal Way'' past the university, avoiding the many traffic lights in the town-centre. In Loughborough there is the BP ''Elms Park Service Station'' on the right, and close-by a Sainsbury's supermarket; helpful for vegetarian students at the internationally renowned local University . Leaving the town, it passes the BP ''Sandicliffe of Loughborough'' on the right. Just north of Hathern , where the A6006 (for Sutton Bonington ) and B5324 (for Long Whatton ) meet the road, there is the Esso ''Hathern Turn Service Station''. There is a much-needed dual-carriageway section which skirts the Leicestershire/ Nottinghamshire border (the River Soar) and the road becoms ''London Road'' and enters the district of North West Leicestershire . It passes through Kegworth , passing the ''Britannia Inn'' and becomes ''Derby Road''. It joins the M1 at the extremely busy roundabout of junction 24, which is where the A50 Derby-Stoke Link begins. The road follows one of the former A6 dual-carriageway sections, passing Lockington , before meeting traffic from the south-bound M1 at junction 24a. South-bound traffic on the A6 here has to negotiate a roundabout and a set of traffic lights, which has numerous and lengthy hold-ups at peak times. The three-laned A6 overlaps the A50 for a couple of miles, and there is a junction with the B6540 (former A453 ) and crosses the Trent And Mersey Canal and River Trent , where it enters Derbyshire and the district of South Derbyshire . The A50/A6 passes a Welcome Break , with a Burger King and Shell garage on both sides of the road near Shardlow . The next section, the A6 Spur, was opened with the A50 in September 1997. The £10.6m dual-carriageway Alvaston Bypass/Improvement opened on 17 December 2003. ''Riverside Station'' just before the A610 junction. At Whatstandwell it meets the B5035 (for Crich and Wirksworth ), then enters the district of Derbyshire Dales . There is an Esso ''Ridgewood Motors'' on the left, then at Cromford , it meets the A5012 ( Via Gellia ). Matlock Bath is a Mecca for Motorbikers , and many use the A6 for pleasure and speed, and close by is Gulliver's Kingdom . Entering Matlock , the road passes under the Railway and over the River Derwent and Limestone Way , meeting the A615 at a roundabout. The road passes through the middle of the town and further north is Darley Dale , where the road as ''Dale Road'' passes the hospital, the Texaco ''Two Dales Service Station'', and crossroads with the B5057. On the right is the ''Dale Road Filling Station'' Peak District - Manchester From Matlock the road makes a somewhat unwelcome intrusion into the Peak District National Park , though this makes for scenic driving. From Rowsley , it follows the River Wye , meeting the B5056 near the endpoint of the River Lathkill . It passes Haddon Hall and enters Bakewell passing the JET ''Park View Filling Station'' on the right and Total ''Barrams of Bakewell'' on the right, meeting the B5055 and A619 at a roundabout. At Ashford-in-the-Water , there is a junction with the A6020 (for Baslow ). The road passes through Taddington Dale. Taddington has a dual-carriageway bypass. There are junctions with the B6049 (for Blackwell ) and A5270, and it enters the district of High Peak and passes under four railway bridges. It enters Buxton as ''Bakewell Road'', passing a Morrisons on the left and meets the B5059 at a roundabout. It leaves Buxton as ''Fairfield Road'', and heads towards Stockport slightly north-east to Dove Holes and to a roundabout with the A623 The four-mile £38m part-dual-carriageway near the Rams Head Vintage Inn. At High Lane , the road enters the borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester . There were plans in the 1970s for a bypass around Stockport, by a motorway initially known as the A6(M), which never was given the go-ahead, although many construction schemes were designed. It was kicked into Touch in July 1998, in the distant early years of the Labour Government . Due to build up of traffic in the Stockport area, the same scheme is now going to be built as the A555, to link up east of Stockport with the M60 . In July 2006, it finally received the full funding to proceed. In Hazel Grove it goes under the viaduct carrying the South TransPennine railway line, and meets the A523 (for Macclesfield ) from the left and the A627 (from Romiley ) from the right. There is McDonalds on the left near the Hazel Grove Railway Station . Towards Stockport , there is a Sainsbury's on the