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A614

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A614
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (38)
From:  Redhill (SK583476)
To:  Bridlington (TA165670)
Via:  Thorne, Driffield
Distance:  97.6 miles (157.1 km)
Meets:  A60, B684, B6386, A6097, A617, B6034, B6030, B6461, A616, A6075, A1, A57, A1(M), B6045, A638, A631, B1396, A18, M180, A1146, M18, A1041, A645, M62, A161, A63, B1230, A163, A1079, B1248, B1246, A164, A166, B1249, A165
Former Number(s):  A161, A1041, B1228, B1229, A163, A166,
Old route now:  A52, A6514, A1, A1041, A165
Primary Destinations
Highway Authorities

Doncaster • East Riding of Yorkshire • Nottinghamshire

Traditional Counties

Nottinghamshire • Yorkshire

Route outline (key)
A614 Edwalton – Arnold
(A60) Arnold – Redhill
A614 Redhill – Apleyhead
(A1) Apleyhead – Blyth Services
A614 Blyth Services – Bawtry
(A638) Bawtry
A614 Bawtry – Hatfield Woodhouse
(A18) Hatfield Woodhouse – Tudworth
A614 Tudworth – Howden
A614 East Cowick – Selby
A614 Howden – Bridlington

Route

The A614 has an epic journey through Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, a primary route for much of its length.

Redhill – Bawtry

The road starts north of Nottingham at the interchange with the A60 (known as Leapool) which has come from the city centre. This roundabout was built to cater for bigger things, with plenty of space in the southwestern quadrant to fit in the Redhill bypass, sadly canned in the early 1970s.

Junction with Station Road, Ollerton

The road heads north, a route confirmation sign giving us distances to places as far away as Doncaster, though in Nottingham this has recently been amended to Worksop on some signs. Shortly, we reach a signal-controlled junction with the B684, which provides a route to the north of the city. This is the only signalised junction on our route towards the A1. Just beyond this is another road to the right, the B6386, which provides a good road to Southwell for those in the north of Nottingham. The road here is quite characteristic of the whole of the section in Nottinghamshire - wide and straight, mostly two-lane carriageway, with wide shoulders. This is because large sections of the road were built as three lanes (S3). However none of these sections remain, but worn markings are occasionally glimpsed in several places.

Our next stop is for a roundabout with two unclassified roads, going to Ravenshead and Calverton. The roundabout replaced a standard crossroads for safety reasons owing to the fairly high speed traffic on the main road. There are still many sets of crossroads in the next couple of miles, but none significant enough to warrant a roundabout, until we get to the A6097, which comes in from the right from Leicester and the A46. It is an odd junction, shaped like a egg, and traffic from Leicester must give way once to the southbound A614, and again for the northbound. The A614 need not stop here at all.

The road returns to its old ways again, following a rather straight line over the rolling farmland, until we drop down to the White Post roundabout, named after the pub and farm. In both directions here, there is an opportunity to overtake some slow traffic as climbing lanes have been provided heading away from the junction. Following a sharp right hand bend at the top of the hill, we reach the junction with the A617, known locally as Lockwell Hill roundabout.

A few miles pass by along a section that was in the mid 1970s going to be upgraded to dual carriageway, until we reach our next waypoint, Rufford Park. This forms part of the area known as The Dukeries, and we will see other old stately homes further on. There is quite a lot going on here, with Center Parcs hiding in the woods on the left, followed by a left turning for the B6034 (for Edwinstowe), then a right turn for the Rufford Estate (turn here for a drive through a ford!), and then out of the woods towards another 'B' road, this time the B6030, which heads back towards the B6034 that we just met. The road then bends around and under the Ollerton railway line.

It is worth noting that the road has managed to go for 15 miles without passing through a single named settlement until Ollerton, where the A616 and A6075 cross it at a roundabout. Motorists are well catered for here, as there is a pair of petrol stations, a Big Fish restaurant (ex-Little Chef) and a Tourist Information Point. This is the heart of Sherwood Forest, the bulk of which hugs the left hand side of the road, the right hand side offering views of farmland interspersed with small woods and old mine workings. This is possibly the fastest part of the road, with good sightlines and few junctions. However this is broken up by another new roundabout, with side roads heading to Bothamsall on the right, and Thoresby Hall (another one of the Dukeries) on the left. This junction can become busy at weekends owing to the car boot sales held at Thoresby. A mile or so beyond here and we reach another old estate, this time Clumber Park. The house is no longer there, but the grounds are enjoyed by walkers, cyclists and horse riders. A signalised crossing is provided across the road for the benefit of these groups, shortly before the first turning for the park, opposite the Clumber Hotel. A second entrance can be found about a mile further up the road, which passes under a gated entrance and along the longest lime tree avenue in the country.

