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A1 RoadThe A1, at 409 miles (658 km) long, is the longest numbered British road. Joining London, the capital city of England, to Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, it is also known as the Great North Road. The original A1 route was designated by the Ministry of Transport in 1921, following the medieval Great North Road from Central London through Barnet, Potters Bar, Hatfield, Welwyn, Stevenage, Baldock, Biggleswade, Sandy, St Neots and Alconbury, then joining the route of a Roman road, Ermine Street, as far as Colsterworth. The route was modified in 1927 when bypasses were built around Barnet and Hatfield. In 1960 Stamford was bypassed, as was St Neots in 1971. Continuing north, the A1 runs on modern bypasses around Grantham, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Bawtry, Doncaster, Scotch Corner, Chester-le-Street, past the Angel of the North sculpture in Gateshead, around Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick-upon-Tweed, into Scotland, past Dunbar and Haddington before finally arriving in Edinburgh. Some sections of the A1 have been upgraded to motorway standard. These are known as the A1(M). These include a long stretch coming north from London from the M25 to just north of Baldock; the new four lane Peterborough section from the Alconbury junction near Huntingdon to Orton Southgate near Peterborough; a section bypassing Doncaster and intersecting the M18 (this was the first section of motorway on the A1 and only the second to be built in the United Kingdom); a short section where the new extended M1 joins the road between Leeds and York and a relatively new section through North Yorkshire east of Ripon, and another long stretch south of Newcastle upon Tyne. The Great North Road includes stretches of Roman Road including Dere Street, and is mentioned in much English literature, for example Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers. Future Improvements New motorway sections are currently being built between Darrington and Hook Moor to join the existing section at the M1 junction, and north of Wetherby to join the existing North Yorkshire section. Further sections are planned, which would ultimately create a single motorway running from Doncaster to Newcastle upon Tyne. Improvements to the road north of Newcastle upon Tyne are also being undertaken where the road consists mostly of single carriageway sections as opposed to a combination of dual carriageway and motorway to the south. This should ultimately lead to the road being dual carraigeway throughout its entire length. A scheme is in place to replace all junctions between Orton Southgate and Gonerby Moor with grade separated junctions, remove all crossings and breaks in the central reservation, and reduce or eliminate minor turnings. See also External link 1-0001 A0001
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