The UK road network has a lot of oddities, and its own set of extremes and records. The country is home to the world's widest road, and probably the world's shortest motorway!
This page lists some of the UK's road records - if you know one, let us know!
The longest...
Classified road
This honour belongs to the Great North Road, the A1, which stretches for 397
miles (639km) between London and Edinburgh. Next is the A38 at 309 miles (497km) - these are the
only two numbered roads that are more than 300 miles in length.
B road
Running from Heddon-on-the-Wall to Langholm, the B6318 runs for 61 miles (98km),
parallel to Hadrian's Wall for much of its distance.
Motorway
The M6 is the longest single motorway, running for 236 miles (380km) from Catthorpe to
just south of Gretna. Add the A74(M) and M74 into the mix, and you have a single
continuous motorway mainline running for 317 miles (510km).
Ring road
At 121 miles (195km) long, the London Orbital is not just the UK's longest ring
road, but also the longest in the world. This figure includes the short section
that is the A282.
...and the shortest
Classified road
This is not as easy, due to the lack of comprehensive listings - however, the
most likely is the A893 in Ullapool, at just 400 yards (365m) in length.
Named street
The honour for the shortest named street goes to
Ebenezer Place in Wick. This one was a little controversial when it was
first claimed, as people claimed it was little more than a corner! However, it
officially stands, and the road measures a tiny 6ft 9in (206 cm).
Motorway
I'd say this honour belongs to the A308(M), at 1056 yards (1km) long - but it has a
couple of strong contenders!
The A635(M) exists on paper, but isn't signposted on the ground. It is a 330yd (302m) portion of the Mancunian Way in Manchester that runs to the east of the A6, but signage shows it as A57(M).
The other contender is the A64(M) in Leeds. Due to the complexity of the junction at its eastern end, one carriageway is significantly longer than the other (1 mile compared to half a mile) - even when the average lengths are considered, the A308(M) still wins.
Widest and narrowest
Widest road (multiple carriageways)
Worsley Braided Interchange, where the M61 hits the M60 and A580, is well known
for being a complex mass of slip roads stretched across 2.5 miles (4km) of Linnyshaw
Moss in Greater Manchester. However, it is also home to the widest section of
road in the UK at
18 lanes wide.
Widest road (dual carriageway)
The M25 manages to stretch itself so wide, it has six lanes in each direction
where is passes Heathrow Airport. This massive width, however, does not last
long, as it only runs for two miles between junctions 14 and 15.
Narrowest road
At a tiny 64cm (25in) wide at its narrowest point - and 122cm (48in) at its
widest! - the narrowest street in the UK is Exeter's Parliament Street. It is so
narrow that it is not possible for two people to pass side-by-side, so there's
no chance of getting down there in a car!
Narrowest motorway
Well, that honour goes to the A601(M) in Lancashire. The half-mile section to
east of the M6 is single carriageway, and measures 7.3 metres in width (24 feet,
excludes the two narrow hard strips).
High and Low
Highest road
The highest metalled road (i.e. asphalt surphace) is a
small private road leading from the village of Knock to the radar station at
the summit of Great Dun Fell; the road reaches the dizzy heights of 2780ft
(847m) above
sea level! In terms of classified roads, the highest numbered route is the
A93 near Cairnwell which manages to get to an elevation of 2182ft (665m).
Highest motorway
At 1221ft (372m) above sea level,
the M62 at Junction 22 tops the table for the highest point on the motorway
network. This is followed by the
M6 at Shap Summit, although this comes some way behind at only 1036 ft
(316m).
Lowest road
The lowest surface road is a
small lane to the north east of Holme, near Peterborough. Its lowest point
has been confirmed at 5ft 4in (162cm) below sea level. The lowest classified road has
been deemed to be
the B660 a little further to the east of Holme.
To the extreme!
Most northerly
The most northerly classified road is the
B9087, which terminates at the village of Norwick in Shetland (60° 49' N).
The northernmost numbered road on the British mainland is the
B855, which runs up to Dunnet Head near Thurso (58° 40'N).
Most easterly
The most easterly classified road is the
A12, which hugs the eastern coastline around Lowestoft (1° 45' E).
Most westerly
The most westerly classified road in the UK the
A46 at the Irish border at Belleek (8° 6'W). Meanwhile, over on the
mainland, the westernmost classified road is the
B884 which finishes its journey in the village of Lower Milovaig in the
Highlands (6° 45' W).
Most southerly
The most southerly numbered route is the
A3112 on the island of St Mary's (49° 54' N), whilst on the mainland, the
honour goes to the
A3083 down in the Cornwall village of Lizard (49° 58' N).
Other records
Busiest motorway
Carrying 196,000 vehicles per day, the section of the M25 around Heathrow
Airport (between the M4 and M40) is well known for being the busiest stretch of
road in the UK. The motorway briefly lost the title to the northern section of
the M60, but this was down to people using other routes to avoid the widening
works on this part of the M25.
Steepest road
The steepest signposted road is
Ffordd pen Llech, a small lane found in the village of Harlech on the Welsh
Coast. The gradient is
signed as being 40% - or 1:2.5 in old money!!!
Longest distance between
motorway junctions
The longest distance between junctions is on the M11,
where the distance between junctions 8 and 9 is 15.2 miles
(27.1km).
Shortest distance between
motorway junctions
The M8 through central Glasgow is riddled with a mish-mash of complex junctions,
many of which are very close together - so much so that there are seven
junctions within the space of two miles! Its not surprising, then, that the
closest distance between two junctions is on this stretch of motorway - there is
only 160m (175 yards) between junctions 18 and 19.
Longest distance between
motorway exits
At a tad over 18 miles (29km), the longest gap between exits is when heading
westbound between M26 junction 2A and M25 junction 6. There is a junction in
between, however traffic using the M26 can only go one way when reaching the
M25, and that is straight onto the clockwise carriageway. It is so long that
signs have been erected on the M26 to warn motorists of the distance.
Highest numbers
The highest numbers allocated to each classification are:
| A Road: | A9013 |
| B Road: | B9177 |
| Motorway: | M898 |
| A...(M): | A823(M) |