This year marks the 100th anniversary of the roads numbering system and it continues to play an enormous role in helping people navigate their journeys
National Highways looks after a 670-mile network of motorways and A roads within the Yorkshire and North East region with the A1 –the Great North Road.
Although the national road numbering scheme came into effect in April 1923, the 397-mile route linking London to Edinburgh, via North Yorkshire (North and West Riding as it was then) was given top billing of A1 by the then Ministry of Transport in 1921.
The stretch of the A1 in England has seen multiple improvements in the past 100 years, with four sections being categorised as motorways, one through North Yorkshire, and given the name A1(M).
It means that it has divertedd from the orginal route and doesn’t go through Boroughbridge or Leeming Bar any more.
During the last two years, more than £270 million has been invested in maintaining and renewing the roads in the region with the planning and launching of various projects with an aim to make improvements to the A1, A19, A63 and A64.
However the roads are still subject to long delays when things go wrong and many people think that the A64 needs dualing all the way from York to Scarborough on safety grounds.
In England and Wales the road numbering system for all non-motorway roads is based on a radial pattern centred on London. In Scotland the same scheme is centred on Edinburgh.
In both cases the main single-digit roads normally define the zone boundaries.
The exception is between Zones 1 and 2, where the River Thames defines the boundary so that all of Kent is in Zone 2.
So the main north to south road in North Yorkshire is the A1 and A19, A171, A169 are numbered such as to reflect it’s in Zone 1: North of the Thames, east of the A1.
The A64 and A63 as well as the A61 are based on Zone 6: East of the A6, west of the A1 covering eastern Lancashire, North East England, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire.
It is always based on the starting point of the road not the ending one.
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A new survey by National Highways has revealed that 4 in 10 people intend to holiday in the United Kingdom this year with many due to swap the hustle and bustle of city living for a quieter time elsewhere.
The survey showed that 3 in 10 people will be heading to coastal areas and the seaside for a summer getaway – including Whitby and Scarborough.
This year, holidaymakers heading off on their travels this summer are being invited to celebrate the 100th anniversary of England’s road numbering system.
National Highways has teamed up with the National Trust to celebrate the ‘staycation’ which coincides with a year-long celebration of the road numbering system.