Primary status

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In the Great Britain road numbering scheme, primary status is indicative of the importance of locations, with respect to road traffic.

The status is awarded to settlements and structures of importance (the primary destinations) and to the roads that connect them (the primary routes).

The status of both is maintained by the Department for Transport in combination with the Highways Agency in England and Wales and the Scottish Executive in Scotland. The concept was invented in the 1960s following the upsurge in inter-city travel in the country.

[edit] Primary route

Primary routes, mostly A-roads, are identified on maps with green lines, and on the ground the road is signed with green-backed signs with white text and yellow road numbers. However, a given primary route between two destinations often takes a route which does not match that of a single numbered road, given that the roads were numbered long before the primary system was developed; instead, A-roads gain and lose primary status where required.

In addition, most motorways in the United Kingdom are de facto primary routes, though because they are also special roads, they maintain their traditional (white-on blue) colour scheme.

[edit] Primary destination

Primary destinations are usually cities and large towns, where a lot of traffic is expected to head to. In more rural areas, smaller towns tend to be awarded primary status. In some cases, a small village is used as a primary destination as it is situated at an important road junction, for example Llangurig in Wales and Crianlarich in Scotland. Scotch Corner in northern England is not even a village - just a hotel and a few other buildings - and yet has the status of a primary destination due to it location at the interchange of the A1 and A66. In addition, some airports, sea ports, bridges and tunnels are primary destinations as they attract a lot of traffic.