The A6 is one of the main north–south roads in England. It runs from Luton in Bedfordshire to Carlisle in Cumbria, although it formerly started at a junction with the A1 at Barnet in north London, and is described as running from London to Carlisle.
Running north-west from Luton, the road passes through Bedford, bypasses Rushden, Kettering and Market Harborough, continues through Leicester, Loughborough, Derby and Matlock before passing through the Peak District to Bakewell, Buxton, Stockport, Manchester, Salford, Chorley, Preston, Lancaster, Kendal and Penrith before reaching Carlisle.
South of Derby, the road runs approximately parallel to the M1 motorway; between Manchester and Preston, it is close to the M6 and M61 motorways; and from Preston to its northern terminus in Carlisle, it is close to the M6.
Route The A6, which runs from Luton to Carlisle is known as the London to Carlisle trunk road.
Luton–Kettering The A6 begins as a short stretch of Crawley Green Road at an elongated roundabout with the A505 roadpart of the Luton inner ring road. The A6 follows Crescent Road past Luton railway station into New Bedford Road. It meets the A5228 outer ring road at a roundabout. On the outskirts of Luton, now Barton Road, it meets the Icknield Way Path. Leaving Luton, it enters Central Bedfordshire after a roundabout with Quantock Rise.
A roundabout at Streatley, where the road becomes the dual-carriageway Luton Road, passing through the Bartonhill Cutting, the road becomes single carriageway at the roundabout with the B655 at the other end of the Barton-le-Clay bypass. It meets the A507 at a roundabout at Clophill, crossing the River Flit. It passes by Maulden Wood as the dual-carriage up Deadman's Hill then passes Haynes West End. It enters the district of Bedford and bypasses Wilstead. It meets the A421 at the Elstow Interchange grade-separated junction (GSJ). The A6 meets the A5134 at a large signal-controlled junction.
The road crosses the Marston Vale Line and enters Bedford as Ampthill Road. There is a roundabout with the A5141, then it crosses the railway again near Bedford St Johns railway station. It meets the A600 and A5140 at a roundabout, then passes Bedford College and crosses the River Great Ouse as King Street. It takes two one-way routes (Tavistock Street–High Street and Horne Lane–Union Street) through the town centre, which meet at a roundabout, then continues for around 700 yards. It meets the A5141 again at a roundabout near Bedford Modern School and a large Sainsbury's supermarket and becomes the dual-carriageway Paula Radcliffe Way; it formerly passed through Clapham itself before the construction of the Paula Radcliffe Way Bypass in 2001.
The A6 crosses the River Great Ouse twice more, and is crossed by the John Bunyan Trail, near a GSJ for Clapham and Oakley. There is another GSJ for Highfield Parc Industrial Estate. At the end of the bypass, the road loses the broad expanse of tarmac and looks like a minor B road and becomes Bedford Road where there are speed cameras. It passes through Milton Ernest, passing the Queen's Head pub and the exit for Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. It then continues for around three miles, passing the Falcon pub near Bletsoe then passes Sharnbrook at a roundabout. Around a mile later it crosses into Northamptonshire and enters the district of North Northamptonshire. It passes through the village of Wymington, and passes the exit to the Santa Pod Raceway, bypasses the towns of Rushden and Higham Ferrers, arriving at the Chown's Mill roundabout with the A45. From here the road bridges the River Nene and the Nene Way before bypassing Irthlingborough. The A6 then passes through the town of Finedon and intersects the A510 at a roundabout. Leaving Finedon, the road passes the Burton Wold Wind Farm and bypasses Burton Latimer and arrives at junction 10 of the A14 at Barton Seagrave.
Kettering–Leicester Kettering was bypassed when sections of the east–west corridor A14 were built. The A6 reappears at junction 3 of the A14, from there it continues north bypassing Rothwell and Desborough until it meets a roundabout with the B576 (the pre-bypass former A6 route through Desborough and Rothwell). The road enters Leicestershire and the district of Harborough as Harborough Road at the start of the five-mile (8 km) Market Harborough Bypass. It briefly re-enters Northamptonshire where there is a roundabout with the A427 (for Stoke Albany) and A4304 (former A427), and an exit for Great Bowden.
The road is crossed by the Leicestershire Round. There is a turn for Foxton and Foxton Locks. It is crossed by the Midland Main Line. The A6 passes through Kibworth. The road becomes Leicester Road. It crosses the River Sence and there is a roundabout. The bypass ends with a roundabout, just before the road enters the district of Oadby and Wigston.
Leicester–Peak District On the outskirts of Leicester the road becomes London Road. There is a roundabout with Florence Wragg Way, where the road becomes Glen Road. It then becomes Leicester Road before reaching the outer ring-road (A563), next to Leicester Racecourse. It becomes London Road, where the dual-carriageway ends, and it enters the city of Leicester, passing Leicester High School for Girls. There is a crossroads, for Stoughton Road (A6030) at Stoneygate, and a roundabout with the Victoria Park Road (B568). It passes close to Leicester University and many take-away shops. It crosses the Midland Main Line near Leicester railway station. In the centre of Leicester, it is subsumed into Leicester's inner ring-road, the A594.
