Primary Destinations

Primary Destinations are the key target destinations that are shown on direction signs along the motorways, principal road network (A Roads) and other roads. These destinations are important key points along a motorway or principal route and are used in combination with local place names that are defined by each local highway authority. Primary destinations will appear above local destinations on direction signs due to a furthest first rule in the design guidance and will generally appear a closest first on route confirmatory signs.

In addition to the Primary Destinations, there are a number of Regional Destinations authorised for use by the DfT, these are, The NORTH, The SOUTH, The WEST, The NORTH WEST, The NORTH EAST, The SOUTH WEST, The LAKES, The MIDLANDS, NORTH WALES, SOUTH WALES and SCOTLAND. Regional destinations always appear in the format shown. The NORTH WEST is that part of England to the west of the Pennines, The NORTH is that part of England to the east of the Pennines.

Below are the current primary destinations, as defined by the following

• England - By a list published by the DfT on 18th December 2009
• Scotland - Using LTN 1/94, plus assumed changes as indicated by direction signs and maps
• Wales - Using LTN 1/94, plus assumed changes as indicated by direction signs and maps

For the 1994 list, see LTN 1/94, at the time of writing, no recent official lists are available for either Scotland or Wales.

The 2009 list of Primary Destinations for England only is available from the DfT website

• Primary route destinations in England by Region

In 2011, Road Classification was handed back to Highway Authorities, with the DfT just being oversight. Requests for new primary destinations were consulted on, and 7 new Primary Destinations were added (Birmingham Airport, East Midlands Airport, Luton Airport, Thamesport, Port of Tilbury, Colne and Minehead) and 1 (Stone) removed.

In 2012, a revised list of primary destinations was produced ... idance.pdf, adding the 7 new destinations from 2011 to the 2009 list, plus reinstating Stone and Northwich, and removing Tilbury.

England

Post LTN 1/94 additions are in bold.

East

Basildon, Beccles, Bedford, Bishops Stortford, Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Clacton, Colchester, Cromer, Dartford Crossing, Diss, Downham Market, Dunstable, Ely, Felixstowe, Great Yarmouth, Harlow, Harwich, Hemel Hempstead, Hertford, Huntingdon, Ipswich, King's Lynn, Lowestoft, Luton, Luton Airport, Newmarket, Norwich, Peterborough, Port of Tilbury, Southend, St Albans, Stansted Airport, Stevenage, Sudbury, Swaffham, Thetford, Watford, Wisbech

East Midlands

Ashbourne, Boston, Buxton, Chesterfield, Corby, Derby, East Midlands Airport, Gainsborough, Grantham, Hinckley, Kettering, Leicester, Lincoln, Loughborough, Mansfield, Market Harborough, Matlock, Melton Mowbray, Newark, Northampton, Nottingham, Oakham, Skegness, Sleaford, Spalding, Stamford, Wellingborough, Worksop

Greater London

Barking, Bexleyheath, Brent Cross, Brixton, Bromley, Central London, Clapham Junction, Croydon, Dalston, Docklands, Ealing, Enfield, Hammersmith, Harrow, Heathrow Airport, Holloway, Hounslow, Ilford, Kilburn, Kingston, Lewisham, London, Peckham, Richmond, Romford, Stratford, Sutton, The City, Uxbridge, Walthamstow, Wembley, West End, Westminster, Wimbledon, Wood Green, Woolwich

Blackwall Tunnel is shown in maps as a primary destination.

NOTE: Primary destinations in Greater London, other than Heathrow Airport and London. will generally only be signed within the M25 Motorway

North East

Alnwick, Ashington, Berwick-upon-Tweed, Bishop Auckland, Consett, Corbridge, Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Hexham, Middlesbrough, Morpeth, Newcastle upon Tyne, South Shields, Stockton, Sunderland, Teesside, Tynemouth, Tyne Tunnel

North West

Altrincham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Barrow, Birkenhead, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Bootle, Brough, Burnley, Bury, Carlisle, Chester, Clitheroe, Colne, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Fleetwood, Garston, Huyton, Heysham, Kendal, Keswick, Kirkby Lonsdale, Lancaster, Leigh, Liverpool, Macclesfield, Manchester, Manchester Airport, Morecambe, Nantwich, Northwich, Oldham, Penrith, Preston, Rochdale, Runcorn, Salford, Skelmersdale, Southport, Speke, St Helens, Stockport, Trafford Park, Wallasey, Warrington, Whitehaven, Widnes, Windermere, Wigan

