A66 road

For other roads designated A66, see A66 (disambiguation).

A66 road
Route information
Length:	115 mi (185 km)
Major junctions
From:	Workington
	A595 road A596 road A5271 road A591 road A592 road M6 motorway A6 road x19px A686 road A685 road A67 road A6108 road A1(M) motorway A1 road A167 road A1150 road A135 road A1130 road A19 road A1032 road A178 road A172 road A171 road A1085 road A1053 road
To:	Grangetown
Location
Primary destinations:	Keswick, Penrith, Brough, Scotch Corner, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The A66 is a major road in Northern England, which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria. It is anomalously numbered since west of Penrith it trespasses into numbering zone 5; this is because it originally terminated at the A6 in Penrith but was extended further west in order to create one continuous east–west route. Most of what is now the A66 west of Penrith was originally A594 – only a small stub of this road remains, from Maryport to Cockermouth.

From its eastern terminus between Redcar and Middlesbrough it runs past Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington mainly as two-lane dual-carriageway and single carriageway past Darlington, becoming motorway standard as the A66(M) shortly before meeting junction 57 of the A1(M). It follows the A1(M) south to Scotch Corner, from where it continues west across the Pennines, past Brough, Appleby, Kirkby Thore, Temple Sowerby, Penrith, Keswick and Cockermouth and on through the northern reaches of the Lake District before arriving at the coastal town of Workington. There is a short stretch of two-lane dual carriageway along the northern part of Bassenthwaite Lake between Keswick and Cockermouth. Whilst the eastbound section follows the straight line of the disused Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway, the westbound section has numerous bends with climbs and dips. The western end of the Bassenthwaite stretch has been permanently reduced to a single lane with a 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) limit monitored by average speed cameras.

History

When road numbers were first designated in the 1920s, the A66 was assigned to the route between Penrith and Hull via Scotch Corner and York, mainly along former Roman roads. Its original route and today's route are largely congruous between Penrith and Scotch Corner. The historic route between Scotch Corner and Hull follows what is now today's A1, A168, B6265, A59 and A1079.

Proposed developments

Trans-Pennines dualling

The middle 56 miles (90 km) section of the A66 between Scotch Corner on the A1 and Penrith on the M6 forms one of the key trans-Pennines trunk routes and has one of the worst road-safety records in the UK. Various bypasses and upgrades have been constructed since the early 1970s, giving the current mix of single and dual-carriageway sections. In 2002, after many years of local campaigning, the Transport Minister, John Spellar, gave support for the upgrading of the remaining single-carriageway sections by the Highways Agency. The first three projects began construction in early 2006 and opened in 2007 and 2008. The whole route between the A1 and M6 was due to be dualled by 2011, by which time the A1 at Scotch Corner was also due to have been upgraded to motorway standard.

After the construction of several sections commenced, it was announced that those schemes currently in the planning phase would not go ahead until 2016 at the earliest. The Highways Agency website states "Other than those already committed, the Regions did not identify any other major schemes for the A66 as high priorities to receive funding. This means that there is currently no likelihood of any additional major schemes on this route being funded within the next ten-year period. However the Regional Funding Allocation process will be reviewed in due course and this will give an opportunity for the Regions to revise their priorities."

In September 2015, the government said that £500,000 would be invested into the study of the two Trans-Pennine routes of the A66 and the A69. The proposal would be for one or even both roads to be dualled wholly between the A1/A1(M) and the M6.

Section	Start	End	Dual-carriageway	Notes
M6-A6	M6 J40	A6	Opened 1971
Penrith Bypass	A6	Brougham	Opened 1971
Penrith-Temple Sowerby	Brougham	Winderwath	–	On hold
Temple Sowerby Bypass	Winderwath	Temple Sowerby East	Opened 2007
Temple Sowerby-Appleby	Temple Sowerby East	Crackenthorpe	–	On hold
Appleby Bypass	Crackenthorpe	Coupland	Opened by 1982
Warcop Bypass	Coupland	Brough West	–	On hold
Brough Bypass	Brough West	Brough East	Opened 1977
Brough-Stainmore	Brough East	Stainmore	Opened 1994
Stainmore Bypass	Stainmore	Banks Gate	Opened 1992
Bowes Moor	Banks Gate	Bowes West	Opened 1993
Bowes Bypass	Bowes West	Bowes East	–	On hold
Boldron Bypass	Bowes East	Cross Lanes	Opened by 1983
Cross Lanes-Greta Bridge	Cross Lanes	Greta Bridge West	–	On hold
Greta Bridge Bypass	Greta Bridge West	Greta Bridge East	Opened 1980
Greta Bridge-Stephen Bank	Greta Bridge East	Stephen Bank	Opened 2008
Stephen Bank-Carkin Moor	Stephen Bank	Carkin Moor	–	On hold
Carkin Moor-Scotch Corner (A1)	Carkin Moor	Scotch Corner (A1)	Opened 2007

All dates for openings are estimates based on information provided by the Highways Agency and are subject to change or delay.

Safety

The section of road between Scotch Corner and Penrith accounted for 70 deaths over ten years up until 2002, which was above the national average for single lane carriageways. Whilst the number of accidents was in line with the national average, the number of Serious injuries and deaths was twice the national average; this high attrition rate was the reason for the go-ahead for the new dualled sections on the grounds of safety.

Snow gates were installed on the road between Bowes and Brough. This section is the moorland route over Stainmore summit which reaches a height of 1380 feet (421 metres) is prone to heavy snow in the winter. Both sets of gates have turnaround facilities to allow all traffic to change direction.

Accidents and incidents

• On Monday 24 May 2010 three people were killed, four were seriously injured and approximately thirty people sustained less severe injuries after a car collided with a coach carrying children home from Keswick School on the A66 road in Cumbria.

Gallery

• 

  This sculpture on the roundabout near the start of the A66 east of Middlesbrough represents steel being poured

• 

  A66 elevated section in Middlesbrough with the Transporter Bridge in the background

• 

  A66 in Stockton-on-Tees, looking east

• 

  A66 just west of Scotch Corner junction with the A1, looking east

• 

  A66 just west of Scotch Corner junction with the A1, Scotch Corner Hotel in background

• 

  A66 at Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria, looking west

• 

  A66 at Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria, looking east

• 

  Eastbound view from Stainmore Cafe car park

• 

  Roman milestone on the former A66 route between Kirkby Thore and Temple Sowerby

A66(M)

A66(M) motorway
Route information
Length:	2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Existed:	1965 – present
Major junctions
From:	Cleasby
	A1(M) motorway
To:	Stapleton
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The A66(M) is a spur from the A1(M) at Junction 57. It was opened in 1965 along with the A1(M) as part of the Darlington by-pass motorway. It can be accessed only by northbound traffic on the A1(M) and has an exit to this route southbound only.

Junctions

A66(M) motorway junctions
Westbound exits (B carriageway)	Junction	Eastbound exits (A carriageway)
The South, Scotch Corner A1(M)	A1(M), J57	Start of motorway
Start of motorway	Terminus	Darlington A66 Stapleton, Barton

External links

• Heritage and History
• CBRD Motorway Database – A66(M)
• Pathetic Motorways – A66(M)
• SABRE article on the A66
• The Motorway Archive – A1(M) & A66(M) The Darlington By-Pass motorway
• Road to Nowhere: A66