B6000

The B6000 is a short link in the centre of Derby.

Route

Midland Hotel, Derby

The road starts on London Road, the A5194, heading first north-eastward from a signalised junction near the London Road Community Hospital. Running along Midland Road it passes Derby's former main post office, then bends round to the left, with the forecourt of Derby railway station on the right, the name of the street now changing to Railway Terrace.

After another set of traffic lights the route splits into two, each of the 'legs' being one-way slips onto/off the A6, Pride Park Way flyover. The city-bound leg forms part of Siddals Road, but does not follow that street for its full length, instead swinging off to the right to join the A6 while the outbound leg is Station Approach.

History

The route into the centre as shown on the 1954 map

The B6000 originally ran further into the city centre, continuing along Siddals Road and the Morledge to meet the B5021 at the East Street junction, and then along Corporation Street, at the end of which it met the then-A52 Derwent Street (at a roundabout following completion of the Council House in 1949).

As part of the City Challenge project, today's A6 flyover was constructed and opened on 9 January 1997 to improve access to the Pride Park area. This led to the curtailment of the B6000 at its current western terminus, and the rerouting of the A6 also left the B6000 wholly out of zone, as its entire length is now in zone 5.

Signposting

B6000 sign on the newly reopened Council House

The B6000 number is not posted at either of the route's current terminals, nor does it appear on any intermediate signage – except in the form of a plaque attached to the wall of the Aston Court Hotel at the north-eastern end of Midland Road, close to the railway station.

Curiously, a similar plaque which marked the original western end of the B6000 at the Corporation Street / Derwent Street junction has been retained on the wall of the Council House, although that position is now more than a third of a mile away from the road's present terminus. It also appears to have been moved, following refurbishment of the building in 2011-12, from one end of Corporation Street to the other.