primary destinations

Primary destinations, also known as regional destinations, are a set of destinations of importance that are used as principal points on the primary route network. They are the key target destinations that are are shown on direction signs and route confirmation signs across the road network, principally for use on motorway and primary route signs, but are used on lower-class routes too.

Generally, the primary destinations are used alongside local place names that are chosen by the relevant highway authority. They should appear first as the general rule is for destinations to be listed in order of distance, starting with the furthest on direction signs and the nearest on route confirmation signs. However, this rule isn't always applied!

Most primary destinations are cities and major towns, where large volumes of traffic are expected to head towards due to their size. However, particularly in rural areas, smaller towns or even villages may have primary destination status applied if they are located at a major road junction - Betws-y-Coed in Wales, Brough in Northumberland and Crainlarich in Scotland are examples of this. In some cases, road junctions - such as Scotch Corner - are given the same status due to their national importance. For similar reasons some airports, sea ports, bridges and tunnels have been designated as primary destinations.

The status of primary destinations is maintained alongside primary routes by the Department of Transport, in association with the Highways Agency, Scottish Executive and Welsh Assembly. The list of primary destinations was originally prescribed in Appendix 3 of Local Transport Note 1/94: The Design and Use of Directional Informatory Signs (LTN 1/94), however an updated list of English primary destinations was published by the Department of Transport in December 2009, and will officially form part of Chapter 2 of the Traffic Signs Manual once that is published.

	1994 list of Primary Destinations
	PDF document (180 Kb)

List of Primary Destinations

Primary route destinations are listed by the geographic regions areas in which they are located.

England

East
Basildon, Beccles, Bedford, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Clacton, Colchester, Cromer, Dartford Crossing, Diss, Downham Market, Dunstable, Ely, Felixstowe, Great Yarmouth, Harlow, Harwich, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, Huntingdon, Ipswich, King’s Lynn, Lowestoft, Luton, Newmarket, Norwich, Peterborough, Southend, St Albans, Stansted Airport, Stevenage, Sudbury, Swaffham, Thetford, Tilbury, Watford, Wisbech

East Midlands
Ashbourne, Boston, Buxton, Chesterfield, Corby, Derby, Gainsborough, Grantham, Hinckley, Kettering, Leicester, Lincoln, Loughborough, Mansfield, Market Harborough, Matlock, Melton Mowbray, Newark, Northampton, Nottingham, Oakham, Skegness, Sleaford, Spalding, Stamford, Wellingborough, Worksop

Greater London
Heathrow Airport, London

The following destinations are generally only signed within the M25:
Barking, Bexleyheath, Brent Cross, Brixton, Bromley, Central London, Clapham Junction, Croydon, Dalston, Docklands, Ealing, Enfield, Hammersmith, Harrow, Holloway, Hounslow, Ilford, Kilburn, Kingston, Lewisham, Peckham, Richmond, Romford, Stratford, Sutton, The City, Uxbridge, Walthamstow, Wembley, West End, Westminster, Wimbledon, Wood Green, Woolwich

North East
Alnwick, Ashington, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Bishop Auckland, Consett, Corbridge, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Hexham, Middlesbrough, Morpeth, Newcastle, South Shields, Stockton, Sunderland, Teesside, Tynemouth, Tyne Tunnel

North West
Altrincham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Barrow-in-Furness, Birkenhead, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Bootle, Brough, Burnley, Bury, Carlisle, Chester, Clitheroe, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Fleetwood, Garston, Heysham, Huyton, Kendal, Keswick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancaster, Leigh, Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester, Manchester Airport, Morecambe, Nantwich, Northwich, Oldham, Penrith, Preston, Rochdale, Runcorn, St Helens, Salford, Skelmersdale, Southport, Speke, Stockport, Trafford Park, Wallasey, Warrington, Whitehaven, Widnes, Wigan, Windermere

South East
Amersham, Andover, Ashford, Aylesbury, Banbury, Basingstoke, Beaconsfield, Bognor Regis, Bracknell, Brighton, Canterbury, Channel Tunnel, Chichester, Crawley, Dartford Crossing, Dorking, Dover, East Grinstead, Eastbourne, Fareham, Farnham, Folkestone, Gatwick Airport, Guildford, Hastings, High Wycombe, Horsham, Lewes, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Margate, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Newhaven, Oxford, Petersfield, Portsmouth, Ramsgate, Reading, Reigate, Ringwood, Sevenoaks, Sheerness, Slough, Southampton, Staines, Tunbridge Wells, Uckfield, Winchester, Worthing

