Then to complicate matters, there are "Special Roads" like the A55 at Colwyn Bay.
(I have never understood the legalese of them!)
Normal (all-purpose) roads, are those which any class of traffic can use it unless specifically forbidden.
Special Roads are those which only allow certain classes of traffic, as specified in their relevant Statutory Instrument. i.e nothing can use it unless it's specifically allowed to.
All Motorways are Special Roads, but not all Special Roads are Motorways.
What about the A601(M) in Lancashire? This really is an odd one. Its single carraigeway for a start, but it still has a 70 MPH speed limit. And the number is out of sequence as the A601 in Derby!
The story of Britains motorways is one hell of a saga. When first introduced the transport minister was a chapped called Ernest Marples, and he was to say the least dodgy! He was a non executive director a civill engineering firm that got contracts to build motorways. Also at the time of course was the British Rail plan to close a third of the railway lines in this country, and boy are we paying the price for that short sighted plan.
And there are motorways in this country that are still not finished, and one in Lancashire the M65 that is known as the road to nowhere.
What about the A601(M) in Lancashire? This really is an odd one. Its single carraigeway for a start, but it still has a 70 MPH speed limit. And the number is out of sequence as the A601 in Derby!
The single-carriageway section of the A601(M) running SE from the M6 J35 to the B6254, AKA "The Carnforth Link", was downgraded to become a spur of the B6254 earlier this year, losing its 70mph limit in the process.
The remainder, running NW from the M6 J35 to J35a, is the stub of the original M6 Lancaster Bypass, so was already a Special Road before it got the A601(M) number.
The M55 here in Lancashire has no junction 2. Thats because there was a plan for another motorway called the M59 to run from that junction to the M58, and thats why the M58 has no junction 2 (or is it 3). At the moment there is a lot of work going on on the M55 from the M6 junction to what will become junction 2 which will join up with the Preston "western distributor road" which is also being built as I write. And one day we will have a bridge over the Ribble to the west of Preston. The USAAF offered to build one during wwii but government said no.
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