How are road names allocated?

[lefthandedspanner]

Re Road vs Street - I have a feeling (it's no stronger than that) that "Roads" named after a place tend to lead/have led in the past to the named location, whereas "Streets" with geographical names have acquired their name for other reasons.

One notable exception is Manchester Street in Oldham, now part of the A62, which is the main road to Manchester; conversely, the the now-unclassified end of the road in Manchester city centre is called Oldham Street.

[hat]

there's a new housing development on the outskirts of Leeds, close to where the folding bicycle was originally developed. Someone did a great job of naming it Brompton Fold

[hat]

locally we have Druggist Lane in one village & Crack Lane in another

[Bryn666]

Re Road vs Street - I have a feeling (it's no stronger than that) that "Roads" named after a place tend to lead/have led in the past to the named location, whereas "Streets" with geographical names have acquired their name for other reasons.

One notable exception is Manchester Street in Oldham, now part of the A62, which is the main road to Manchester; conversely, the the now-unclassified end of the road in Manchester city centre is called Oldham Street.

In Blackburn "London Road" runs E-W and is actually a dead end.

I think trying to actually make any sense of these things is a lost cause. Blackburn also has the odd suffix "Range" - we have Whalley Range, Audley Range, and Stanley Range. I have asked historically what the origins of that was and can't remember if we ever nailed it down.

[baroudeur]

We live on Beech Grove, which is obviously named after the trees in the area, though we occasionally receive post addressed as Beach Grove, even though we're in mid-Wales!

In Brecon, there are two high streets; one is High Street Superior and the other High Street Inferior. The names may have been appropriate when first applied, but they would be reversed if given the names now.

Surely the reference is to height as High Street Superior goes uphill?

But never mind street names how about legislation for the obligatory display of house numbers?

[Richard_Fairhurst]

The Cotswold farm belonging to Alex James, former bassist with Blur, has a fairly standard access road. Recently an urban-style streetname sign has appeared by it, pronouncing it to be Stephen Street.

Stephen Street was, of course, the producer behind Blur's biggest hits in the 90s.

[Big L]

Re Road vs Street - I have a feeling (it's no stronger than that) that "Roads" named after a place tend to lead/have led in the past to the named location, whereas "Streets" with geographical names have acquired their name for other reasons. Devonshire Street in Sheffield has nothing to do with the county hundreds of miles away, but everything to do with the Duke of Devonshire (Chatsworth isn't that far away). Same with Surrey Street and Arundel Gate in the same city (where "gate" is just Viking for "street"). But Fulwood Road, Ecclesall Road, London Road... all lead towards the places in question.

Of course there are always exceptions - Fulham football ground is in Stevenage Road. However, it is only on the way to Stevenage in a very tenuous sense.

Whereas Oxford Street definitely points in the direction of Oxford.

[trickstat]

Re Road vs Street - I have a feeling (it's no stronger than that) that "Roads" named after a place tend to lead/have led in the past to the named location, whereas "Streets" with geographical names have acquired their name for other reasons. Devonshire Street in Sheffield has nothing to do with the county hundreds of miles away, but everything to do with the Duke of Devonshire (Chatsworth isn't that far away). Same with Surrey Street and Arundel Gate in the same city (where "gate" is just Viking for "street"). But Fulwood Road, Ecclesall Road, London Road... all lead towards the places in question.

Of course there are always exceptions - Fulham football ground is in Stevenage Road. However, it is only on the way to Stevenage in a very tenuous sense.

Whereas Oxford Street definitely points in the direction of Oxford.

...And is nearer to Oxford than Oxford Road in Manchester is...

Although I think that does point in approximately the right direction?

[Robert Kilcoyne]

...And is nearer to Oxford than Oxford Road in Manchester is...

Although I think that does point in approximately the right direction?

Until 1991, if you followed signs for the A34 from Manchester city centre, you would have ended up on the Oxford Ring Road.

