Locally to me, I'd nominate the A62. When I first got a motorbike, my first (relatively) long journey was to Manchester, and I followed it from Huddersfield onwards.
* Urban arterial at-grade D2 through Manchester and Oldham from the Manchester Inner Ring Road to Manchester Street Roundabout in Oldham town centre, via a diamond junction with M60 near Failsworth
* Grade separated D2 as eastern section of Oldham town centre bypass
* Suburban S2 through eastern outskirts of Oldham (the first section beyond the bypass is called Bottom o'th'Moor)
* Rural, very twisty S2 from Oldham through Saddleworth up to the Standedge pass
* Fast, straight and very bleak S2 into Yorkshire beyond the Standedge pass
* Semi-rural slow S2 through the towns of the Colne Valley
* Narrow, suburban and very long S2 into Huddersfield town centre as Manchester Road
* Urban D2/D3 (widening to 4 or 5 at some junctions) as the Huddersfield ring road
* Brief urban arterial D2 followed by S2 to Cooper Bridge as Leeds Road
* Short multiplex with A644 between Cooper Bridge and Three Nuns, in which A644 is dominant
* Semi-rural, very stop-start but locally significant S2 through Spenborough and Birstall, where it's the only half-decent north-south route
* Vast, hideously complicated skidpan of roundabouts and traffic lights at Gildersome, where it meets M62 and M621
* Fast rural S2 with climbing lanes from Gildersome into the outskirts of Leeds
* Industrial S2 to A58/A643 junction off the Ingram Distributor in inner-city Leeds, where it terminates
Road with most variations
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lefthandedspanner
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Re: Road with most variations
Oops, apologies to WHBM then! I forgot about the Street section and the bit at Indian Queens
What is the point of the Marksbury bit? How did segments like that ever get built? I assume there was no comprehensive water vole strategy document produced...
Re: Road with most variations
I think that most old short stretches of dual carriageway like that date from the 1920s and '30s, when some vehicles were much slower and they were more viable. Many have had the overtaking lane hatched out, especially where the carriageway is narrow or particular twisty. Still, there are plenty that survive with NSL in the West Country, as well as some good stretches of unspoilt S3!
Re: Road with most variations
I'd say most roads are pretty diverse.
If we go for something as short as the A53 we still get the following:
Reasonably pleasant rural section before slowing for the village of Shawbury. Then there's the fast, well-engineered Hodnet and Market Drayton bypasses before a lengthy 30 limit through Loggerheads leads to the appalling sightlines on the short multiplex with the A51 - I'm sure that it's only lack of traffic on the latter that means this isn't an accident blackspot.
On the far side the road crosses the wooded Maer Hills, with the first of a surprising number of cuttings the road goes through, before the commuter village of Baldwin's Gate provides a hint as to the urban sprawl to follow. Before then, however, there's another rural section including the attractive old village of Whitmore. The North Staffs conurbation starts practically on the other side of the M6, however, and goes on and on and on.
The descent into Newcastle isn't too bad but finding your way through town isn't obvious as the road disappears at the inner ring road. A one-way loop takes traffic out of town but then the next section is pretty much guaranteed to be bumper-to-bumper in both directions. On the far side of the A500 the road surprisingly becomes a grade-separated dual-carriageway urban distributor - but this only serves to lull drivers into a false sense of security. The next few miles are straight, slow and dreary, although there are a couple of cuttings and a GSJ where two S2 roads cross to lighten the monotony.
On the far side of Endon the road finally reenters open country and even miraculously becomes NSL. This doesn't last long, however, as a climb through the village of Longsdon leads to a steep descent into Leek. It's not a bad-looking town, which is good as you'll be seeing a lot of it given how slowly you're travelling through it. There's also a badly signed TOTSO so eastbound traffic can end up in a housing estate and westbound traffic could end up in Cheshire without realising they've gone wrong.
The character of the road changes completely on leaving Leek. After crossing a steep valley the road passes through the linear village of Blackshaw Moor then climbs steeply into the Peak District. The views are excellent, weather permitting, but don't expect to do much overtaking. On entering Derbyshire the road runs halfway up Axe Edge before descending steeply to enter Buxton. A slow run through the suburbs leads to a TOTSO with the A5004 before an unexpected town-centre relief road leads to a railway viaduct and journey's end on the A6.
If we go for something as short as the A53 we still get the following:
Reasonably pleasant rural section before slowing for the village of Shawbury. Then there's the fast, well-engineered Hodnet and Market Drayton bypasses before a lengthy 30 limit through Loggerheads leads to the appalling sightlines on the short multiplex with the A51 - I'm sure that it's only lack of traffic on the latter that means this isn't an accident blackspot.
On the far side the road crosses the wooded Maer Hills, with the first of a surprising number of cuttings the road goes through, before the commuter village of Baldwin's Gate provides a hint as to the urban sprawl to follow. Before then, however, there's another rural section including the attractive old village of Whitmore. The North Staffs conurbation starts practically on the other side of the M6, however, and goes on and on and on.
The descent into Newcastle isn't too bad but finding your way through town isn't obvious as the road disappears at the inner ring road. A one-way loop takes traffic out of town but then the next section is pretty much guaranteed to be bumper-to-bumper in both directions. On the far side of the A500 the road surprisingly becomes a grade-separated dual-carriageway urban distributor - but this only serves to lull drivers into a false sense of security. The next few miles are straight, slow and dreary, although there are a couple of cuttings and a GSJ where two S2 roads cross to lighten the monotony.
On the far side of Endon the road finally reenters open country and even miraculously becomes NSL. This doesn't last long, however, as a climb through the village of Longsdon leads to a steep descent into Leek. It's not a bad-looking town, which is good as you'll be seeing a lot of it given how slowly you're travelling through it. There's also a badly signed TOTSO so eastbound traffic can end up in a housing estate and westbound traffic could end up in Cheshire without realising they've gone wrong.
The character of the road changes completely on leaving Leek. After crossing a steep valley the road passes through the linear village of Blackshaw Moor then climbs steeply into the Peak District. The views are excellent, weather permitting, but don't expect to do much overtaking. On entering Derbyshire the road runs halfway up Axe Edge before descending steeply to enter Buxton. A slow run through the suburbs leads to a TOTSO with the A5004 before an unexpected town-centre relief road leads to a railway viaduct and journey's end on the A6.
"If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed." - Sylvia Plath