right, and the road becomes ''Buxton Road''. In Stepping Hill, it goes near the Stepping Hill Hospital on the left. There is the '' Shell Stockport'' garage near the Woodsmoor Railway Station and in Great Moor, the Esso ''Great Moor Service Station'' relatively near the Davenport Railway Station , where it meets the B6171, the A5102 (for Bramhall ) to the right. As the road approaches Stockport town centre there is the Texaco ''Grosvenor Service Station'', near the crossroads with the B5465. At Mersey Square, Stockport just before the road crosses the M60 , the road becomes ''Wellington Road North'', crosses the Stockport To Stalybridge Line and the '' Total Wellington Road'' garage is on the right. At Heaton Chapel , there are crossroads with the B5169 (for Reddish ), and the A626 joins to the right. It enters the City of Manchester just before it meets the B6178 and becomes ''Stockport Road'' near the '' Shell Levenshulme'' station on the right. Near the junction with the B5093 is the Levenshulme Railway Station . It goes under the railway and meets the A5079 ''Slade Lane'' from the south. There are crossroads with the A6010, and the A5184 leaves to the left. In Longsight , it meets the A665 Manchester inner ring road and the A57 at a roundabout, which it overlaps until it goes under the A57(M) / A635(M) , passing the old site of UMIST (now the University Of Manchester ). Manchester - Chorley North of Manchester, the road continues through Manchester and Salford , and passes through the various mill towns of central Lancashire , notably through Preston and Lancaster . Its route remains paralleled by the M6 motorway here, including the oldest motorway stretches in the UK. In Manchester, the road crosses the River Irwell and enters the borough of Salford. Here the road is called ''The Crescent'' for a short stretch, which passes several places of cultural interest, including the University Of Salford , and Salford Museum and Art Gallery on the right, as well as the Old Fire Station and the Working Class Movement Library on the left. Along this stretch it also passes Salford Crescent train station on the Buxton-Blackpool line. It goes under the on the right, progressing towards the town of Little Hulton , which it enters a few minutes later. It meets the A5082 (for Tyldesley and Farnworth) at crossroads near St Paul, Peel church , becoming ''Manchester Road West'', passing St Pauls Peel and Wharton primary schools. On leaving Little Hulton, the road enters the borough of . It crosses the and the Train Station , then meets the A581 and B6229. It passes the Texaco ''Preston Road Service Station'' and a hospital on the left and meets the B5252 at a roundabout where it crosses the Railway . The dual-carriageway A674 to the right goes to Blackburn via the nearby junction 8 of the M61 and a Mormon temple . Chorley - Carnforth From Chorley, it meets the B6229 and B5248 at ''North Road Service Station'' on the right, meets the A5071 ''Moor Lane'', passes the BP ''Key Filling Station'' on the right and Moor Park , and crosses the A5085, passing the '' Shell Fulwood'' garage on the left. At Fulwood , it meets the B6242 at crossroads, then passes the Texaco ''Fulwood Service Station'', Sharoe Green Hospital and Sharoe Green . It meets the B6241 Preston ring road near junction 1 of the M55 , the other end of Britain's first motorway where it no longer is a trunk road. It passes the ''Toll Bar Service Station'' on the left and BP ''Bowling Green Service Station'' on the right. It meets the A588 for ''Carnforth Service Station'' on the left, and meets the B6254 to the right which leads to M6 junction 35. Carnforth - Carlisle Leaving becoming a trunk road, the dual-carriageway Kendal bypass. It passes Sizergh Castle and the BP ''Prizet Filling Station'', before leaving at a GSJ becoming the single carriageway ''Milnthorpe Road''. It passes the BP ''Helsington Service Station'' and passes through Kendal splitting in two, where it meets the northern end of the A65 . In Kendal, it passes Kendal College and the at ''Kemplay'' roundabout next to Penrith Hospital. It takes a central route through . The A6 travels through south-eastern Carlisle as ''London Road'', before finishing at ''Botchergate'' in the centre of Carlisle where it transforms seamlessly into the A7 . FORMER ROUTE SOUTH OF LUTON The route of the old A6 south of Luton is now the and A1081. A6 is the longest road in England SEE ALSO
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