A616 road
A616 | ||
---|---|---|
A62 | ||
West end | Huddersfield 53°38′33″N 1°47′03″W / 53.6424°N 1.7842°W | |
Location | ||
Country | Primary destinations Barlborough, Sheffield, Stocksbridge | |
Road network | ||
The A616 is a road that links Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, to the M1 motorway at Junction 30, then reappears at Junction 35A and goes on to Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
The road originally ran continuously from Newark to Huddersfield, via Sheffield city centre. The section of route between the M1 Junction 30 and Sheffield was re-numbered A6135, and the route north-west of Sheffield largely renumbered the A6102.
Route
Newark to Barlborough
Similar to the A57, this section of the road is used to connect traffic heading to and from West and South Yorkshire with routes for the A1 to the south-east. The advantages of the A616 are that it is less well known[citation needed] than the A57 as a through-route and does not pass through large centres of population.
It starts in the south at the busy roundabout with the A617 and A46 (Newark bypass), known as the Cattle Market Island. This is the third position of its southern terminus. When the A1 ran through Newark, before July 1964, it met the A1 further towards Newark Castle railway station, by continuing from its present route down Debdale Hill then through Kelham, where it met the A617, and along the present-day A617 near what is the present-day Trent Valley Way. After the A1 bypass was built, the A1 through Newark became the A6065, and the former A616 became an unclassified road from Toll Bar Farm to Kelham, and the A617 from Kelham to Newark. The A616 then followed a former unclassified road to South Muskham, where it met the A6065. When the Newark Bypass was built in 1989, the A6065 was removed and the A616 extended from South Muskham to Newark along the former A6065.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/A616_Avenue_-_geograph.org.uk_-_134859.jpg/220px-A616_Avenue_-_geograph.org.uk_-_134859.jpg)
The former A1 into Newark from the roundabout is the B6326. For just under two miles it follows the former A1 north to South Muskham, passing a large British Sugar sugar beet processing plant on the right. This is now one of the main sugar beet factories left, as many in the region have closed. It runs parallel to the East Coast Main Line, which can be seen to the east. On the former Great North Road, it passes over a causeway built in 1770 by John Smeaton. At Muskham Bridge it crosses the River Trent. At South Muskham the road leaves to the west with the northern former A1 continuing as the B6325. It passes through Little Carlton, part of South Muskham parish. It climbs Debdale Hill and meets a road from Kelham, to the left. It passes Debdale Hill Farm as Ollerton Road. Over the brow of the hill, it enters Caunton parish, where the road has been straightened, leaving lay-bys on both sides of the road. It passes Dean Hall Farm and there is a crossroads for Knapthorpe to the left and Caunton to the right. There is a left turn for Maplebeck near Beesthorpe Hall, and a right turn from Caunton.
It passes Lodge Farm and Caunton Common Farm. On the parish boundary between
It passes through what is Sherwood Forest at Bilhaugh in Edwinstowe parish, and meets Swincote Road (B6034) to the left, from Edwinstowe, and overlaps with the road. In Perlethorpe cum Budby, it passes through Budby as Worksop Road and crosses the River Meden to the west of Thoresby Lake. At Budby North Forest the A6034 leaves to the right (the north), and slightly further north is a crossroads with Netherfield Lane. At Hazel Gap the road continues due west and is crossed by the Robin Hood Way near Hazel Gap Farm in the parish of Norton. The road enters Bassetlaw and passes along the northern edge of Gleadthorpe Breck Plantation and Hatfield Plantation, north of Welbeck Colliery. There is a right turn for Norton and the road meets the north–south A60 at Cuckney, where the A632 leaves for Bolsover to the south-west. In the village the road passes the Greendale Oak. It leaves to the west as Creswell Road, crossing the River Poulter.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Treble_Bob_-_geograph.org.uk_-_936530.jpg/220px-Treble_Bob_-_geograph.org.uk_-_936530.jpg)
It passes Woodend Farm and there is a crossroads for Whaley and
Tankersley to Huddersfield
The northern section resumes at the end of the slip roads of junction 35A of the M1 at
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/View_towards_Langsett_along_the_A616_Stocksbridge_Bypass_-_geograph.org.uk_-_916607.jpg/220px-View_towards_Langsett_along_the_A616_Stocksbridge_Bypass_-_geograph.org.uk_-_916607.jpg)
It crosses the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/The_new_Flouch_roundabout%2C_A628_-_A616%2C_Langsett_-_geograph.org.uk_-_936961.jpg/220px-The_new_Flouch_roundabout%2C_A628_-_A616%2C_Langsett_-_geograph.org.uk_-_936961.jpg)
Underbank Reservoir is to the south, and Sheephouse Wood is to the north, with the entrance to Fox Wire on the right. At Midhopestones there is a crossroads, with the left turn for the Ye Olde Mustard Pot pub. The road follows the valley of the Little Don River, where it is followed by the Barnsley Boundary Walk. At Langsett there is a left turn for Upper Midhope, and a right turn, and passes the Bank View Cafe. To the south is Langsett Reservoir and the road skirts the eastern edge of Crookland Wood. It meets the A628 at the Flouch Roundabout. Traffic for Manchester from the M1 follows the A628 to the west – the Woodhead Pass. To the north, the road is untrunked all the way to Huddersfield, and passes the Flouch Hotel next to the former mini-roundabout[5] with the A628.
It continues as the straight Whams Road across Thurlstone Moors, passing through Hazlehead, in Dunford, where it is crossed by the former Woodhead Line, next to the former
It crosses the
Stocksbridge bypass
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/The_footpath_crosses_the_Stocksbridge_Bypass_-_geograph.org.uk_-_909201.jpg/220px-The_footpath_crosses_the_Stocksbridge_Bypass_-_geograph.org.uk_-_909201.jpg)
The bypass was opened in May 1988 and is a road that links the M1 motorway at Junction 35A (and J36) to the Woodhead Pass (one of the main trans-Pennine roads from Sheffield to Manchester) bypassing the towns of Stocksbridge and Deepcar. It has been said that the Stocksbridge bypass was originally planned to be part of the M67 motorway.[6]
The road is notorious for having many accidents and has been labelled a 'blackspot'.[7] While the South Yorkshire police question the statement and say the road is no more dangerous than any other road of its type in Britain, judges sentencing traffic accidents have declared the road to have been built "on the cheap" and the mayor of Stocksbridge at the time of its construction declared it to be "fearfully dangerous". During the road's construction it was downgraded from a dual carriageway with crash barrier to a single carriage way with a passing lane. Since its completion there has been a 46,000-name petition demanding it be upgraded to dual carriageway.[8] There are frequent head-on collisions on the bypass.[citation needed]
Reports have suggested the road may appear to be safe at speeds above the 60 limit despite not being so.
There are several ghost stories attached to the Stocksbridge Bypass, including reputed apparitions of a monk and phantom children during the road's construction. These claims were featured in a 1994 episode of the paranormal documentary series Strange but True?, hosted by Michael Aspel.[13]
References
- ^ Sherwood Castle
- ^ Great British Carvery Archived 13 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sheffield-Barnsley Premier Inn
- ^ Taybarns Barnsley Archived 9 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Flouch Inn
- ^ Pathetic Motorways
- ^ "Biker killed in blackspot crash". BBC. 15 August 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ [1] Archived 1 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Speed cameras cut road death roll". BBC. 14 April 2005. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Father jailed over death crash". BBC. 20 December 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Two die in head-on road accident". BBC. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "Stocksbridge bypass/Angels". Strange But True?. London Weekend Television. 2 December 1994. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.