UK towns/cities with ring roads

[wilbers]

After passing signs yesterday about the Carlisle southern link road that will complete the ring road for the city (https://legacy.cumberland.gov.uk/cslr/) I was wondering how many towns and cities in the UK have a ring road using A roads or better (so not local B roads)? Not generally counting those very short ones exclusively within the town/city centre (e.g. Newcastle-under-Lyme), but ones like Manchester inner ring road would count (and the M60 counts again).

York is an obvious example for another near circular ring-road, but places like Derby still have one albeit non-circular. I'm thinking due to history and geography (somewhere on the coast much less likely to have one) the total may be less than I thought it was before starting to look.

 

[transportphoto]

Norwich has two, an inner and an outer ring road, both classified as A roads.

The outer ring road being formed of the A146/A140/A1042/A1242. The inner ring being the A147.

The A1270 and the A47 are almost a complete ring - although are bypasses.

 

[Magdalia]

A proper Ring Road should have the same number all the way round, and not use arterial routes to join up.

Good examples of proper ring roads are Birmingham's A4540 and Coventry's A4053.

 

[Kilopylae]

Oxford ring road fits the bill perfectly, being a dual carriageway around the outer edge of the city, with a consistent number, A4142.

Exeter does not have its own ring road.... but Rydon Lane is erroneously signposted as such from Pinhoe Rd, despite only running north–south along the eastern edge of the city.

 

[swt_passenger]

Oxford ring road fits the bill perfectly, being a dual carriageway around the outer edge of the city, with a consistent number, A4142.

Er really? The western bit that I regularly use is signed throughout as the A34. The northern part is A40 or A44. There’s also a short Southern section that is A423. The A4142 is only “consistent” for about 25%.


But do any significant ring roads still have those extra little signs above the main signs with a letter R in a green box?

 

[Tetchytyke]

Bradford’s ring road A6177 is a complete ring. Leeds’ ring road A6110/A6120 is not (and the last bit is uncategorised as it fizzled out in Middleton estate). So it depends how specific you want to be!

 

[Kilopylae]

Er really? The western bit that I regularly use is signed throughout as the A34. The northern part is A40 or A44. There’s also a short Southern section that is A423. The A4142 is only “consistent” for about 25%.

I stand corrected!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

But do any significant ring roads still have those extra little signs above the main signs with a letter R in a green box?

Those signs seem to be an endangered species. Huddersfield and Dewsbury's ring-roads are both disqualified by the OP's rules, but Dewsbury ring-road is the only place I know of that still has the signs.

 

[swt_passenger]

I stand corrected!

I initially thought only the A34 was different, then I went all the way round on Google maps…

 

[JD2168]

Sheffield has a complete ring road in the City Centre, now rather stupidly included in the Clean Air Zone.

 

[PTR 444]

Lincoln would have one if the southern section from Hykeham to Sleaford Road ever gets built.

 

[John Webb]

Watford in Hertfordshire has an inner relief road, which appears to be entirely the A411 and forms an elongated ring. It was built in the late 1950s and is named Exchange Road on the west and north parts and Beechen Grove on the east and south parts.

 

[Ken H]

Does Manchester count with the M60? OK a lot of it was M62, M63, M56 and a bit of M65 but now its M60 all round.

Why manchester got a whole new number while brum has M42, M5 and M6 to do the same job i dunno.

 

[SteveM70]

Coventry's A4053

One of the worst designed roads in the UK

 

[Ken H]

A proper Ring Road should have the same number all the way round, and not use arterial routes to join up.

Good examples of proper ring roads are Birmingham's A4540 and Coventry's A4053.

A4053 has a bit of A4600 on the eastern side.

 

[Lewlew]

Basingstoke has dual carriageway A roads all around the town

 

[WizCastro197]

Leicester's A563?

 

[swt_passenger]

Basingstoke has dual carriageway A roads all around the town

Except where it’s still single, in the south to southwest section. I think the land is owned for dualling, but it never happened.

