United Kingdom | Area code 44 | Common abbreviation GB | Last updated 10-11-2007 |
| Road class | Syntax explanation | Administrative subordination | Sub classes | Zones | System | Remarks |
| European road | E[0-9]<2-3> | Europe | See Europe | Never appear on signs and are (hardly ever) used, for administration only |
| Motorway | M[0-9]<1-3> | national | 1-d | Roughly corresponding to A roads | Some clustering | Exit numbers: sequential |
| 2-d |
| 3-d |
| A road with motorway characteristics | A[0-9]<1-4>'('M')' | national | | Usually integral part of A road but sometimes parallel |
| Main road (class 1 road) | A[0-9]<1-4> | national | 1-d | See A road zones | Some clustering |
| 2-d |
| 3-d |
| 4-d |
| Secondary road (class 2 road) | B[0-9]<3-4> | national | | Same as for A roads | Some clustering |
| Minor road | (C[0-9]<1-3>) | county | | | | For administration only |
| Main City Roads in Milton Keynes: |
| Horizontal road | H1-10 | municipal | | southwest - northeast, with numbers increasing in southeastbound direction |
| Vertical road | V1-11 | | northwest - southeast, with numbers increasing in northeastbound direction |
| General description: There are (very few) single carriageway motorways. Numbers are not directly derived from 'A' numbers, but zoning corresponds to zones of 'A' numbers. |
| Zones for A roads: Great Britain has been divided into nine zones bounded by nine trunk roads, six of which (A1-A6) radiate in clockwise order from London, and the remaining three (A7-A9) similarly from Edinburgh. Each zone bears the number of the road bounding it upon the left, facing outwards from the centre. Each road commencing in any particular zone is given a number beginning with that zone numeral, and retains this number throughout its entire length irrespective of the zone in which it terminates (Ministry of Transport, 1919). Within zones, there is some clustering but no derivation by adding digits. |
| The class distiniction is not very strict: an important main road can have a 4-digit number. In general, however, higher numbers tend to have shorter routes than lower numbers. For a list of all A roads, see Route list |
Primary routes form a national network of recommended through routes which complement the motorway system. They are usually A roads, but can in exceptional cases be B roads. |
| C roads are normally not signposted and used for administration only. However, some do appear on signs. A lot of information can be found on Chris's British road directory. |
Road signs: blue for motorways, green for primary routes and white for other roads. Motorway numbers are always signposted but other numbers are sometimes not indicated in cities. In London, for example, there are hundreds of A and B numbers that do not appear on any signs. Occasionally, they appear under a street name sign (on a building).
Indirect references to road numbers, and destinations that are not (directly) along the indicated road, appear between brackets. Road numbers are also between brackets on confirmatory signs. |
| Road type | Background | Text including road numbers |
| Motorways | Blue | White |
| Primary routes | Green | White (numbers yellow/orange) |
| Other roads | White | Black |
History: A and B numbers were introduced in 1919. Many roads still bear the same number as at the beginning, but there have been significant changes recently. In particular, many main A roads (with a 2-d number) that ran more or less parallel to a motorway have been downgraded to a 4-d A number or to a B number.
On 22 May 2000, most main roads in Greater London were designated as GLA roads (Greater London Authority - also called London Government Highways). This includes all motorways not connected to the main motorway network (A40(M), A102(M) and M41) which were downgraded to A40, A12/A102 and A3220 respectively.
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Sources and links: Personal experience, various maps and atlases
Official sites:
- Highways Agency
- The GLA Roads Designation Order 2000
Other links:
- RAC
- SABRE The Society for All British Road Enthusiasts
- Major Roads of Great Britain
- UK-roads
- UK-roads Paul Berry
- Apex Corner Tom Sutch
- Chris's British road directory Chris Marshall
- The History of north London's Radial Roads Oliver Merrington
- Euroroutes in the UK
- M6 Toll
- The Association of British Drivers: Britain's Baulked Bypasses
Specific roads:
- The Great North Road (A1) Biff Vernon
- M6 Toll
Other pages within this site:
- Road sign colours
- Europe
- A roads
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| Areas with their own road numbering systems: |
| Isle of Man | There are no motorways. A and B numbers have 1 or 2 digits |
| Jersey | There are no motorways. A and B numbers have 1 or 2 digits. There are C numbers with 2 or 3 digits. |
| Northern Ireland | |
| A roads have syntax: | A[0-9]<1-2>;A500-14 | There are two roads with the number A37 |
| B roads have syntax: | B100-210;B500-540 | Numbers are unique only within each county. Examples of multiple B numbers: B2 and B3 appear separately in Armagh and Down, B52 and B53 appear in Antrim and in Fermanagh and B158 appears in Tyrone and in Antrim. When a B number crosses a county border, the number does continue |