The A66 is a major road in northern England which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith.^[1] 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 Name 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.

From its eastern terminus between Redcar and Middlesbrough, it runs past Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington mainly as two to three 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, Temple Sowerby, Penrith, Keswick and Cockermouth, and on through the northern reaches of the Lake District, before arriving at the coastal town of Workington.

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. The A66 was extended westwards along the existing A594 (with upgrades) after the construction of the M6 motorway through Cumbria, to provide a more attractive route to the West Coast.

On February, 1st 2008 there was a whiteout on this road. Twenty five HGVs were trapped and this same snow storm caused the loss of power in 8000 homes.

Gallery

<gallery> image:A6611.JPG|This sculpture on the roundabout at the start of the A66 east of Middlesbrough represents steel being poured image:A66mids.JPG|A66 elevated section in Middlesbrough with the transporter bridge in the background image:A6610.JPG|A66 in Stockton-on-Tees, looking east image:Scotch99.JPG|A66 just west of Scotch Corner junction with the A1, looking east image:Scotch98.JPG|A66 just west of Scotch Corner junction with the A1, Scotch Corner Hotel in background image:A66bassenthwaite2.JPG|A66 at Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria, looking west image:A66basenthwaite1.JPG|A66 at Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria, looking east Image:A66 Trunk Road England.jpg </gallery>

Transpennine Dualling

The middle section of the A66 between Scotch Corner on the A1 and Penrith on the M6 forms one of the key trans-Pennine 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.

However after the construction of several sections was commenced it was announced that those schemes which are currently in the planning phase will not go ahead to construction until at least 2016. 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."

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

A66(M)

The A66(M) is a spur from the A1(M). It was opened in 1965 along with the A1(M) as part of the Darlington by-pass motorway.^[2] It can only be accessed by northbound traffic on the A1(M) and has exit to this route southbound only.

Junctions

References

External links

• 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
• A66 will be Fixed - This is the North East
• Highways Agency

sv:A66(M)

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