[FleetlinePhil]

Of course there are always exceptions - Fulham football ground is in Stevenage Road. However, it is only on the way to Stevenage in a very tenuous sense.

Whereas Oxford Street definitely points in the direction of Oxford.

...And is nearer to Oxford than Oxford Road in Manchester is...

Although I think that does point in approximately the right direction?

The section in Manchester city-centre (N of the R Medlock) is Oxford Street rather than Road, similar to the situation with Oldham Street / Road in Manchester.

It has long amused me that Burnley, Oldham and Rochdale all have a Yorkshire Street leading in the appropriate direction from their town centres, as though the Lancastrian residents really couldn't care less which particular bit of Yorkshire the streets were headed to.

Edited to add Burnley to the list (I only drove buses up that Yorkshire Street for a mere 14 years )

[Octaviadriver]

We live on Beech Grove, which is obviously named after the trees in the area, though we occasionally receive post addressed as Beach Grove, even though we're in mid-Wales!

In Brecon, there are two high streets; one is High Street Superior and the other High Street Inferior. The names may have been appropriate when first applied, but they would be reversed if given the names now.

Surely the reference is to height as High Street Superior goes uphill?

But never mind street names how about legislation for the obligatory display of house numbers?

No, they are both fairly level. In the link below, High Street Superior is to the left as per the street name sign on Lloyds Bank, but on the newer sign for High Street Inferior on the right, Inferior has been dropped. High Street Inferior was the A40 until the bypass was opened in 1980.
https://goo.gl/maps/9tghTjdL5zK2

[Steven]

names should not be duplicated within the same authority.

That's not quite true.

Firstly, some Highway Authorities are so large geographically, that it's not a problem (such as Devon County Council or North Yorkshire County Council), and realistically there is no confusion between them. In these cases, it's within the same town.

Secondly, is that there's a historic element to it - names are no longer necessarily unique where local authority boundaries have moved. An extreme example is Victoria Road, Wolverhampton where there are two entirely different roads of that name less than half a mile and a single road apart. Historically of course, they were in different local authorities when named - one in Wolverhampton County Borough and the other in Wednesfield Urban District, although both were in Wolverhampton parish.

[Richard_Fairhurst]

It has long amused me that Burnley, Oldham and Rochdale all have a Yorkshire Street leading in the appropriate direction from their town centres, as though the Lancastrian residents really couldn't care less which particular bit of Yorkshire the streets were headed to.

Edited to add Burnley to the list (I only drove buses up that Yorkshire Street for a mere 14 years )

The village cross in Audlem, Cheshire, has three roads leading off it: Cheshire Street, Shropshire Street and Stafford Street. I've always liked Shrewsbury's "English Bridge" and "Welsh Bridge", too.

[Robert Kilcoyne]

English Street (former A6) and Scotch Street (former A7) meet end on in Carlisle city centre.

[vlad]

Re Road vs Street - I have a feeling (it's no stronger than that) that "Roads" named after a place tend to lead/have led in the past to the named location, whereas "Streets" with geographical names have acquired their name for other reasons.

Not necessarily.

In my area we have (for example) Newcastle Street and Chell Street, which do head towards the places named, whereas Oxford Road doesn't.

One thing that can cause confusion is where a road is named after the aristocracy. Oxford Street in London is perhaps the most famous (named after the Earl of Oxford; the fact it heads towards the city of Oxford is coincidental) but there are plenty of others. Whereas Trentham Street and Stafford Street in Helmsdale are clearly named after people what about Bristol Road in Birmingham?

[Chris Bertram]

Bristol Road is A38, which does go to Bristol. Coventry Road (A45) goes to Coventry. Walsall Road (A34) goes to Walsall, and Warwick Road (A41) goes to Warwick. Hagley Road (A456) goes to Hagley and Stratford Road (A34 again) goes to Stratford. The odd one is Pershore Road (A441), there being no direct road from Birmingham to Pershore, you have to turn right at Evesham or left at Worcester. A41 Soho Road goes *through* the area called Soho rather than to it, and eventually becomes Holyhead Road, being part of Telford's improved road to the port. This is also the old road to Wolverhampton, but it reaches West Bromwich first. The nearest Wolverhampton Road is A4123, and that only just reaches the city boundary in Quinton; to reach it you have to take the Hagley Road.

