A1237
| A1237 | ||||
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| From: | Hopgrove (SE639553) | |||
| To: | Copmanthorpe (SE556475) | |||
| Via: | Haxby, Clifton, Rawcliffe, Acomb | |||
| Distance: | 9.8 miles (15.8 km) | |||
| Meets: | A64, A1036, B1363, A19, A59, B1224, A64 | |||
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The A1237 forms a half-loop around the northern and western side of York, and has 12 roundabouts, including the Hopgrove Roundabout and the Copmanthorpe Roundabout. It is signposted as a Ring Road, with the D2 A64 forming the other half.
The road is entirely S2 with no grade-separated junctions. As a result it can be extremely congested for much of the day, including weekends.
It is possible that the number A1237 is derived from the "Treaty of York" which was signed by Henry III of England and Alexander II of Scotland in 1237 and established the border between England and Scotland.
Construction began in 1984 and the road opened in three stages - the Hopgrove-Rawcliffe section was opened in 1986, the Copmanthorpe-Poppleton section opened in September 1987 and the final section, which carries the road across the River Ouse and the East Coast Main Line, opened amid much fanfare by the then-Secretary of State for Transport, on 11 December 1987.
Improvements
In 1992 detailed plans for improvements to the Rawcliffe-Hopgrove section were drawn up by the Department for Transport. These plans envisaged a completely new road being built, running parallel to the current road with just one grade-separated junction, located at Wiggington Road. the section from Rawcliffe to Wiggington Road would have been D2 with Wiggington Road to hop Grove being S2. The existing road would have been retained as a local access road. However these plans were later dropped.
In December 2008, work started to upgrade Hopgrove Roundabout (A1237 / A1036 / A64) by widening and adding traffic lights. This was completed in October 2009.
Other junctions that have had improvements are:
The A1237 / A19 roundabout at Rawcliffe Bar
The A1237 / A59 roundabout at Poppleton - this also includes a BP petrol station, McDonalds and the First York Poppleton Bar Park and Ride
The A1237 / B1224 roundabout at Knapton
The A1237 slip road from the westbound A64 at Copmanthorpe now has a "no right turn" into Copmanthorpe as the road bends sharply to the left and has a high risk of last-minute braking, so all traffic for Copmanthorpe now has to do a U-turn at the roundabout a few yards further down and come back on themselves to turn left.
The Monks Cross junction is currently in the planning stage for improvements and will follow a similar upgrade to the above roundabouts - namely, both lanes on the A1237 will be for forwards, with a "zip merge" back into one lane about 50yds after the roundabout.
Links
legislation.gov.uk
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