A638
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| A638 | |||||||||||||
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| From: | Markham Moor (SK719737) | ||||||||||||
| To: | Chain Bar (M62 Junc 25) (SE182266) | ||||||||||||
| Length: | 55.4 miles (89.2 km) | ||||||||||||
| Meets: | A1, A57, A620, A614, A18, A630, A635, A1(M), A628, A642, M1, M62 | ||||||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A1 | ||||||||||||
| Primary Destinations | |||||||||||||
| Dewsbury • Doncaster • Wakefield • | |||||||||||||
| Highways Authorities | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | |||||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | |||||||||||||
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Contents |
Route
Markham Moor – Bawtry
We begin at the Markham Moor roundabout on the A1, where the A57 departs east towards Lincoln, and the A1 heads south towards Newark. We commence as a non-primary, good, wide NSL S2 entirely in keeping with the road’s former status as a main route until the 1960s. The road has plenty of sweeping bends and seems to me entirely devoid of traffic. We slow down briefly to 40 as we pass through Gamston, but after that its full speed ahead until we approach Retford. We slow to 40 and then to 30 as we approach the town centre. We are diverted from the main line through the town, onto a section of the A620 passing a supermarket. We regain our own number at a roundabout at the other end of the town centre and head off out of town again on good wide S2 that soon becomes NSL again.
A mile south of Bawtry, we merge with the A614 which as arrived from Blyth, giving us primary status and the accompanying green signs and we multiplex with this road into town, slowing down to the regular 30MPH for town centres. We cross the A631 at a stagger in the middle of the town, send the A614 on its way north towards Goole and continue out of the town heading for Doncaster.
Bawtry – Doncaster
We leave Bawtry behind and immediately find ourselves following the route of Roman Road, once again nice and wide and NSL, passing alongside what used to be RAF Finningley, but now recently re-opened as Doncaster Sheffield Robin Hood Airport. We need to slow down slightly to 50 as we cross over the M18 without interchange and then to 40 as we pass through the outskirts of Doncaster. We become a D2 shortly before a roundabout that has the racecourse on one side of it, and the Dome Leisure Park and Vue multiplex cinema on the other. A short while after that and we get to the Racecourse roundabout where we lose our identification.
At this point carrying straight on, on the old road that is virtually unsigned these days can actually be quicker than taking the bypass around the town. This is mainly due to the never ending roadworks and construction that Doncaster has experienced over the past five years.
Anyway, at the roundabout we multiplex with the A18, a 40 limit urban D2 and we leave it at the next roundabout by turning right onto a short length of S2 with a roundabout in the middle. A multiplex now with the A630 until a huge roundabout where we multiplex with the A19 on a recent D2 bridge which crosses the River Don and the East Coast Rail Line.
Doncaster – Wakefield
At the other side of this bridge, we keep our number to ourselves all the way to Wakefield. We begin to leave Doncaster on heavily rebuilt D2 with retail parks and supermarkets on both sides and then we start the A635 on its journey to Manchester. We enter a 50MPH zone shortly afterwards; take the first exit off a roundabout and then need to slow down again as we pass through Adwick. We finally leave the suburbs of Doncaster behind and then cross over the A1(M). A new roundabout which allows access to the Redhouse Business Park that contains a huge B&Q distribution centre follows next, before a bit more NSL D2 which becomes S2 for a couple of miles. We cross over two recently constructed roundabouts to serve new industrial estates that have built in the past few years. Shortly before we arrive at the village of Upton, we need to slow down to 40MPH and a roundabout with the B6474.
We pass just to the side of the village and after leaving it behind it's a few miles of 50MPH S2. It's a little narrower than the previous section and also a bit winding, before we get to a straight mile and a bit which drops down to pass underneath a railway bridge. We then climb uphill towards a 30MPH zone and a roundabout with the A628 in the village of Ackworth.
We leave Ackworth, now on a 40MPH S2 road and cross the B6428 at a roundabout. We slow down to 30 as we pass through Wragby before crossing over the lake at Nostell Priory. Back to 40 for a bit as we continue towards Crofton where the A645 ends from our right. A mile after that and the A655 also comes to an end.
We pass underneath a railway bridge and then we slow once again to 30MPH as we pass through Belle Vue and pass the home of the Wakefield Wildcats Rugby League team on the left. Soon after that we cross over the canal on a short bit of D2. We then multiplex with the A61 as we cross over the River Calder on a S5 bridge. We turn off to the left onto Ings Road on D2 as we pass by one of the regions first retail parks, these days looking rather sorry for itself. We meet the end of the A636 before passing a rather newer retail park, this time on both sides of the road before we multiplex with the A642 along Westgate End.
Wakefield – Chain Bar
After we leave the A642 at a strange one way system we then climb gently out of Wakefield on S2 for a couple of miles. As we get near to M1 J40, the road becomes a 40MPH D2. We leave the M1 behind on the Ossett Bypass, a 50MPH D2 built in the 1970s. The old course of the road leaves us here. A sweeping mile and a bit of curves later and we arrive at a roundabout where we say hello again to the other end of the bypassed road.
We go straight on, slightly downhill on 40MPH S2, which becomes 30MPH shortly afterwards. Continuing steeply downhill as we approach Dewsbury, we turn right and enter the early 1980s D2 ring road. At this point we lose our primary status that we have held since just south of Bawtry. We pass exits for the A653 and the A652 before we come to our turn off.
We leave the Dewsbury Ring Road returning to 30MPH S2 and begin to climb the a hill up to Staincliffe, passing college buildings on both sides of the road. As soon as we crest the hill, it's downhill all the way until we pass through Heckmondwike.
History
Prior to the opening of the A1(M) in the early 1960s, the A638 ran from Redhouse, NW of Doncaster where it left the A1 Great North Road to Odsal Top, Bradford. With the opening of the A1(M) and the simultaneous renumbering of the A57 between Markham Moor and Five Lane Ends, and the A614 from there to Blyth to become the A1, the A638 effectively doubled in length by taking over the former route of the A1 Great North Road from Markham Moor to Redhouse.
The final part of the A638 was declassified about three years ago. This was the run up from the other side of the Chain Bar junction, through Low Moor before ending at Odsal Top, a GSJ roundabout with the A641 and A6036. Hardly any of the signs have been taken down though, so it's quite easy to follow the final part of the road if you so desire.
Original Author(s): Chris W
