A6001

Biggleswade High Street

The current route of the A6001 is the former A1 through Biggleswade.

The road starts at a roundabout to the south of town. It heads north through a retail park, passing a couple of roundabouts before becoming residential. We continue north along London Road, bearing left as one of the branches of the B1040 turns off to the right. We meet the other branch on the edge of the town centre and then continue westwards along the High Street over the East Coast Main Line. There's a mini-roundabout on the nearside of the Market Place followed by another at the end of the High Street where we meet the B659 (the original route of the A6001) and turn right. We now head north once again along Shortmead Street before bearing left to cross the River Ivel and end at another roundabout on the A1.

History

The original route of the A6001

The 1922 route of the A6001 was from the A600 at Henlow Camp north to meet the A1 in Biggleswade. When the A1 bypass was built in the 1960s, the A6001 was extended to meet the A1 at both ends of the bypass. More recently, the original route of the A6001 has been downgraded to become the B659 leaving only the section through Biggleswade.