B688

East Bridgford

The B688 was a cross-country B-road in central Nottinghamshire.

The road started on the A46 Fosse Way to the east of East Bridgford. It headed west through the village before crossing the River Trent via a toll bridge that no longer exists to enter Gunthorpe. As was common with private toll roads when numbers were first allocated, the bridge itself was unclassified. Continuing northwest, the road crossed the A612 at Lowdham before zigzagging into Epperstone. After passing through Oxton the road ended on the A614 on Warren Hill.

The southern section of the road, between the A46 and A612, was quickly upgraded to Class I status, becoming the A6097, the first new A6xxx number to be allocated following the original 1922 classification. However, it wasn't long before much of this section got its number back (as shown in the map on the right) following the construction of the East Bridgford bypass and a new Gunthorpe Bridge over the Trent (opened 17 November 1927); the A6097 number was reassigned to the new road. Because the old bridge was demolished, this left the B688 in the unusual state of having two separate sections either side of the Trent, requiring a detour via local roads and the A6097.

Later maps suggest that the B688 was replaced piecemeal by the A6097 - as each section was improved, the A6097 number was adopted. The entire road is now either the A6097 where it was upgraded online, or unclassified where bypassed. However, for many years, a short stretch in Oxton was numbered as part of the B6386, but following the removal of all classified routes from Southwell, it too is unclassified.