The road gets as far as Apleyhead, where it meets the A57 and A1. It was one of the few at-grade roundabouts on the A1 surviving into the 21st century but was upgraded to a dumbbell GSJ in 2007. The A614 used to run along the course of the current A1 here, but the construction of the Doncaster bypass in 1961 moved the course of the A1 from the Great North Road and onto its current alignment. To reach the next section of the route we must join the A1 and head north for a bit until forking right at Blyth services just before the A1 becomes an (M) again at J34.

Bawtry – Goole

Leaving Nottinghamshire behind for Yorkshire, our road picks up the Great North Road (masquerading as the A638) at another odd-looking oval roundabout. Again the A614 doesn't have to give way here, and the turning from the A614 northbound to the A638 is a little tight, but this isn't a major movement. However, as if to emphasise the importance of the Great North Road, the A638 becomes the dominant partner in the multiplex that follows. It passes through the first major town on the route, in a road sense at least, Bawtry. This is quite an important location in the regional network, as it is the meeting of three primary roads, no less - the A638 takes up the primary route and heads to Doncaster, and the A631 crosses our path in the centre of town. The A614 becomes non-primary at this point and tracks northeast into the flatlands of the Isle of Axholme.

You would think that in such an empty landscape the road would be flat and straight. It is indeed flat, but far from straight. There are short sections of straight road, followed by sharp turns, as if the road is following the field lines or one of the many drainage ditches in the area. On the left of the road is the former RAF Finningley, now Doncaster Robin Hood Airport, which the A614 has been rerouted to avoid. The terminal is accessed by the A638 and some back roads to the rear of the airport. Beyond the runway is the old village of Finningley, which throws up some more 90-degree turns and a level crossing on the Doncaster to Gainsborough line, before meeting the B1396 at a roundabout in Blaxton.

Beyond Finningley the road straightens out and continues north through some very empty landscape and meets the A18 to which it surrenders for nearly a mile. After this short length the M180 decides to throw up two slip roads to grab some traffic at J1.

History
Lesson
The offslip from the motorway at this junction was formerly the A18(M) - which terminated here before the M180 was built further east. You can still see the old westbound carriageway next to the offslip, now fairly overgrown.
Thorpe Road, Goole

At this junction we part company with the A18, which heads merrily east to Scunthorpe, leaving us with the A614 again, which heads north through Thorne. Before Thorne, the randomly numbered A1146 joins from the left and we pass under the railway. In Thorne, the road runs alongside the Stainthorpe and Keadby Canal, before bridging it in the centre of town. Many twists and turns later and the road leaves town and almost immediately meets the M18 at J6. At this point the road runs along a flood bank, with the River Don immediately to the left, and provides a clear vista of the flat farmland that are passing through. As we enter East Yorkshire, the road vaults the Aire And Calder Navigation over an imposing metal bridge. It crosses the M62 without a junction and meets the A1041 . We only have one more village to pass through before Goole, namely Rawcliffe. At a roundabout beyond Rawcliffe, we turn right as the A645 feeds in from the left.

The road is busy here, as we approach the M62 at J36, and a large service area has been provided on the road just before the dumbbell roundabout junction. On the other side of the motorway, the road passes by warehouses that serve the port of Goole, which we enter as we join up with the A161 at a signal-controlled T junction.

Goole – Bridlington

After Goole we cross the M62 without a junction and out towards Boothferry Bridge, an impressive Box Girder bridge over the River Ouse. After travelling through Boothferry village (and a roundabout with the B1228, we meet up with a spur of our road which runs to J37 of the M62. The mainline runs through Howden, although it effectively forms a bypass of the main town. At the far end of the bypass, we reach a roundabout. Take the westbound A63 if you want to go to Selby (and on to York via the A19). The B1230 runs east from here: this is the old A63 towards Hull.

Near Bessingby

The A614 heads north-east to a town called Holme-Upon-Spalding-Moor. This was where the A614 terminated for many years. But, since 1996, it heads north-east again, on the former A163. This takes you past Market Weighton, onto the Wolds, through Middleton-on-the-Wolds and Bainton, past Kirkburn, and to the outskirts of (Great) Driffield, where it meets the (Great) Driffield bypass.

This was fully opened in 1982, and used to be numbered as A163 and A166. Now it is all the A614. The A614 now heads along the former A166 on to Carnaby, nearBridlington, where it terminates on the A165 where that road TOTSOs at a roundabout.

