Towns with an HQDC through the middle

[WHBM]

I was visiting Ringwood, a significant town in the New Forest. The A31 Southampton to Bournemouth dual carriageway cuts through the middle in a manner that is probably hardly noticed by most users. In the USA this is nothing unusual to have freeways going through places, but has me wondering, how many other towns have such a main through route dividing them, no roundabouts or signals, no speed restrictions, nothing.

[roadtester]

M8 Glasgow is probably the obvious one.

[AnOrdinarySABREUser]

The M20 through Ashford, A2 through Thanington and A299 through Herne Bay are good examples of HQDCs running through the middles of towns. Also, quite notably, you have the M67 running through Hyde, which is probably as close as you can get to a town centre on a motorway or HQDC for that matter.

[jnty]

Is the A3 considered 'high quality' through Guildford? I suppose users certainly notice that they're passing through!

[WHBM]

50mph limit through both Glasgow on the M8 and A3 at Guildford.

[jnty]

Yes, I wondered if that compromised it - presumably the A429 through Cirencester doesn't count? It's all/mostly NSL and totally grade-separated...with the exception of the roundabouts!

[Ritchie333]

The M20 through Ashford, A2 through Thanington and A299 through Herne Bay are good examples of HQDCs running through the middles of towns.

The majority of Ashford is south of the M20 and the majority of Canterbury is north of the A2. Thanington is a small suburb. Herne Bay is entirely north of Thanet Way.

[Bryn666]

The M67 is of course NSL.

70 limit roads through urban areas are quite rare these days - not a town but it was always an eyebrow raiser how the old A1 at Fairburn happily bisected the village with only a footbridge linking the two halves.

[roadtester]

I know MK's DCs aren't really HQ because of the extensive roundaboutery but it always seems strange to me how many of them are still on 70.

[tom66]

A5 through Milton Keynes - 70mph throughout, divides the town in two, and is connected by GSJs throughout. It's sunk into the landscape quite well so not particularly noticeable unless you're standing right next to it.

Arguably the A339 in Basingstoke is similar too. It has a few at-grade intersections at the west-end but it's a clear run to the M3 junction throughout and you can legally do 70mph on it (though you might not be well advised to try that given the potholes last I visited.)

[tom66]

I know MK's DCs aren't really HQ because of the extensive roundaboutery but it always seems strange to me how many of them are still on 70.

It is an odd aberration, there is apparently a plan to reduce some of them to 50 and 60 which will likely happen eventually given the council is majority Lab. Quite nice at night when there's no traffic though. Accelerate-regen-accelerate-regen-accelerate-regen in my ID.3, so I still seem to get pretty good efficiency even going up to 70 each time (average speed probably closer to 50).

[exiled]

There could be an argument for the A55 in Colwyn Bay being HQDC. For a definition of HQ.

[ForestChav]

Huntingdon until a few years ago would have been an obvious contender.

I suppose Leeds and Newcastle have motorway sections of inner ring roads but not sure these would fit being NSL.

Most other inner rings have at least one roundabout (even Coventry) and wouldn't be NSL.

Even more rurally there aren't many places like Ringwood where the dual carriageway passes through/over the middle of the place without some form of interference like a signalled junction or a reduction in the speed limit. Most bypasses actually bypass the places by going around them.

[SteveA30]

A50 from Meir to A500?
A38 through Plymouth

[AndyB]

HQDC is broadly no central reservation gaps, all LILOs, (at least compact) GSJs or roundabouts, continuous wire rope or concrete barrier, and 1m marginal strips.

[the cheesecake man]

A650 Bingley
A500 Stoke upon Trent

OK there's 50 limits but that's no longer remarkable, it's certainly higher than you'd expect in an urban area.

[Big L]

M54 Telford.
A14 Bury St Edmunds.

[Steven]

M54 Telford.

It's not been that long since the A442 was the same.

[Octaviadriver]

A40 Monmouth
A47 Peterborough

[GC_NEMan1]

A182 Washington Highway?