A601
A601 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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Derby Inner Ring Road | ||||
From: | Derby (SK347353) | |||
To: | Derby (SK354356) | |||
Distance: | 2.3 miles (3.7 km) | |||
Meets: | A516, A52, A6, A5194, A514, A5250 | |||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the motorway near Carnforth in Lancashire, see A601(M).
For the original A601 which ran between Luton on the A6 and Bourn Bridge on the A11 and is now part of the A505, see A601 (Luton - Bourn Bridge).
Overview
The A601 forms the Derby Inner Ring road, and as such loops tightly around the centre of Derby. It is composed of three distinct sections: a 1960s/70s grade separated dual carriageway (St Alkmund's Way), an earlier stretch of at-grade dual carriageway (Traffic Street and Bradshaw Way) and a stretch of modern dual and single carriageway, built or improved in the 2000s (Lara Croft Way, Mercian Way, Stafford Street and Ford Street).
There is the possibility plans for the A601 were first made in the 1930s; however this is unclear. The first definite plans for a ring road were made in the late 1950s, with most junctions being roundabouts. These plans evolved through the 1960s into ambitious ideas for a mainly grade-separated ring road. Construction of the ambitious plans started in the late 1960s, and St Alkmund's Way was built with stages opening in 1969 and 1972. The remainder of the ring road construction was eventually axed due to a number of factors, including rising costs and changing opinions. This meant the Southern section of the planned ring was never built, and the A601 was pushed onto a clumsy one-way system, composed of existing streets, for almost 40 years.
In the early 2000s, Derby City Council made public plans to complete the ring road to a slightly lower standard than that which was planned in the 1960s. This project, called Connecting Derby (which also included improvements to other roads in Derby) was carried out throughout the 2000s and completed, despite large cost overruns and some local opposition, in 2012. The ring road itself was completed in 2011.
More detailed information about the route, junctions, history and Connecting Derby project of the A601 are available at the sub-pages A601/Route, A601/Junctions, A601/History and A601/Connecting Derby respectively.
Route
See main article A601/Route
The A601 runs around the city centre of Derby, on a number of different roads of varying ages and standards.
History
See main article A601/History
Like many ring roads, the A601 was a purely planned road but these plans were chopped and changed many times until we ended up with the road we have today. This section tries to shed some light on these chops and changes.
Major work on the A601 was undertaken during the 2000s to complete the ring road. See main article A601/Connecting Derby
Opening Dates
Section | Opening |
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Traffic Street | 24 February 1938 |
Bradshaw Way | 26 May 1962 |
St Alkmund's Way, Stage I | 24 January 1969 |
St Alkmund's Way, Stage II | 30 July 1972 |
Lara Croft Way | 27 July 2010 |
Mercian Way | 16 March 2011 |
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