 

[vlad]

Not generally counting those very short ones exclusively within the town/city centre (e.g. Newcastle-under-Lyme)....

You could argue Newcastle has an outer ring road that's formed of the M6 and A500.

 

[tomuk]

You could argue Newcastle has an outer ring road that's formed of the M6 and A500.

Known as the D road

 

[Ken H]

A Side interest is ring road buses
Leeds had the 9. It eventually became a circle using minor roads near Swillington. 9's ran both ways with the helpful destination 'Ring Road,
Bradford had the 49 and 50 doing its ring road circulars.
Birmingham had the 11 on its ring road. 11A and 11C. Anticlockwise and Clockwise.
Any more?

 

[Magdalia]

Leicester's A563?

Nearly but not quite. There is a bit missing on the east side of the city.

 

[telstarbox]

The Medway towns have one using the A289 and A278 dual carriageways. The M2 completes the circle.

 

[Andrew1395]

Watford in Hertfordshire has an inner relief road, which appears to be entirely the A411 and forms an elongated ring. It was built in the late 1950s and is named Exchange Road on the west and north parts and Beechen Grove on the east and south parts.

It was only completed in the early 1980s, with the final part being the extension of Beechen Grove to cross the lower High Street next to Watford High Street station to join up with Exchange Road. The main phase was built in the early 1970s. It’s like a scalextric track, with a big roundabout at the top end. Over the years numerous traffic light pedestrian crossings have replaced the pedestrian subways. Hopefully in years to come it will be claimed by and reinstated at the Chiltern Open Air museum. Next to the many timber framed 14th century buildings demolished to make it all possible. An interesting fact is that it was designed to flow the other way round. But that never happened when part of the scheme was scrapped in the early 1990s.

 

[AM9]

A proper Ring Road should have the same number all the way round, and not use arterial routes to join up.

Good examples of proper ring roads are Birmingham's A4540 and Coventry's A4053.

Not necessarily, - even London doesn't have that despite it's outermost ring road being the most famous in the UK:
outer: M25/A282
mid: A406/205
inner: A501/A1202/A1203/A100/A201/A3204/A3214/A4202/A5 A bit messy!

 

[cool110]

Preston is just weird. You have the A59 Ring Way that goes right through the city centre, then adding on the A6 and A582 to complete it results in encircling a load of farm land.

 

[Western Sunset]

Bristol has one of sorts - the A4174. Though this is more like the curved part of the letter D, the with straight part of the D being the M5.

If that makes any sense...

 

[John Webb]

It was only completed in the early 1980s, with the final part being the extension of Beechen Grove to cross the lower High Street next to Watford High Street station to join up with Exchange Road. The main phase was built in the early 1970s. It’s like a scalextric track, with a big roundabout at the top end. Over the years numerous traffic light pedestrian crossings have replaced the pedestrian subways. Hopefully in years to come it will be claimed by and reinstated at the Chiltern Open Air museum. Next to the many timber framed 14th century buildings demolished to make it all possible. An interesting fact is that it was designed to flow the other way found. But that never happened when part of the scheme was scrapped in the early 1990s.

Thanks for the information - I didn't know much about Watford until after I moved to St Albans in 1977.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Was going to suggest Skelmersdale, but a quick check on Google maps shows that one side of the "ring" is classified as a B road. Has this always been the case since the New Town was developed, or has that section been de-trunked more recently?

One could cheat and say that the M58 forms that side of the ring, but that's not really in the spirit of the discussion.

 

[80073]

One of the worst designed roads in the UK

I agree completely. When I had family nearby, I had to use the Coventry Ring Road from time-to-time and found it horrible. SteveM70 got me thinking. I wonder -

Is it the Ring Road with the smallest diameter of any major City? Coventry's A4053 is more-or-less a circle and has a diameter, I reckon, of about one mile.

There are nine or more junctions in its diameter of just over three miles (good old school geometry!) Is this a record frequency?

Obviously, there will not be an exact answer!