A66 road

A66 shield

A66
Route information
Length: 115 mi (185 km)
Major junctions
From: Workington
  A595 A595 road
A596 A596 road
A5271 A5271 road
A591 A591 road
A592 A592 road
[[Image:Motorway Left.svg|[ |x30px|link=]] M6 motorway
A6 A6 road
A686 A686 road
A685 A685 road
A67 A67 road
A6108 A6108 road
[[Image:Motorway Left.svg|[ |x22px|link=]] A1(M) motorway
[[Image:Motorway Left.svg|[ |x22px|link=]] A1(M) motorway (J53)
A167 A167 road
A1150 A1150 road
A135 A135 road
A1130 A1130 road
A19 A19 road
A1032 A1032 road
A178 A178 road
A172 A172 road
A171 A171 road
A1085 A1085 road
A1053 A1053 road
To: Grangetown
Location
Primary
destinations:		 Keswick, Penrith, Brough, Scotch Corner, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough
Road network

The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith.[1] It runs from east of Middlesbrough in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria.[2] It is anomalously numbered since west of Penrith it trespasses into numbering zone 5; this is because it originally terminated at the A6 in Penrith but was extended further west in order to create one continuous east–west route. Most of what is now the A66 west of Penrith was originally A594 – only a small stub of this road numbering remains, from Maryport to Cockermouth.

From its eastern terminus between Redcar and Middlesbrough it runs past Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington mainly as two-lane dual-carriageway and single carriageway past Darlington, becoming motorway standard as the A66(M) shortly before meeting junction 57 of the A1(M). It follows the A1(M) south to Scotch Corner, from where it continues west across the Pennines, past Brough, Appleby, Kirkby Thore, Temple Sowerby and Penrith until it reaches Junction 40 of the M6 motorway at Skirsgill Interchange, where traffic going towards Western Scotland turns onto the northbound M6. The A66 continues past Blencathra to Keswick and Cockermouth and on through the northern reaches of the Lake District before arriving at the coastal town of Workington. There is a short stretch of dual carriageway along the northern part of Bassenthwaite Lake between Keswick and Cockermouth. Whilst the eastbound section follows the straight line of the disused Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway, the westbound section has numerous bends with climbs and dips. The westbound section was closed due to flood damage in December 2015 and when it re-opened in May 2016 had been permanently reduced to a single lane. This section has a 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) limit monitored by average speed cameras.[3]

History

When road numbers were first designated in the 1920s,[4] the A66 was assigned to the route between Penrith and Hull via Scotch Corner and York, mainly along former Roman roads.[5] Today's route largely follows the original route between Penrith and Scotch Corner. The historic route between Scotch Corner and Hull follows what is now today's A1, A168, B6265, A59 and A1079.

Proposed developments

Trans-Pennines dualling

The middle 56 miles (90 km) section of the A66 between Scotch Corner on the A1 and Penrith on the M6 forms one of the key trans-Pennines trunk routes and has one of the worst road-safety records in the UK. Various bypasses and upgrades have been constructed since the early 1970s, giving the current mix of single and dual-carriageway sections. In 2002, after many years of local campaigning, the Transport Minister, John Spellar, gave support for the upgrading of the remaining single-carriageway sections by the Highways Agency.[6] The first three projects began construction in early 2006 and opened in 2007[7] and 2008. The whole route between the A1 and M6 was due to be dualled by 2011, by which time the A1 at Scotch Corner was also due to have been upgraded to motorway standard.

After the construction of several sections commenced, it was announced that those schemes currently in the planning phase would not go ahead until 2016 at the earliest. The Highways Agency website states "Other than those already committed, the Regions did not identify any other major schemes for the A66 as high priorities to receive funding. This means that there is currently no likelihood of any additional major schemes on this route being funded within the next ten-year period. However the Regional Funding Allocation process will be reviewed in due course and this will give an opportunity for the Regions to revise their priorities."

