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_1.jpg) The A63(T) looking west from nearBrough | ||||
| Route information | ||||
Part of E20 | ||||
| Length | 58 mi (93 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| From | Kingston upon Hull | |||
| Major intersections |  M1 M62 A15 A165 A1033 | |||
| To | Leeds | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United Kingdom | |||
| Primary destinations | Selby | |||
| Road network | ||||
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TheA63 is a majorroad inYorkshire,England betweenLeeds andKingston upon Hull. A section betweenNorth Cave and Hull forms the eastward continuation of theM62 motorway and is part of the unsignedEuroroute E20.
The route from Leeds out to Selby runs roughly parallel, and between 0.6 and 2.0 miles (0.97 and 3.22 km) south of the route of theLeeds and Selby Railway.
The route begins just east ofLeeds city centre at a junction with theA61, although, before its February 2009 realignment along the new East Leeds Link Road,[1] it began at a junction with theA64 in theHalton Moor area of the city (now signed as the B6159). The road passes through theKnowsthorpe andCross Green areas, asPontefract Lane; despite being ofdual carriageway standard, this stretch is subject to a 40 mph speed limit, and incorporates peak-timeHOV lanes. At the end of this dual carriageway section, the route meets theM1, and the road continues north along the motorway for one junction then resumes as the A63.
From junction 46 of the M1, the Thorpe Park roundabout, the route continues east, meeting theA642 at Garforth. There is a turning forLidgett Lane (B6137) to the left, next toGarforth Academy, with theShell garage on the right. It crosses theLeeds Country Way (a former railway), and there is the B6137 to the right forKippax. On the Garforth/Micklefield parish boundary is a roundabout with the A656Roman Ridge.
At the Boot and Shoe junction, with the former A1, there is theEssoBoot & Shoe Service Station, and theBest WesternMilford Hotel.[2] There is a grade-separated left turn for the B1222 (forSherburn-in-Elmet). This dual-carriageway section of the former A1, follows the Leeds – North Yorkshire boundary (Ledsham andSouth Milford), and was built as part of theBrotherton-Micklefield scheme in November 1964 by Dowsett Engineering Construction. At the Selby Fork junction south of the Selby Fork Hotel, the A1246 continues southwards along the former A1, and the road enters the former district ofSelby, inNorth Yorkshire.
It crosses theA1(M) at junction 42 at South Milford. It meets the A162 at a roundabout, crosses a railway, and passes throughMonk Fryston. It follows Causeway Dike and passes throughHambleton, where to the east it crosses theSelby Diversion of theEast Coast Main Line, and the A1238 (former A63) at a roundabout. The route follows the six-mile £44 million Selby Bypass and £5 millionBarlby Bypass, the latter of which isshared with the north–southA19, although the A19 still passes through Selby itself. On the bypass the road passes Selby Golf Club, meets the A19 at a roundabout atBrayton, crosses theSelby Canal, crosses theDoncaster-Selby railway, meets the A1041 at a roundabout, and crosses theRiver Ouse on theRiver Ouse swing bridge and theSelby-Hull railway. The short section around Barlby follows what was the oldEast Coast Main Line railway before theSelby Diversion opened in the early 1980s. An alternative route eastwards from the Selby bypass, to the M62, is the A1041 viaCamblesforth, then the A645 pastDrax power station. The route out to Hull is shadowed by the Selby-Hull railway line.
It leaves at the Barlby Roundabout (completed May 2013; formerly a dangerous road junction)[3] to the right, passingOsgodby then over therailway line and passesHemingbrough. A planned bypass at Osgodby (2002) was cancelled due to increases in prices of land.[4] It crosses theRiver Derwent and enters theEast Riding of Yorkshire. It passes throughNewsholme before bypassingHowden to the west, as Barnhill Lane and Boothferry Road, where it meets theA614 at a roundabout. Access to the M62 is via junction 37 to the south, along the A614.
East of Howden, the A63 has been downgraded and is now theB1230. The B1230 carries non-motorway traffic over theM62 motorway and onwards intoGilberdyke. When the B1230 was the A63, a three-mile section, throughGilberdyke andNewport, was dual carriageway. Where the B1230 crosses theM62 motorway east of Newport, the M62 finishes and the A63 restarts. Before the last eastern section of the M62 was built, the motorway terminated at a temporary junction atBalkholme. Before the M62 opened, the single carriageway A63 was Hull's main route to theSouth of England, causing manybottlenecks.
The section from junction 38 of the M62 (its terminus) to the A1034 junction nearSouth Cave was single carriageway before the M62 opened in May 1976. The section was constructed as the dualling of the Caves Bypass and opened when the last eastern section of the M62 opened, completing the dual carriageway link to the outskirts of Hull. The £2 million contract was given to Clugston, and work started in February 1975.[5][6] From junction 38, the B1230 leads toNorth Cave (and in the direction ofBeverley) along the former A63. TheBPTriangle North Cave is alongside the junction.
There is the Beacon Service Area on the eastbound side, with aTravelodge "Hull South Cave" andShellBeacon, situated just south ofEverthorpe andWolds prisons. The road skirts the southern edge of South Cave, and nearEllerker it crosses the former route (andErmine Street fromBrough, then known asPetuaria, toYork) at the A1034 junction.