[Big L]

Bristol Road is A38, which does go to Bristol. Coventry Road (A45) goes to Coventry. Walsall Road (A34) goes to Walsall, and Warwick Road (A41) goes to Warwick. Hagley Road (A456) goes to Hagley and Stratford Road (A34 again) goes to Stratford. The odd one is Pershore Road (A441), there being no direct road from Birmingham to Pershore, you have to turn right at Evesham or left at Worcester. A41 Soho Road goes *through* the area called Soho rather than to it, and eventually becomes Holyhead Road, being part of Telford's improved road to the port. This is also the old road to Wolverhampton, but it reaches West Bromwich first. The nearest Wolverhampton Road is A4123, and that only just reaches the city boundary in Quinton; to reach it you have to take the Hagley Road.

The Pershore Road is between the Alcester Road (which goes towards Evesham) and the Bristol Road (which goes through Worcester), and since Redditch didn't really exist to name the road after I can at least see the logic.

[yen_powell]

Technically I would say there is a difference between a street and a road.

A street is something that postal addresses are allocated to.

A road is a thoroughfare for wheeled vehicles.

A named path with addresses on it may be considered a street but isn't a road.

A motorway is a road but not a street.

Of course, in general conversation, the terms are pretty much interchangeable.

Cannon Street Road in London E1 has serious identity problems.

East India Dock Wall Road in London E14 was also a bit confused. Built in 1832, by 1998 there was so little of it left that the street name plate was longer than the actual road and it was renumbered into the adjacent Naval Row.

[Chris Bertram]

Bristol Road is A38, which does go to Bristol. Coventry Road (A45) goes to Coventry. Walsall Road (A34) goes to Walsall, and Warwick Road (A41) goes to Warwick. Hagley Road (A456) goes to Hagley and Stratford Road (A34 again) goes to Stratford. The odd one is Pershore Road (A441), there being no direct road from Birmingham to Pershore, you have to turn right at Evesham or left at Worcester. A41 Soho Road goes *through* the area called Soho rather than to it, and eventually becomes Holyhead Road, being part of Telford's improved road to the port. This is also the old road to Wolverhampton, but it reaches West Bromwich first. The nearest Wolverhampton Road is A4123, and that only just reaches the city boundary in Quinton; to reach it you have to take the Hagley Road.

The Pershore Road is between the Alcester Road (which goes towards Evesham) and the Bristol Road (which goes through Worcester), and since Redditch didn't really exist to name the road after I can at least see the logic.

Alcester Road (A435) *does* reach Alcester before it reaches Evesham. Redditch is actually quite an old town at its core, the new town additions tend to disguise this but it dates as a settlement at least back to the 14th century and had its own industrial speciality - needle-making - from the middle ages onwards. And as if by magic Pershore Road becomes Redditch Road (still A441) once you pass Kings Norton, but this name probably dates from the days of the Kings Norton and Northfield Urban District, which was largely absorbed into Birmingham in the early 20th century.

[Vierwielen]

A new housing estate is going up close to where I live. I am on the Local History Group committee and there was a suggestion that one of our members who died two years ago and whose activities in rocket design and Morris dancing warranted obituaries in The Times and in The Telegraph should be commemorated. I approached the developers' sales office and asked what the procedure was. They told me that before any phase is released onto the market, the naming of the roads in that phase is a joint exercise between them and the local council - often with them making suggestions and the Council agreeing (or otherwise).

They seemed quite happy with my suggestion as was our late member's family - the developers could justify that particular name by a reference to Wikipedia.