iSPECIAL ROADS	null	(FALSE)	0
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i2024-06-20	null	(FALSE)	0
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iSometimes I've seen signs on dual carriageways and motorways that seem to	null	(FALSE)	0
ispecify a speed limit that's the same as the national speed limit (i.e. 60 or	null	(FALSE)	0
i70 mph for most vehicles, depending on the type of road), which seem a bit...	null	(FALSE)	0
ipointless? Today I learned why they're there, and figured I'd share with you!	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IGoogle Street View photo from the A1 East of Edinburgh, showing a blue "No motor cycles under 50cc, moped,s invalid carriages and animals" sign alongside a 70mph sign.	/2024/06/a1-special-road.jpg	danq.me	70
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iTo get there, we need a history lesson.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAs early as the 1930s, it was becoming clear that Britain might one day need a	null	(FALSE)	0
inetwork of high-speed, motor-vehicle-only roads: motorways. The first	null	(FALSE)	0
iexperimental part of this network would be the Preston By-pass (The Preston	null	(FALSE)	0
iBy-pass lives on, broadly speaking, as the M6 junctions 29 through 32.).	null	(FALSE)	0
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IMonochome photograph showing construction of bridge support pillars.	/2024/06/Preston_bypass_construction_11.jpg	danq.me	70
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iConstruction wouldn't actually begin until the 1950s, and it wasn't just the	null	(FALSE)	0
iSecond World War that got in the way: there was a legislative challenge too.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iWhen the Preston By-pass was first conceived, there was no legal recognition	null	(FALSE)	0
ifor roads that restricted the types of traffic that were permitted to drive on	null	(FALSE)	0
ithem. If a public highway were built, it would have to allow pedestrians,	null	(FALSE)	0
icyclists, and equestrians, which would doubtless undermine the point of the	null	(FALSE)	0
iexercise! Before it could be built, the government needed to pass the Special	null	(FALSE)	0
iRoads Act 1949, which enabled the designation of public roads as "special	null	(FALSE)	0
iroads", to which entry could be limited to certain classes of vehicles	null	(FALSE)	0
i(There's little to stop a local authority using the powers of the Special	null	(FALSE)	0
iRoads Act and its successors to declare a special road accessible to some	null	(FALSE)	0
istrange and exotic permutation of vehicle classes if they really wanted: e.g.	null	(FALSE)	0
ia road could be designated for cyclists and horses but forbidden to motor	null	(FALSE)	0
ivehicles and pedestrians, for example! (I'm moderately confident this has	null	(FALSE)	0
inever happened.)).	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IMonochrome photograph showing a sign at the entrance to the Preston By-pass, reading: 'Motorway. NO L-drivers, mopeds, motorcycles under 50cc., invalid-carriages, pedal-cycles, pedestrians, animals'.	/2024/06/preston-bypass-sign.jpg	danq.me	70
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iIf you don't check your sources carefully when you research the history of	null	(FALSE)	0
ispecial roads, you might be taken in by articles that state that special roads	null	(FALSE)	0
iare "now known as motorways", which isn't quite true. All motorways are	null	(FALSE)	0
ispecial roads, by definition, but not all special roads are motorways.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThere's maybe a dozen or more non-motorway special roads, based on research by	null	(FALSE)	0
iPathetic Motorways (whose site was amazingly informative on this entire	null	(FALSE)	0
isubject). They tend to be used in places where something is like a motorway,	null	(FALSE)	0
ibut can't quite be a motorway. In Manchester, a couple of the A57(M)'s	null	(FALSE)	0
isliproads have pedestrian crossings and so have to be designated special roads	null	(FALSE)	0
irather than motorways, for example (There's a statutory instrument that makes	null	(FALSE)	0
ithose Mancunian sliproads possible, if you're having trouble getting to sleep	null	(FALSE)	0
ion a night and need some incredibly dry reading.).	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
I1968 Manchester City Council planning document showing their proposed new special roads.	/2024/06/uksi_20060398_en_001.png	danq.me	70
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iNow we know what special roads are, that we might find them all over the	null	(FALSE)	0
iplace, and that they can superficially look like motorways, let's talk about	null	(FALSE)	0
ispeed limits.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe Road Traffic Act 1934 introduced the concept of a 30mph "national speed	null	(FALSE)	0
ilimit" in built-up areas, which is still in force today. But outside of urban	null	(FALSE)	0
iareas there was no speed limit. Perhaps there didn't need to be, while cars	null	(FALSE)	0
iwere still relatively slow, but automobiles became increasingly powerful. The	null	(FALSE)	0
ifastest speed ever legally achieved on a British motorway came in 1964 during	null	(FALSE)	0
ia test by AC Cars, when driver Jack Sears reached 185mph.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
ICyclists alongside a 'motorway' river bridge lane.	/2024/06/severn-bridge-cyclists.jpg	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iIn the late 1960s an experiment was run in setting a speed limit on motorways	null	(FALSE)	0
iof 70mph. Then the experiment was extended. Then the regulation was made	null	(FALSE)	0
ipermanent.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThere've been changes since then, e.g. to prohibit HGVs from going faster than	null	(FALSE)	0
i60mph, but fundamentally this is where Britain's national speed limit on	null	(FALSE)	0
imotorways comes from.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IThe Motorways Traffic (Speed Limit) (England) Regulations 1967, highlighting "3. No person shall drive a motor vehicle on a motorway at a speed greater than 70 miles per hour".	/2024/06/motorway-speed-limit.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iYou've probably spotted the quirk already. When "special roads" were created,	null	(FALSE)	0
ithey didn't have a speed limit. Some "special roads" were categorised as	null	(FALSE)	0
i"motorways", and "motorways" later had a speed limit imposed. But there are	null	(FALSE)	0
istill a few non-motorway "special roads"!	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iPutting a national speed limit sign on a special road would be meaningless,	null	(FALSE)	0
ibecause these roads have no centrally-legislated speed limit. So they need a	null	(FALSE)	0
ispeed limit sign, even if that sign, confusingly, might specify a speed limit	null	(FALSE)	0
ithat matches what you'd have expected on such a road (An interesting	null	(FALSE)	0
iside-effect of these roads might be that speed restrictions based on the class	null	(FALSE)	0
iof your vehicle and the type of road, e.g. 60mph for lorries on motorways,	null	(FALSE)	0
imight not be enforceable on special roads. If you wanna try driving your lorry	null	(FALSE)	0
iat 70mph on a motorway-like special road with "70" signs, though, you should	null	(FALSE)	0
ido your own research first; don't rely on some idiot from the Internet. I Am	null	(FALSE)	0
iNot A Lawyer etc. etc.). That's the (usual) reason why you sometimes see these	null	(FALSE)	0
isurprising signs.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAs to why this kind of road are much more-common in Scotland and Wales than	null	(FALSE)	0
ithey are anywhere else in the UK: that's a much deeper-dive that I'll leave as	null	(FALSE)	0
ian exercise for the reader.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iLINKS	null	(FALSE)	0
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hNational speed limit	URL:https://www.gov.uk/speed-limits	(FALSE)	0
hSpecial Roads Act 1949	URL:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1949/32/contents/enacted	(FALSE)	0
hBased on research by Pathetic Motorways	URL:https://pathetic.org.uk/features/special_roads/roads/	(FALSE)	0
hA statutory instrument that makes those Mancunian sliproads possible	URL:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/398/made	(FALSE)	0
hRoad Traffic Act 1934	URL:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo5/24-25/50/contents/enacted	(FALSE)	0
hDuring a test by AC Cars	URL:https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/motorsport/day-jack-sears-hit-185mph-m1-motorway	(FALSE)	0
.