South West
Barnstaple, Bath, Bideford, Blandford, Bodmin, Bournemouth, Bridgwater, Bristol, Bude, Cheltenham, Chippenham, Cirencester, Dorchester, Exeter, Exmouth, Falmouth, Frome, Glastonbury, Gloucester, Helston, Honiton, Launceston, Liskeard, Marlborough, Newquay, Okehampton, Paignton, Penzance, Plymouth, Poole, Redruth, St Austell, Salisbury, Shepton Mallet, Swindon, Taunton, Tavistock, Torquay, Trowbridge, Truro, Wadebridge, Warminster, Weston-super-Mare, Weymouth, Yeovil

West Midlands
Birmingham, Bridgnorth, Bromsgrove, Brownhills, Burton-upon-Trent, Cannock, Coventry, Dudley, Evesham, Hereford, Kidderminster, Leamington Spa, Leek, Leominster, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Nuneaton, Oswestry, Redditch, Ross-on-Wye, Rugby, Rugeley, Shrewsbury, Solihull, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Stone, Stourbridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Tamworth, Telford, Uttoxeter, Walsall, Warwick, West Bromwich, Whitchurch, Wolverhampton, Worcester

Yorkshire and The Humber
Barnsley, Bradford, Bridlington, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Goole, Grimsby, Halifax, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Hull, Humber Bridge, Immingham, Keighley, Leeds, Pontefract, Ripon, Rotherham, Scarborough, Scotch Corner, Scunthorpe, Selby, Sheffield, Skipton, Thirsk, Wakefield, Wetherby, Whitby, York

Scotland
Aberdeen, Ayr, Campbeltown, Crianlarich, Dumfries, Dundee, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Elgin, Erskine Bridge, Forfar, Forth Road Bridge, Fort William, Fraserburgh, Galashiels, Glasgow, Greenock, Hawick, Inverness, Irvine, Jedburgh, Kilmarnock, Kincardine Bridge, Kirkcaldy, Kyle of Lochalsh, Mallaig, Montrose, Newtonmore, Oban, Paisley, Perth, Peterhead, Stirling, Stranraer, Tay Bridge, Thurso, Uig, Ullapool, Wick

Wales
Abergavenny, Aberystwyth, Bala, Bangor, Betws-y-coed, Brecon, Bridgend, Builth Wells, Caernarfon, Cardiff, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Chepstow, Conwy, Cwmbran, Dolgellau, Fishguard, Haverfordwest, Holyhead, Llandeilo, Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Llandudno, Llanelli, Llangollen, Llangurig, Machynlleth, Merthyr Tydfil, Milford Haven, Mold, Monmouth, Neath, Newport, Newtown, Pembroke Dock, Porthmadog, Port Talbot, Queensferry, Rhayader, Ruthin, St Clears, Swansea, Tenby, Welshpool, Wrexham

	Complete list of Primary Destinations
	PDF document (157 Kb)

Super-Primary Destinations

These are primary destination that have been selected as being of the greatest traffic importance due to their size and importance, as these are areas where the largest volumes of traffic will head to from particular roads. These destinations are generally displayed on a sign in preference to smaller primary routes, but where more than one primary destination is signed, the super-primary destination will be listed first.

However, following the publication of LTN 1/94, a distinction between primary and super-primary destinations is no longer made.

The super-primary destinations are:
Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Edinburgh, Exeter, Fishguard, Glasgow, Great Yarmouth, Harwich, Holyhead, Hull, Inverness, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Portsmouth and Southampton.

Regional Destinations

In addition to Primary Destinations, there is a set of Regional Destinations that are authorised for use by the Department for Transport. These are generally larger geographical areas, most of which are referred to by compass points.

These are:
- The NORTH
- The NORTH EAST
- The NORTH WEST
- The MIDLANDS
- The SOUTH
- The SOUTH WEST
- The WEST
- The LAKES
- NORTH WALES
- SOUTH WALES
- SCOTLAND.