Guess the road

[Peter Mugridge]

Oh all right then... I'll put a ridiculously easy one up just to keep it going:


This road ends about five miles away from where it begins, but it takes well over an hour to get from end to end without leaving it.

 

[judethegreat]

Erm, well its not the A1, er, let me see.. M5? No. Dear - Oh, is it the A44?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

No, it's not I'm afraid. And I thought this would be a 5 minute clue!

 

[Ivo]

Not the A282 at rush hour I assume?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

No; it would take over an hour in normal good traffic conditions.

One more wrong guess and I'll throw in another clue.



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Oh come on, this is such a blindingly obvious easy one. I just cannot believe nobody has got it yet!

 

[Nym]

The M Twenty Sodding Five! M25

Think outwards of what Ivo Said with A282

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Well done Nym, yes I was thinking of the M25 and not the little bit that completes the circle.

Not a lot of extra clues I could have given without effectively saying it was the M25 but had I needed to put an extra clue up I would have said it passes about 5 miles from where I live.

 

[Nym]

I used to have three numbers but then I grew a bit and now I have one, I killed a whole number, split one in half and stole the end off another...

This should be as easy as the M25 one...

 

[Class172]

M60? With M63 being killed, M62 split and M66 stolen of an end.

Open floor if correct.

 

[Nym]

M60 be correct, another easy one, what road was supposed to be the main route on the high junction ends of the M60 that the M60 TOTSOs at...

 

[Ivo]

If ze floor be open I be taking ze floor!

A road of contrast: at one end, a stretch formerly designated an A(M) road, and almost right at the end, a restricted access area; at the other, a remote expanse with the odd small primary destination, the last of which has a harbour. A major motorway has the same number.

Which primary A road is this?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A3 to Portsmouth?

Floor open if it is, but I somehow don't think it's that easy...

 

[Ivo]

You don't believe it's that easy?

You'd be right to believe that. It isn't easy, and it isn't the A3 either. (Portsmouth isn't small ) And I so should have had M25; if I could think of the short bit of the loop, why not the long way round...?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I guess you were looking for major roads that were 5 miles long and just got focussed on that aspect?

 

[judethegreat]

Ok, I'll be serious again..
Nym - M62 or M66?
Ivo - A40?
By the way, got M25, but not M60..

 

[Nym]

Not M62 or M66, I'll clarify, this road wasn't built but it's a branch from a road that is built at both ends...

 

[Ivo]

Mine is the A40.

 

[judethegreat]

A6(M) (possibly later known as A555) Stockport north-south bypass?

 

[Nym]

A6M is correct...

 

[judethegreat]

Ok, this road, most of which in recent years upgraded to trunk status, but not at all fit to be, forms an inland alternative to the A27..

 

[Ivo]

The A272?

 

[judethegreat]

Yep.. Bit easier than my last one I supppse..
All yours...

 

[Ivo]

A primary route with more than one lane in each direction (I'm not saying whether it is a primary A road or a motorway at this stage), this road somewhere on the course of the River Severn supposedly owes its existence to a seriously flawed survey which grossly overestimated the need for it!

 

[madannie77]

Sounds like it could be the M50

 

[Ivo]

It might just be the M50, yes...

There is a second more believable and/or realistic story, which is that Labour (who for some stupid reason were in power at the time) wanted to link Cardiff and Birmingham by motorway, primarily for political gain (although they cited the industrial connections between South Wales and the West Midlands in general). But when the Conservatives came along, it had to be curtailed due to financial constraints.

A bit like now really; Labour's excessive recklessness has left the Conservatives picking up the pieces and having to tighten the purse strings!

In practice I think that to make such a connection they would have been better off linking further down the M5, possibly at Junction 14 (Wotton-under-Edge).

 

[judethegreat]

A bit like now really; Labour's excessive recklessness has left the Conservatives picking up the pieces and having to tighten the purse strings! ]
Don't let's get started in this thread.. :-/
Anyway, you suggeting with a new bridge over the severn, guess somewhere near the old rail one? The intention was for a motorway continuing straight ahead from the M50 (at the M5 end) to straight onto the M42 northwards at its M40 junction, making a direct route and both junctions a "crossroads". I can foresee now, with the recent diversion of the A46, and rebuilding to roundabout of junction 8, a new D2 A46 from there straight to (the north side of) Evesham..

 

[madannie77]

I am old enough to remember the M50 in its early years, when family journeys often involved its use. I often wondered why it was there and why it ended at Ross-on-Wye.

Back to the Quiz: I shall declare an open floor, as I haven't got any roads in mind at the moment (and it is more fun deciphering the clues than setting them).

 

[Ivo]

The floor is open again?

This road, which has its southern terminus on an island, has been curtailed fairly recently to terminate at a point on its former extended route where another A-road starts, meaning two A roads terminate in the same place from opposite directions! Instead, its old route has been downgraded to an extension of a B road that previously started at this same junction. The A road that starts at this same junction heading north has a number that is immediately greater than the road I require (i.e. A2 in contrast to A1; A607 against A606, etc).

 

[judethegreat]

A130? I've a feeling its now B road north of Chelmsford (used to go to Cambridge years ago..)

 

[Ivo]

Yep, that's the one. Now part of an extended B1008 north of Little Waltham (where the A131 starts).