Roads in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has a well developed and extensive network of roads totalling about. Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour or by the use of the national speed limit symbol. Some vehicle categories have various lower maximum limits enforced by speed limiters. A unified numbering system is in place for Great Britain, whilst in Northern Ireland, there is no available explanation for the allocation of road numbers.
The earliest specifically engineered roads were built during the prehistoric British Iron Age. The road network was expanded during the Roman occupation. Some of these roads still remain to this day. New roads were added in the Middle Ages and from the 17th century onwards. Whilst control has been transferred between local and central bodies, current management and development of the road network is shared between local authorities, the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and National Highways in England. Certain aspects of the legal framework remain under the control of the United Kingdom parliament.
Although some roads have much older origins, the network was heavily developed from the 1950s to the mid-1990s to meet the demands of modern traffic. Construction of roads has become increasingly problematic with various opposition groups such as direct action campaigns and environmentalists. There are various ongoing and planned road building projects.
In the UK, road safety policy is part of transport policy. "Transport 2010; The 10 Year Plan" states that the basic principle is that "people travel safely and feel secure whether they are on foot or bicycle, in a car, on a train, or bus, at sea or on a plane".
Road network
The UK has a road network totalling about of paved roads— in Great Britain, and in Northern Ireland.Administration
Responsibility for the road network differs between trunk and non-trunk routes. Trunk roads, which are the most important roads, are administered by National Highways in England, Transport Scotland in Scotland, the North and Mid Wales Trunk Road Agent, and South Wales Trunk Road Agent in Wales. England's of trunk roads account for 33% of all road travel and 50% of lorry travel. Scotland has, about 7% of the total roads in Scotland, accounting for 35% of all road journeys and over 50% of lorry movements.Wales has of trunk roads. 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. All other roads are the responsibility of the relevant county council or unitary authority. In Northern Ireland, DfI Roads is responsible for all roads. The pan-UK total is.
Whilst generally they are trunk roads, some motorways are the responsibility of local authorities, for example the M275.
Since 2008, location marker posts have appeared on motorways and major A roads in England, situated generally at intervals of 500metres, though the units are not given. These repeat the information given on the co-sited surveyors' marker post which, since the 1960s, have reported distances on such roads in kilometres from a datum—usually the start of the road, or the planned start-point of the road.
Classification
Numbered roads in the UK are signed as M, A, or B roads, as well as various categories of more minor roads: for internal purposes, local authorities may also use C, D and U ; use of C and U numbers on signs is unusual but examples can be found in all four countries in the UK.Each road is given a number which is combined with the prefix, for example M40, A40 and B1110, although their informal or traditional names may still be used or heard occasionally: for instance, the Great North Road and the Great Cambridge Road. These numbers follow a zonal system. There is no available explanation for the allocation of road numbers in Northern Ireland.
The majority of the major inter-urban routes are motorways, and are designed to carry long-distance traffic. The next category is the primary route network, formed from parts of the A-road network. A primary route is defined as:
In Scotland, the Scottish Government has confirmed that Primary Routes should be defined by and be consistent with the trunk road network.
In April 2015, a new standard was set to designate certain high-quality routes as Expressways. Whether this will result in any existing road classifications changing is unclear.
Primary destinations
Primary destinations are usually cities and large towns, to which, as a result of their size, a high volume of traffic is expected to go. However, in rural areas, smaller towns or villages may be given primary status if located at junctions of significant roads: for example, Llangurig in Wales and Crianlarich in Scotland. As a further example, Scotch Corner in northern England is not even a village—merely a hotel and a few other buildings—yet has the status of a primary destination due to its location at the interchange of the A1 and A66 roads. For similar reasons, certain airports, sea ports, bridges and tunnels have been designated as primary destinations. Conversely, some towns with a population of over 50,000 are not primary destinations, including Woking, Chatham and Cumbernauld.The status of both primary destinations and roads is maintained by the Department for Transport in combination with National Highways, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government. The concept of primary roads was introduced in the 1960s as part of a national reclassification of roads.
Regional destinations
Regional destinations are commonly used on long-distance routes throughout the country alongside primary destinations. They are displayed on signs in capitals to distinguish them from towns and cities. The boundaries of these regional destinations are not specifically defined and apply to generalised areas. The regions are: Mid Wales, North Wales, Scotland, South Wales, The East, The Lakes, The Dales, The Midlands, The North, The North East, The North West, The South, The South West and The West.Signage
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, speed is in miles per hour whilst height and width restrictions are required to be shown in feet and inches, though the metric measurements may optionally also appear. In September 2007 the European Commission ruled that the United Kingdom would never be required by them to convert signs to metric.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. It was introduced in 1965 and is governed by the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions. Signs may be of an informative, warning or instructional nature.
Instructional signs are generally circular. Warnings are triangular. Informative signs are rectangular or square. Motorway informative signs use white text on a blue background. Primary routes are indicated by green directional and distance signs with yellow text. Secondary roads use black text on a white background.
Electronic signage
On 27 March 1972, the first motorway computer-controlled warning lights in the UK, with 59 miles on the M6 from Broughton, Lancashire to Barthomley, on the Cheshire boundary, and 26 miles on the M62 east of Whitefield, was switched on by Michael Heseltine and Charles Legh Shuldham Cornwall-Legh, 5th Baron Grey of Codnor at the headquarters of Cheshire Constabulary on Nuns Road.It was centred at a police computer centre at Westhoughton, that connected to police stations in Preston and Chester. The Chester site was soon be connected to the M53 and M57. Four other regional computer centres would be opened at Perry Barr near the M6, Scratchwood near the M1, at Hook near the M3, and at Almondsbury near the M4. Most British motorways would be covered by 1975. The system was designed by GEC and had taken five years to design.
Driving
In the UK, vehicles are normally driven or ridden on the left and required to keep to the left except when overtaking, turning right or passing pedestrians, parked vehicles and other obstructions in the road. In Great Britain, the Highway Code applies. In Northern Ireland, the Highway Code for Northern Ireland applies.UK speed limits apply only to motor vehicles and are shown in mph. With a few exceptions, they are in multiples of 10, ranging from to. Unless a lower speed limit is posted on a road, the national speed limit applies, which varies between class of vehicles and the type of road. In a built-up area, unless signs indicate otherwise, a limit of applies. Other limits are shown in the table.
For a road to be classed as a dual carriageway, the two directions of traffic flow must be physically separated by a central reservation.
Enforcement of UK road speed limits increasingly uses speed guns, automated in-vehicle systems and automated roadside traffic cameras.