A special road is a road or highway (these terms have different meaning in different jurisdictions in the UK) in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

reserved for use by ''special'' classes of traffic; such roads include but are not limited to motorways. For a road to designated a special road, the status must in England and Wales be provided by a scheme under the

Highways Act 1980 The Highways Act 1980 (1980 c.66) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom dealing with the management and operation of the road network in England and Wales. It consolidated with amendments several earlier pieces of legislation. Man ...

; in Scotland Special Roads are provided for in the

Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

; in Northern Ireland, legislation commenced with the Special Roads Act (Northern Ireland) 1963.

The Special Roads Act 1949

The passing of the

Special Roads Act 1949 The Special Roads Act 1949 (c.32) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that: *Authorised the construction of special roads (that became known as motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been de ...

through

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

allowed authorities in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

to construct roads that were not automatically rights of way for certain types of user. Existing roads were mostly rights of way for all road users, including pedestrians, so it was not possible to build roads designated only for motorised traffic. The Act therefore allowed the construction of

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s. The Special Roads Act was in England and Wales partly repealed by the

Highways Act 1959 A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

The first special road

The Special Roads Act was first used in the late-1950s to designate the

Preston By-pass The Preston Bypass was the United Kingdom’s first motorway. It was designed and engineered by Lancashire County Council surveyor James Drake as part of a larger initiative to create a north-south motorway network that would later form part ...

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distr ...

, now largely part of the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at ...

, as a special road.

Classes of traffic (England and Wales)

Non-motorway special roads

Although the majority of special roads in the UK are also motorways, there are a number of special roads that are not motorways. Quite a number of these are

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

s, and several others are former motorways which have since been downgraded. In order to charge a toll on a newly built road, special road regulations are usually necessary. In addition, a small number of non-motorway special roads are relatively newly built dual-carriageway roads, such as the A1 Dual Carriageway east of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and parts of the A720 Edinburgh bypass, or parts of the A55 in

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

. These particular roads have many of the same regulations as motorways, apart from the speed limit regulations, since that only applies to special roads which are also motorways. The usual speed limit regulations that apply to all-purpose roads do not apply to special roads, so a non-motorway special road must define a speed limit as part of its Statutory Instrument.

References

{{reflist

Special Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...