RULES OF THE A-ROAD

A BRIEF HISTORY OF A NETWORK WE COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT...

- JAMIE BRASSINGTON

A-ROADS form an integral part of our road network, criss-crossing the nation from A to B.

In the West Midlands, we have a number of major A-roads carrying traffic through our towns and cities.

Usually, A-roads feature a numerical value between one and four digits, in addition to a normal name too.

For example, in the Black Country, there is the A4123, better known as the Birmingham New Road, running through the boroughs of Wolverhampton and Dudley (the A4123 actually runs between Wolverhampton and Harborne under multiple names).

While numbers on A-roads may appear like mumbo jumbo and gobbledegook, there is actual order to the numbering.

In the UK, A-roads are divided into nine numbering zones.

Zones one to six all stem out from London in a clockwise fashion, while zones seven, eight and nine are located in Scotland.

Great Britain is divided into nine zones based on the nine principle A-roads coming out of London and Edinburgh.

The A1 to A6 start in London and are ordered clockwise, while the A7, A8 and A9 started in Edinburgh.