In September 2015, the government said that £500,000 would be invested into the study of the two Trans-Pennine routes of the A66 and the A69. The proposal would be for one or even both roads to be dualled wholly between the A1/A1(M) and the M6.[8]

Section Start End Section Length (Miles) Dual-carriageway Notes
M6-A6 M6 J40 A6 0.7 Opened 1971
Penrith Bypass A6 Brougham 1.5 Opened 1971
Penrith-Temple Sowerby Brougham Winderwath 2.8 – On hold
Temple Sowerby Bypass Winderwath Temple Sowerby East 2.6 Opened 2007
Temple Sowerby-Appleby Temple Sowerby East Crackenthorpe 4.4 – On hold
Appleby Bypass Crackenthorpe Coupland 3.7 Opened by 1982
Warcop Bypass Coupland Brough West 4.4 – On hold
Brough Bypass Brough West Brough East 2.0 Opened 1977
Brough-Stainmore Brough East Stainmore 1.0 Opened 1994
Stainmore Bypass Stainmore Banks Gate 2.4 Opened 1992
Bowes Moor Banks Gate Bowes West 8.7 Opened 1993
Bowes Bypass Bowes West Bowes East 1.1 – On hold
Boldron Bypass Bowes East Cross Lanes 2.5 Opened by 1983
Cross Lanes-Greta Bridge Cross Lanes Greta Bridge West 1.6 – On hold
Greta Bridge Bypass Greta Bridge West Greta Bridge East 1.5 Opened 1980
Greta Bridge-Stephen Bank Greta Bridge East Stephen Bank 2.3 Opened 2008
Stephen Bank-Carkin Moor Stephen Bank Carkin Moor 2.5 – On hold
Carkin Moor-Scotch Corner (A1) Carkin Moor Scotch Corner (A1) 3.8 Opened 2007[5]

All dates for openings are estimates based on information provided by the Highways Agency and are subject to change or delay.

Safety

The section of road between Scotch Corner and Penrith accounted for 70 deaths over ten years up until 2002, which was above the national average for single lane carriageways.[6] Whilst the number of accidents was in line with the national average, the number of Serious injuries and deaths was twice the national average; this high attrition rate was the reason for the go-ahead for the new dualled sections on the grounds of safety.[9]

Snow gates were installed on the road between Bowes and Brough.[10] This section is the moorland route over Stainmore summit which reaches a height of 1380 feet (421 metres) is prone to heavy snow in the winter.[11] Both sets of gates have turnaround facilities to allow all traffic to change direction.

Accidents and incidents

A66(M)

A66(M) shield

A66(M)
Route information
Length: 2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Existed: 1965 – present
Major junctions
From: Cleasby
 
A1(M) motorway
To: Stapleton
Road network

The A66(M) is a spur from the A1(M) at Junction 57. It was opened in 1965 along with the A1(M) as part of the Darlington by-pass motorway.[13] It can be accessed only by northbound traffic on the A1(M) and has an exit to this route southbound only.

Junctions

A66(M) motorway junctions
Westbound exits (B carriageway) Junction Eastbound exits (A carriageway)
The South, Scotch Corner A1(M) A1(M), J57 Start of motorway
Start of motorway Terminus Darlington A66
Stapleton, Barton

References

  1. ↑ Map of Roman Roads in Britain
  2. ↑ "A66 - Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki". www.sabre-roads.org.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Safety Cameras to Improve A66 Safety" (Press Release). Highways Agency. 2 February 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Guidance on Road Classification and the Primary Route Network" (PDF). UK HMG. p. 3. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  5. 1 2 "A66 Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner Improvement - One Year After Study" (PDF). Highways Agency. p. 8. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Environment warning over road plan". BBC. 23 August 2002. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "CBRD » Road Schemes » A66 Dualling Scotch Corner - Stephen Bank". www.cbrd.co.uk. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  8. ↑ "Northern Powerhouse study to look at dualling whole of A66 and A69". nechronicle. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  9. ↑ "Carkin Moor to Scotch Corner Improvement - One Year After Study" (PDF). Highways Agency. p. 23. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Cumbria's A66 route has snow gates installed". BBC News. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Hundreds trapped in A66 snow chaos". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Three killed in school bus crash in Cumbria". BBC News. BBC. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  13. ↑ The Motorway Archive – A1(M) & A66(M) The Darlington By-Pass motorway Dates Page
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Coordinates: 54°31′49″N 2°15′35″W / 54.53021°N 2.25971°W / 54.53021; -2.25971

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