The A6 crosses the Grand Union Canal and the River Soar as St Margarets Way. It becomes dual-carriageway on the northern outskirts of Leicester and passes the National Space Centre in Belgrave as Abbey Lane. Later, it meets a roundabout with the A563 outer ring-road entering the borough of Charnwood. North of Leicester, as Loughborough Road, it meets the A46 Leicester Western Bypass just south of Rothley and the start of the four-mile (6.4 km) dual-carriageway Quorn-Mountsorrel Bypass. The road at this point follows the Soar Valley, and is mostly on embankment or viaduct, crossing the river four times. From here the road passes through Loughborough. North of Hathern is a dual-carriageway section that skirts the Leicestershire–Nottinghamshire border (the River Soar). The road becomes London Road and enters the district of North West Leicestershire. To the south of Kegworth the road heads west along a bypass avoiding the village. It joins the A453 at the East Midlands Gateway industrial park. The A453 then joins the M1 at the roundabout at junction 24, which is where the A50 Derby to Stoke-on-Trent Link begins. The road follows one of the former A6 dual-carriageway sections, passing Lockington, before meeting traffic from the south-bound M1 at junction 24a. The three-laned A6 overlaps the A50 for a couple of miles, and there is a junction with the B6540 (former A453). The road crosses the Trent and Mersey Canal and River Trent, where it enters Derbyshire and the district of South Derbyshire.
Elvaston Castle is to the east. The road enters Derby along London Road and at Alvaston it meets the A5111 Derby Ring Road (Raynesway). It enters Crewton and just after a hump-backed bridge it passes St Osmund's Church. There is a roundabout with Ascot Drive near the Derby Conference Centre, and the road exits as Pride Parkway, which is connected to the adjacent Pride Park Business Park and Pride Park Stadium, home of Derby County F.C. It reaches Litchurch near Derby College's Roundhouse site; the land on which it was built was a former gas works. This section from the first roundabout to Station Approach (B6000) includes a viaduct with spans over the Midland Main Line. The A6 meets a former route beside the Derbion shopping centre, a former roundabout that was replaced with traffic lights with a multi-storey car park in the centre. The road overlaps the A601, Derby's inner ring-road and the A52, crossing the River Derwent, then leaving as King Street at an intersection on St Alkmund's Way near the former site of St Alkmund's Church. This section to the A38 has a weight limit. As Garden Street, it splits in two at an elongated roundabout surrounding a service station and a pub. At a roundabout known locally as the Five Lamps, it becomes Duffield Road. North of Derby, there is the Palm Court roundabout (named after the former Palm Court café which closed in 2005), a junction with the A38. It follows the Derwent Valley, entering the district of Amber Valley through Duffield and Belper. At Whatstandwell it meets the B5035 (for Crich and Wirksworth), then enters the district of Derbyshire Dales. At Cromford, it meets the A5012 (Via Gellia) before passing Matlock Bath. Entering Matlock, the road passes under the railway and along a new bypass and then over the River Derwent, meeting the A615 at a roundabout. The road then continues on Bakewell Road into Darley Dale, where the road, as Dale Road, passes the hospital, and crossroads with the B5057.
Peak District–Manchester From Matlock the road enters the Peak District National Park. From Rowsley, it follows the River Wye, meeting the B5056 near the endpoint of the River Lathkill. It passes Haddon Hall and enters Bakewell, meeting the B5055 and A619 at a roundabout. At Ashford-in-the-Water, there is a junction with the A6020 (for Baslow). The road passes through Taddington Dale. Taddington has a dual-carriageway bypass. There are junctions with the B6049 (for Blackwell) and A5270, and it enters the district of High Peak and passes under four railway bridges. It enters Buxton as Bakewell Road and meets the B5059 at a roundabout. It leaves Buxton as Fairfield Road, and heads towards Stockport slightly north-east to Dove Holes and to a roundabout with the A623.
The four-mile (6.4 km) part-dual-carriageway Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge bypass passes a roundabout with the A624 to Glossop on the left and ends with a roundabout with the A5004 for Whaley Bridge and Macclesfield (via the B5470). It crosses the Peak Forest Canal and the B6062 leads to Chinley, then goes under the Buxton Line. At Furness Vale it passes the railway station and the primary school. It meets the A6015 at New Mills (Newtown) for the town centre, near the railway station and primary school, where the road enters Cheshire. At Disley on Market Street, the road passes the police station then crosses the Buxton Line near the railway station. At High Lane, the road enters the Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester.
Towards Stockport, the road becomes Buxton Road. In Stepping Hill, it goes near the hospital. At Mersey Square, Stockport just before the road crosses the M60, the road becomes Wellington Road North and crosses the Stockport to Stalybridge Line. At Heaton Chapel, there are crossroads with the B5169 (for Reddish), and the A626 joins to the right. It enters the city of Manchester just before it meets the B6178 and becomes Stockport Road. Near the junction with the B5093 is Levenshulme railway station. It goes under the railway and meets the A5079 (Slade Lane) from the south. There are crossroads with the A6010, and the A5184 leaves. In Longsight, it meets the A665 Manchester inner ring road and the A57 at a roundabout, which it overlaps until it goes under the A57(M)/A635(M), passing the University of Manchester.
Manchester city centre–Chorley