South East

Amersham, Andover, Ashford, Aylesbury, Banbury, Basingstoke, Beaconsfield, Bognor Regis, Bracknell, Brighton, Canterbury, Channel Tunnel, Chichester, Crawley, Dartford Crossing, Dover, Dorking, East Grinstead, Eastbourne, Fareham, Farnham, Folkestone, Gatwick Airport, Guildford, Hastings, High Wycombe, Horsham, Lewes, Maidenhead, Maidstone, Margate, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Newhaven, Oxford, Petersfield, Portsmouth, Ramsgate, Reading, Reigate, Ringwood, Sevenoaks, Sheerness, Slough, Southampton, Staines, Thamesport, Tunbridge Wells, Uckfield, Winchester, Worthing

South West

Barnstaple, Bath, Bideford, Blandford, Bournemouth, Bodmin, Bridgwater, Bristol, Bude, Cheltenham, Chippenham, Cirencester, Dorchester, Exeter, Exmouth, Falmouth, Frome, Glastonbury, Gloucester, Helston, Honiton, Launceston, Liskeard, Marlborough, Minehead, Newquay, Okehampton, Paignton, Penzance, Plymouth, Poole, Redruth, Salisbury, Shepton Mallet, St Austell, Swindon, Taunton, Tavistock, Torquay, Trowbridge, Truro, Wadebridge, Warminster, Weston-super-Mare, Weymouth, Yeovil

West Midlands

Birmingham, Birmingham Airport, Bridgnorth, Bromsgrove, Brownhills, Burton upon Trent, Cannock, Coventry, Dudley, Evesham, Hereford, Kidderminster, Leamington Spa, Leek, Leominster, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Nuneaton, Oswestry, Redditch, Ross-on-Wye, Rugby, Rugeley, Shrewsbury, Solihull, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Stone, Stourbridge, Stratford-upon-Avon, Tamworth, Telford, Uttoxeter, Walsall, Warwick, West Bromwich, Whitchurch, Wolverhampton, Worcester

Yorkshire and the Humber

Barnsley, Bradford, Bridlington, Dewsbury, Doncaster, Goole, Grimsby, Halifax, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Hull, Humber Bridge, Immingham, Keighley, Leeds, Pontefract, Ripon, Rotherham, Scarborough, Scotch Corner, Scunthorpe, Selby, Sheffield, Skipton, Thirsk, Wakefield, Wetherby, Whitby, York

Defunct

(recent changes in bold) Alton, Bawtry, Brighouse, Esher, Greater London, Hatfield, March, Midhurst, Redhill, Stroud, Stretford, Swanley, Tilbury, Wells, Workington, Wimbourne,

Scotland

Aberdeen, Arbroath, Ayr, Braemar, Campbeltown, Coldstream, Crianlarich, Dumfries, Dundee, East Kilbride, Edinburgh, Elgin, Erskine Bridge, Forfar, Forth Road Bridge, Fort William, Fraserburgh, Galashiels, Glasgow, Greenock, Hawick, Inverness, Irvine, Jedburgh, Kilmarnock, Kincardine Bridge, Kirkcaldy, Kyle of Lochalsh, Mallaig, Montrose, Newtonmore, Oban, Paisley, Peebles, Perth, Peterhead, St Andrews, Stirling, Stranraer, Tay Bridge, Thurso, Ullapool, Wick

Arbroath, Braemar, Coldstream, Peebles and St Andrews no longer seem to be primary destinations. Uig is now a primary destination

Wales

Abergavenny, Aberystwyth, Bala, Bangor, Betws-y-Coed, Brecon, Bridgend, Builth Wells, Caernarfon, Cardiff, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Chepstow, Conwy, Cwmbran, Dolgellau, Fishguard, Haverfordwest, Holyhead, Llandeilo, Llandovery, Llandrindod Wells, Llandudno, Llanelli, Llangollen, Llangurig, Machynlleth, Merthyr Tydfil, Milford Haven, Mold, Monmouth, Neath, Newport, Newtown, Pembroke Dock, Porthmadog, Port Talbot, Queensferry, Rhayader, Ruthin, St Clears, Swansea, Tenby, Welshpool, Wrexham

Super Primary Destinations

For detailed information about this topic, see Roads UK:Primary Destinations

The following Primary Destinations were, before LTN 1/94, considered to be more important primary destinations, signed first: Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Dover, Edinburgh, Exeter, Fishguard, Glasgow, Great Yarmouth, Harwich, Holyhead, Hull, Inverness, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Portsmouth and Southampton.

One can probably add Felixstowe and the Channel Tunnel as de facto Super Primary Destinations just before 1994.

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