History

Extension onto Nottingham Ring Road

Although the current southern end of the A614 is in its original spot, the road did run further into Nottingham at one time. It multiplexed with the A60 through Redhill and Arnold before turning off onto the Ring Road. The road originally terminated on the A453 (now A6004) but was extended further to the A606 roundabout when the Clifton Boulevard Extension was opened in 1965 (which utilised the 1958 Clifton Bridge). When the road was extended further, up to Gamston in 1981, the northern half of the ring road was renumbered A6514 and the southern half A52 to take east-west traffic out of the city centre. Original opening dates for the Ring Road sections can be found at Nottingham Outer Ring Road.

Northern changes

The A614 multiplex with the A1 was formerly just A614. The multiplex exists because the Government wanted the A1 to bypass Retford. The A638 multiplex further along in Bawtry was the original multiplex along the A1.

In 1922 the A614 followed its current route north to East Cowick before turning off to Selby (along what is now the A1041) to end on the A19 in the town centre. The road from East Cowick to Holme-upon-Spalding Moor was originally the A161 to Goole, B1228 to Howden and then B1229. The Goole to Holme road became the A1041 in the 1930s with the building of the current Howden bypass and then became a rerouted A614 in 1935.

Finningley Airfield Diversion - The 2 mile bypass from Wroot Road, Finningley southwards to High Common Lane was completed in the year to 31 March 1957 per the 1956-57 Roads in England and Wales Report. It was an Air Ministry scheme with a 24 foot carriageway. The plan in 1955 was for there to be a 5 mile bypass of Finningley and Blaxton, but only the southern section was built, with the link road into the village.

The A614 ended in Holme for over 60 years until it gained part of the A163 and A166 in 1995, taking it via Driffield to end in Bridlington This extension was truncated slightly when the A165 was re-routed along Bridlington Bay Road and through Carnaby in the early 2010s.


Links

legislation.gov.uk



A614
Junctions
Services
Crossings
Roads
Places
Bawtry • Bridlington • Driffield • Goole • Howden • Thorne
Miscellaneous
Related Pictures
View gallery (38)
Thorpe Road - Geograph - 217814.jpgMain opening span of Boothferry bridge - Geograph - 79168.jpgA1 new GSJ 2 - Coppermine - 18704.jpgA1-A614 junction at Checker House, 1983 - Geograph - 3433720.jpgA1 Northbound towards Blyth - Coppermine - 15025.JPG
Other nearby roads
Nottingham
A52 • A60 • A453 • A606 • A609 • A610 • A611 • A612 • A613 (Nuthall - Alfreton) • A648 (Kegworth - Nottingham) • A6002 • A6005 • A6008 • A6011 • A6019 • A6130 • A6130 (Huntingdon Street, Nottingham) • A6200 • A6211 • A6464 • A6514 • B680 • B681 • B682 • B683 • B684 • B685 • B686 • B690 • B5010 • B6004 • B6005 (Stapleford) • B6008 • B6235 (Nottingham) • B6236 (Nottingham) • B6464 • E13 • E31 (via Carlisle) • E106 (Northampton - Leeds) • M1 • M42 • Nottingham Outer Ring Road • RM182 • T52 (Britain) • T53 (Britain) • T54 (Britain)
Worksop
A57 • A60 • A619 • A620 • A6009 (Budby - Worksop) • B6005 (Worksop) • B6024 • B6034 • B6040 • B6041 • B6045 • B6079 • B6423 • E31 (via Carlisle) • T59 (Britain)
Bawtry
Goole
A161 • A645 • A1041 (Goole - Holme) • B1228 • B1392 • E20 • E22 • E109 (Old System) • M18 • M62 • T52 (Britain)
Bridlington
A600-A699
A600 • A601 • A602 • A603 • A604 • A605 • A606 • A607 • A608 • A609 • A610 • A611 • A612 • A613 • A614 • A615 • A616 • A617 • A618 • A619
A620 • A621 • A622 • A623 • A624 • A625 • A626 • A627 • A628 • A629 • A630 • A631 • A632 • A633 • A634 • A635 • A636 • A637 • A638 • A639
A640 • A641 • A642 • A643 • A644 • A645 • A646 • A647 • A648 • A649 • A650 • A651 • A652 • A653 • A654 • A655 • A656 • A657 • A658 • A659
A660 • A661 • A662 • A663 • A664 • A665 • A666 • A667 • A668 • A669 • A670 • A671 • A672 • A673 • A674 • A675 • A676 • A677 • A678 • A679
A680 • A681 • A682 • A683 • A684 • A685 • A686 • A687 • A688 • A689 • A690 • A691 • A692 • A693 • A694 • A695 • A696 • A697 • A698 • A699
Defunct Itineraries & Motorways: A601(M) • A604(M) • A613 • A622 • A627(M) • A632 • A635(M) • A638(M) • A648 • A666(M) • A687 • A695(M) • A696(M)

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