The 2.5 miles (4 km)Elloughton bypass was built in October 1971, from the A1034 to the Welton/Brough junction passingBrantingham to the west. It replaced the former road through Elloughton and Brough. This section skirts the southern edge of theYorkshire Wolds. The £1,629,850 contract for 3.25 miles was given on 10 October 1969 to Gleeson Civil Engineering; the site office was onBrantingham Road;[7][8][9] the eastbound carriageway opened on Sunday 21 March 1971;[10] part of the dual section opened on Monday 13 September 1971;[11] the bypass fully opened on Friday 29 October 1971.[12]
TheWelton/Brough –North Ferriby section opened in the late summer of 1963.[13] Martin Cowley Ltd, of Derbyshire, was given the £156,947 contract in August 1961 for the two-mile section.[14] At theElloughton-cum-Brough-Welton parish boundary, there is a grade-separated junction for Brough to the south and Welton to the north. The road passes on the south side ofSouth Hunsley School (with a leisure centre[15]) atMelton, part of the parish ofWelton.
A new grade separated junction was constructed east of Melton nearNorth Ferriby in 2006/7.[16] TheShellGrand Dale filling station is on the westbound side, west of the Melton interchange. TheYorkshire Wolds Way crosses at this point.
The North Ferriby bypass and North Ferriby – Hessle sections opened in 1961. Martin Cowley Ltd ofClay Cross, in Derbyshire, was given the contract for the two-mile bypass, for £281,851 in August 1959, to take 20 months from October 1959; it was opened on Friday 25 August 1961.[17][18] The former route is partly theB1231 (forSwanland). The road meets theA15 at a grade-separated junction. The former route, before the South Docks Road improvement, followed the current A1105 into Hull.
The road continues through the Humber Bridge Country Park, across theHull-Selby railway, and under theHumber Bridge. The Humber Bridge was designed to take some of Hull's traffic southwards, but the vast majority takes the A63 westwards, towards theM18. The road passes on the south side ofHessle, next toHessle railway station, and follows theHull to Selby railway line closely on the southern side as far as the outskirts of Hull near the western docks.
The section from Hessle into Kingston upon Hull is namedClive Sullivan Way, after the rugby league footballerClive Sullivan,[19] (originally titled theSouth Docks Road). There is a junction withPriory Way, and atGipsyville it meets theA1166 at a grade-separated roundabout near St Andrew's Quay. Near the Albert Dock, there is a fly-over where it rejoins the formerHessle Road next to theSmith & Nephew factory to the south.
The A63 meets theA1079 (for central Hull) at a junction, beyond which the road is namedCastle Street. The Castle Street section of the road (2011) had significant air pollution problems (NO2 levels),[20] with over 55,000 vehicles per day, and had heavy congestion, having been at full capacity for around a decade; much of the traffic isheavy goods vehicles originating as a result ofRo-Ro activity atHull Docks. The road section also was experiencing high accident levels, as well as forming a barrier to local north–south movement within the city centre. Improvement schemes for the road had been planned since the 1980s, but were subject to funding delays.[21]
Consultation on the design of a solution began 2009.[22] Split level junctions including passing under or over the A63 were considered for the bottleneck at the Mytongate roundabout,[map 1] with additional congestion easing measures, and pedestrian bridges. Other options included an extended viaduct and tunnel options – the consultation showed a preference for an underground solution. In March 2010 theHighways Agency established a preferred scheme – the A63 would be lowered 23-foot (7 m) at the Mytongate bottleneck, and the north south connecting roads raised slightly (3.3-foot (1 m)), creating a split level junction; additionally the eastbound carriageway would be widened, and pedestrian crossings created.[23][24] If funded, construction was planned to begin in 2016 for completion in 2019.[25] The cost has been estimated at between £150 and £200 million.[26][27] In May 2012 the design and consultation work was initiated.[28][29] In June 2013 the government announced the go ahead for a £160 million improvement to the road after 2015.[30] From 2021, work began on Mytongate, and is predicted to be finished in 2025. A bridge called Murdoch's Connection was also constructed further east than the junction between the Princes Quay Shopping Centre and Hull Marina which allows for safe pedestrian crossing and fewer traffic lights, as well as greater connection between the main city centre area to the upmarket Humber Street area of the city centre.
It crosses theRiver Hull atMyton Swing Bridge, near theRiver Hull tidal surge barrier andThe Deep. The stretch over Myton Bridge and within the ward ofDrypool is known as Roger Millward Way. It was originally named Garrison Road but the name was changed to Roger Millward Way in memory of the deceased rugby player in 2018.[31][32] Within Drypool there is a northwards junction with the A1165 (Great Union Street), and southwards junction connecting the Victoria Dock Village housing estate at the same point. The road terminates at a junction for the A1033 (Hedon Road). It is prone to congestion due to traffic from the Port of Hull and vehicles exiting Victoria Dock heading into the city centre.
Aproposal to divert the road along a causeway between Hessle and Hull Docks was unveiled in 2019. The £1.5 billion project would have a dual carriageway road veering into the estuary and take all of the through traffic from the A63 away from the centre of Hull.[33]
A roads in Zone 6 of theGreat Britain road numbering scheme | ||
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