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Factfile - Images - Timeline - Exit List
Britain's shortest motorway - or is it? Well, it depends how you count the mileage. You see, one of the A64(M)'s carriageways is considerably longer than the other - and so one carriageway is longer than the A308(M), the other is shorter. So if you count the distance both carriageways run, or an average length of both, then the A64(M) is shorter. But if you count the longest carriageway's distance then the A308(M) wins.
So why is the A64(M) so lopsided? If you drive the road you'll see. Woodpecker Junction, where it turns back into the A64, was meant to be something bigger - the point where the Inner Ring Road continued south to connect with some unfinished ends at junction 3 of the M621. The motorway was designed to be double-decked, with the top deck curving south to the motorway network and the bottom deck hitting an at-grade junction with the A64 and other local roads. In its unfinished state, the top deck exists on the eastbound side, but it runs straight in to the A64. On the westbound side, it was never built, hence the mismatched motorway status.
In the early 1990s, Woodpecker Junction was rebuilt, giving westbound traffic a flyover at last - but it didn't complete the top deck. Instead it drops to ground level for another set of traffic lights before the motorway starts. This work also made the eastbound free-flow onto the A64 a permanent fixture.
Factfile
| Start | Brunswick (A58(M)) |
| Finish | Quarry Hill (A64) |
| Passes | Leeds |
| Length | 0.5 miles |
| Terminates | None |
| Spurs | None |
| Meets | None |
Images
Views of the A64(M) from on and off the road. If you have a photo to contribute, contact me.
Looking west from the Quarry Hill footbridge, the A64(M) appears to plough straight in to the city ahead of us. Below, a sliproad dives down from the top deck to the bottom. To the left of the picture, the westbound side can be seen climbing a steep ramp to the top deck.
Facing east from the same viewpoint, the rest of the motorway - in its entirety - is before us. Only the left-hand, eastbound carriageway is motorway here; the right-hand one is just A64, as evidenced by the set of lights behind the gantry sign.
Construction Timeline
When the various parts of the A64(M) were built, listed in chronological order.
| Open | Section |
|---|---|
| 1969? | Phase II Claypit Lane - Woodpecker Jct |
Exit List
All the junctions and destinations along the route.
| Westbound | Eastbound | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armley Bradford (A65, A660) A58(M)  |
WEST A58(M)  |
A58 |
N/A     |
|||||
| Vicar Lane City Centre Shops City Centre Loop A58   |
||||||||
0.3 miles, 2 lanes  |
 |
 0.3 miles, 2 lanes |
||||||
| Eastgate Bus Station A61  |
A61 (A58) |
 |
A61 | Motorways (M621 ) St James's Hospital A61  |
||||
 |
0.2 miles, 2 lanes |
|||||||
N/A  |
A61 (M621) |
 A64 EAST |
York Selby Cross Gates A64   |
