The A61 is a major
trunk road in England connecting
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
and
Thirsk in
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
by way of
Alfreton
Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...
,
Clay Cross,
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
,
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
,
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
,
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
Harrogate
Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
and
Ripon
Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...
. The road is closely paralleled by the
M1 motorway between Derby and Leeds.
Route
![Sheepscar Interchange](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Sheepscar_Interchange.jpg)
Heading south, the road begins as single carriageway from Thirsk which bypasses Ripon and travels towards Harrogate, eventually passing through Harrogate town centre. Here, the road divides into two major one-way streets which enclose the town centre and run along
The Stray, a stretch of grassland in Harrogate. As Leeds Road, it then passes through the southern suburbs of Harrogate before meeting the
A658 near the village of
Pannal
Pannal is a village in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated to the immediate south of Harrogate. Since 2016 it has formed part of the new civil parish of Pannal ...
. The A61 continues through
Harewood before approaching the north's
metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big c ...
, where a sudden urban fringe approaches. As the road enters Leeds and crosses the
A6120 outer ring road, the road becomes Scott Hall Road, a main dual carriageway (or Trunk Road) and artery for north Leeds. There are sections of
guided bus
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike trolleybuses or rubber-tired tra ...
route using kerb guidance near
Potternewton
Potternewton (until recently also Potter Newton) is a suburb and parish between Chapeltown and Chapel Allerton in north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Chapel Allerton ward of Leeds City Council.
Potternewton is bounded by ...
. Here, the A61 rises slightly, and a panoramic view of Leeds skyline is revealed. The descent into Leeds is quick and the road soon turns into a multi-lane road, as it approaches
Sheepscar Interchange
Sheepscar is an inner city district of Leeds in West Yorkshire England, lying to the north east of Leeds city centre. The district is in the City of Leeds Metropolitan Council. It is overlooked by the tower blocks of Little London and Lovel ...
. Fast-flowing traffic is directed onto the A61, although some traffic is directed off the A61 to avoid Leeds City Centre as it routes around the back of
Quarry House
Quarry Hill is an area of central Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is bounded by the Leeds Inner Ring Road in the east and north and the Leeds – York / Hull railway in the south. The area falls within the City and Hunslet ward of Leeds Ci ...
. The A61 meets it shortly after, as it shares the city centre loop for a short distance. After crossing the river, the road splits again before taking traffic out to the motorways. The road then continues out of
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
towards
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
and
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
. South of Barnsley it crosses the
M1 at Junction 36 then heads towards
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
. Between the M1 at Junction 36 and the Westwood roundabout intersection with the
A616, the road is designated as a
trunk road under the responsibility of
Highways England.
![A61 Hillsborough](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/A61_Hillsborough.JPG)
The A61 travels into Sheffield through
Grenoside
Grenoside is a suburb of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The suburb falls within the West Ecclesfield ward of the city.
History
The name Grenoside is derived from the language of the Anglo-Saxons. The name Grenoside, which was first ...
and
Hillsborough
Hillsborough may refer to:
Australia
*Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie
Canada
*Hillsborough, New Brunswick
*Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick
* Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County
*Hillsborough (electoral d ...
, passing next to the Sheffield Wednesday
football stadium
Football stadium may refer to:
* A stadium used in gridiron football, association football or Australian rules football
* A soccer-specific stadium
Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sp ...
as Penistone Road. It continues down to Shalesmoor and at this point it forms a major artery into the
City Centre
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
from the north, becoming the
Sheffield Inner Ring Road
Sheffield Inner Ring Road is a dual-carriageway circling central Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Marked up as the A61 all the way around, it was built from the 1960s onwards. The Ring Road connects to the Sheffield Parkway, which itself c ...
(which is labelled as A61 all the way around). It meets the
A57 twice; at
Park Square and Brookhill roundabout. At Junction 4 (Bramall Lane) of the Sheffield Inner Ring Road, is a spur road the A621 – Bramall Lane, this road takes you past the western side of Sheffield United's
stadium
A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...
and back onto the A61 as Queens Road. The A621 is used as a shortcut, instead of continuing on the Sheffield Inner Ring Road to Junction 3 (Granville Square), where it meets Queens Road further north. The A61 then continues through
Heeley as
Chesterfield Road and climbs up to
Norton Norton may refer to:
Places
Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada
*Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan
*Norton Parish, New Brunswick
**Norton, New Brunswick, a ...
and onto Bowshaw roundabout. Between Sheffield and Chesterfield it is a
dual carriageway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
, avoids
Dronfield and
Unstone
__NOTOC__
Unstone ( ) is a village and civil parish in the English county of Derbyshire, in the North East Derbyshire administrative district approximately south east of Dronfield. It is also close to the town of Chesterfield. The River Drone ...
as the eponymous by-pass. The road used to go through Chesterfield town centre, passing by the famous
crooked spire
The old western town gate of Duderstadt in Germany.
A crooked spire, (also known as a twisted spire) is a tower showing a twist and/or a deviation from the vertical. A church tower usually consists of a square stone tower topped with a pyramidal ...
, but was heavily congested. This was alleviated by the construction of the Chesterfield bypass in the 1980s on the alignment of the former
Great Central Railway. The road reverts to single carriageway south of Chesterfield, passing through
Clay Cross and
Alfreton
Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...
.
![Chesterfield A61](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Chesterfield_A61.JPG)
South of Alfreton, the A61 merges with the dual carriageway
A38, but the old A61 continues as the B6179 through
Swanwick and
Denby
Denby is a village in the England, English county of Derbyshire that is notable as the birthplace of John Flamsteed, England's first Astronomer Royal, and the location of the Denby Pottery Company. The population at the 2001 Census was 1,827, in ...
, meeting the
A38 again just north of the city. The A61 road continues towards the city centre along
Sir Frank Whittle Road until it finally ends at the junction with the
A52 near to the headquarters of
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Derbyshire. Its limited overs team is called the Derbyshire Falcons ...
.
Road safety
In June 2008 a stretch of the A61 between Barnsley and Wakefield was named as the most dangerous road in Britain, when motorcycle accidents were excluded. In the latest EuroRAP findings from the Road Safety Foundation, this stretch of road was also found to be the most dangerous road in Yorkshire and Humber. With 22 fatal and serious injury accidents in the three years analysed (2004–2006), this single carriageway route was rated as Red – the second highest risk category.
[
]
References
External links
UK roads: A61EuroRAP GB Tracking Survey ResultsRoad Safety Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:6-0061
Roads in England
Roads in Yorkshire
Transport in Derby
Roads in Derbyshire
Transport in Nottinghamshire
Transport in North Yorkshire
Transport in South Yorkshire
Roads in Sheffield
Transport in West Yorkshire
Transport in the City of Wakefield
Transport in Leeds
Borough of Harrogate
Roads with a reversible lane