A61 road

The A61 is a major trunk road in England. It runs from Derby to Thirsk in North Yorkshire. From Derby, it heads north via Alfreton, Clay Cross, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Barnsley, Wakefield, Leeds, Harrogate and Ripon. The road is closely paralleled by the M1 motorway as far as Leeds.

Going south, the road starts as single carriageway, bypassing Ripon until reaching Harrogate Town Centre. Here, the road splits into 2 major one way streets that enclose the town centre and run along The Stray, a 200 acre stretch of grassland in Harrogate. It then continues through 'Emmerdale Country' before approaching the north's metropolis, where a sudden urban fringe approaches. As soon as the road enters Leeds, the road is a main dual carriageway and artery for north Leeds. For a relative distance it stays the same before the arrival of the superbusway near Potternewton. Here, the A61 rises slightly, and a panoramic view of Leeds' skyline can be observed. The descent into Leeds is quick and the road soon turns into a multi-lane road, as it approaches Sheepscar Interchange. 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. 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 towards Sheffield.

The road travels into Sheffield through Grenoside and Hillsborough, passing close to the Sheffield Wednesday football stadium. It goes into the City Centre from the north, emerging on the south side past the Sheffield United football stadium through Heeley and climbing up to Norton and the Meadowhead roundabout. From there the road becomes dual carriageway, heading towards Chesterfield on the Dronfield by-pass. The road used to go through Chesterfield town centre, passing by the famous crooked spire, but this caused heavy congestion that was alleviated by a bypass built in the 1980s. The spire itself is clearly visible from the bypass. The road reverts to single carriageway south of Chesterfield, passing through Clay Cross on its way to Alfreton.

South of Alfreton, the A61 merges with the dual carriageway A38, but the old A61 continues as the B6179 through Swanwick and Denby, 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.

See also

* UK roads: A61