Roads by 10: FAQ
This page explains some more about Roads by 10 and how it operates.

• What is "Roads by 10"?
• How did it start and where did the name come from?
• Why is the project being relaunched?
• What and how can I contribute?
• When do you hope to finish?

What is "Roads by 10"?
"Roads by 10" is SABRE's biggest cataloguing project to date. It aims to compile detailed itineraries of all the three-digit A-roads in Great Britain, along the lines of the First 99 project coordinated by Tom Sutch, which has done the same for the one-digit and two-digit A-roads.

How did it start and where did the name come from?
The first stage of the project took place in January and February 2002, when SABRE was still less than six months old. At this stage the aim of the project was merely to catalogue the locations of the roads, giving start and end points, intermediate destinations, and thumbnail descriptions of the route. Listings were contributed in groups of ten (A100-109 and so on), which gave rise to the name of the project.

Since SABRE members' geographical distribution was somewhat patchy in those days, certain parts of the country got rather better coverage than others!

The results are displayed on Paul Berry's "UK Roads" site here. Since then the listings have been modified in a fairly ad hoc fashion, with some entries becoming extremely detailed and others remaining rather sketchy.

Why is the project being relaunched?
SABRE has grown massively since those early days, with a membership now standing at well over 300. The geographical spread of members and their "on-the-ground" knowledge far surpasses anything we had to work with two years ago. A number of members have already voluntarily contributed detailed itineraries, as well as significant amendments to existing entries, and an embarrassing backlog was starting to build up.

For this reason we decided to take advantage of our new allocation of webspace and relaunch the listings with a single road to a page (in most cases). Over time, the new listings will gradually take over from the existing ten-to-a-page ones. The current state of play on the project can be seen here. The name "Roads by 10" is being kept for historical reasons although the emphasis is very much on individual entries now!

Over time the Roaders' Digest will be updated to take account of the new listings.

What and how can I contribute?
You can contribute a variety of material: expanded accounts of three-digit roads that you know well (either in full or in part), additions to existing accounts if you feel that material has been omitted, or corrections to any errors you may find. You're strongly advised to check the existing account first to make sure that you're not repeating what's already been said. But if you notice anything that can be improved, however small, we'd like to hear from you!

If you're a member of SABRE then you're encouraged to post your contribution to the Roads by 10 messageboard on the main SABRE site, which gives other members a chance to comment on your entry before it's uploaded to here. Material posted to the board will be incorporated here at least once a week. If you're not a member of SABRE then you're extremely welcome to join, but you may prefer to email your entry to the Roads by 10 mailbox which will also be checked at least once a week.

When do you hope to finish?
There is no timescale for this project. Hopefully the course of the project will be shaped by the individual contributors. Updates will be posted to the SABRE message boards at regular intervals, while and an overview of progress can be found here.

Guy Barry