New to the whole UK roads thing, or just want the facts out so you know what's true and what isn't? Think of this as the FAQ of the British road network.
Who owns and runs the roads?
What are the roads like?
How are they organised?
What does the road network look like?
Why aren't E-routes signed in Britain?
Where are the E-routes?
Are there going to be any more motorways?
How are the roads funded?
What is British road signing like?
What is the font used on British road signs?
Who owns and runs the roads?
In a word, the national government. However, each country runs them via a seperate organization. In Scotland it's the Scottish Parliament, in Wales the Welsh office, in Northern Ireland it's their home-rule system (I forget). They then assign a department and usually have an executive agency. Clear? No, I didn't think so.
Taking England as an example, the government ministry in charge of the roads is the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions. This has an executive body called the Highways Agency which does the work (the HA is a "QuANGO" - Quasi-Autonomous National Government Organisation, so it is run independently like a company but is entirely funded by the government). However, the HA is only responsible for "trunk routes" - the nationally important thoroughfares. This makes up about 1% of all the roads, if that. The rest are maintained by local authorities.
What are the roads like?
Sort of big, long grey things with lots of cars on.
Okay, generally, they're very well built and well maintained, though of course it's all done on a tight budget (as with anything). They are always busy.
How are they organised?
Very simple. The numbering system applies nationwide (unlike state or county roads in the USA). There are strictly three classifications, though there are really five.
Motorways are the big, major city-to-city routes, comparable with autostrade, autobahns and interstates. They have numbers prefixed with an M. They are usually numbered after the road they supercede, but not always.
A-roads are the major routes outside of the motorway network. They have numbers prefixed with an A, and together with B-roads are numbered according to a complex system that I won't go into here.
B-roads are the minor, local routes and connector roads. Yes, you guessed, they have numbers prefixed with a B.
The other two 'classes' are C-roads (see the separate page) and primary A-roads. Primary A-roads are just like all the others, except they get primary status by connecting the primary locations - important towns, cities, and also bridges, tunnels, landmarks etc. They have green signs and are shown differently on most maps. Often only part of an A-road will be primary, if at all.
What does the road network look like?
You can see it to the right. Blue roads are motorways (since they always have blue signs), red roads are the others (almost all A-roads). Obviously this isn't nearly all the roads and they aren't nearly this straight.
Why aren't E-routes signed in Britain?
The government decided many years ago that European routes wouldn't be signposted in Britain, unless they were entirely rerouted onto the motorway network. For a short time, an E-route marker was available for use, though as far as I know it never was used. It was a green rectangle with the E-number in white in the taller "Motorway white" font (used for other road numbers on motorway signs).
Where are the E-routes?
Since they aren't signposted, it's hard to tell. Many are redundant since they only follow one road, like the E-13 which is the M1 by any other name. Others criss-cross the country as well, joining with Europe by ferry lines. Therefore the E15 starts at Malaga, but ends up following the A1 and A9, and ends at Wick. A full listing can be found here.
Are there going to be any more motorways?
Yes. Already under way is the BNRR (Birmingham North Relief Road), which is likely to carry the M6 around the north of Birmingham on Britain's first toll road. What the old M6 through Birmingham will be I do not know. The next one I am aware of is the upgrading of the A1 to motorway standard to join up existing bits of A1(M). This is happening in the Yorkshire section, between Ferrybridge and Aberford (between the M62 and M1 junctions) and also a new Wetherby Bypass will be built to connect this section to the existing A1(M) at Walshford. Other projects likely to go ahead include the upgrading of the gap in the M8 to motorway and the M77 link, and under review at the moment is upgrading the last bit of A74 to the M6 from Carlisle to Gretna Green.
Ian Smith adds that the BNRR will be signed as "M6 Toll", with the old M6 staying through Birmingham. He also adds more known projects: the completion of the M80, and the upgrading of the A8000 M9 to M90 link.
How are the roads funded?
Through central and local government taxes, with the exception of tolled bridges and tunnels. Central government taxes fund roads of national importance - money is assigned to the DETR (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions) and from there money is distributed out to the Highways Agency et al. All other roads are maintained locally and are paid for out of local council taxes. Britain's first toll road, the BNRR (Birmingham North Relief Road) is under construction in the Midlands and is being built completely with private money.
What is British road signing like?
Generally, it's very good. We use the standard European road signs. Check out the Highway Code Online (in my Links section) to see them.
To the right are some of my own mock-ups of directional signs. From top to bottom are a brown sign, for tourist attractions; a black on white sign, used for all standard A-roads, B-roads and unclassified roads; two advance warning green primary A-road signs; a blue motorway sign (complete with logo); a yellow temporary road works sign; and a place identification sign (used when entering a town).
A comparison between UK and US signing systems is available under "Mistakes".
What's the font used on UK road signs?
It was designed specially for the purpose by Jock Kinneir in 1963 and has been widely praised by people who know about these things for its legibility and 'friendliness'. I really like it, it has character (pun intended). Unfortunately no public version has been released and you can't get it for use on your computer. And nobody has yet made a replica, like the US road sign font which is circulating as Blue Highway I think. Incidentally, it's so good that loads of other places have bought rights to use it, including Spain and Italy.
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