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Milton Keynes

In terms of road numbering, Milton Keynes is unique. It is the only town in the UK which features its own road numbering system, the H & V roads. There are still the usual A and B roads, in fact some of those roads also have H and V designations.

However, this is not just the only unique roads feature that Milton Keynes is known for. The town also has a network of main arterial routes that criss-cross the town. The Milton Keynes Grid Road System, as it is officially known, is based on a "street hierarchy" system, a feature rare to the UK.

This feature will take a deeper look at the H & V roads, as well as the street hierarchy system.

The numbering system
As mentioned above, Milton Keynes is unique in having its own road numbering system, referred to as the "H" and "V" roads. The designations are not official, but were introduced by the town planners when the town was being constructed, to list the important roads in order (for example, V6 being the sixth north to south grid road).

Once the town was built, the H and V designations should have been consigned to town planning history, yet they are still in use today and often feature on maps of Milton Keynes.

H Roads
All of the Grid Roads running west to east are given a "H" (horizontal) designation. There are ten "H" roads altogether, and are numbered in ascending order from north to south. All of the "H" roads have official names, each ending in "way".

Here is a list of all of the "H" roads:
H1        Ridgeway
H2        Millers Way
H3        Monks Way
H4        Dansteed Way
H5        Portway
H6        Childs Way
H7        Chaffron Way
H8        Standing Way
H9        Groveway
H10      Bletcham Way

V Roads
Also, each of the Grid Roads running north to south are given a "V" (vertical) designation. There are eleven of these roads in all, again being numbered in ascending order, but this time from west to east. Again, all of the "V" roads have official names, but this time they all end with "Street".

Here is a list of all of the "V" roads:
V1        Snelshall Street
V2        Tattenhoe Street
V3        Fulmer Street
V4        Watling Street
V5        Great Monks Street
V6        Grafton Street
V7        Saxon Street
V8        Marlborough Street
V9        Overstreet
V10      Brickhill Street
V11      Tongwell Street

Grid Road characteristics
The grid roads were designed and built to allow fast access through Milton Keynes, especially for through traffic. The majority of the grid roads operate to National Speed Limit, as traffic can move safely due to the absence of residential frontage and the large amount of landscaping and trees lining each road.

There are no pavements and pedestrian crossings on the grid roads, as pedestrians and cyclists are kept off them via a series of "Redways", which run parallel to the grid roads, but safely tucked out of the way. Where the Redways need to cross the grid roads, undepasses, subways and bridges are provided at each intersection.

All grid road junctions are roundabouts, thus allowing traffic to flow freely and removing the obstacle of congestion that may otherwise be caused by traffic lights, without the need to build large complex grade-separated junctions.

Street Hierarchy
Another unique feature of Milton Keynes is that the town adopted the use of "street hierarchy", a system common in North America since the 1960s.

The way street hierarchy works is by removing through traffic from the local residential areas. It works by arranging the way roads connect to each other through a hierarchical system, so that local cul-de-sacs don't connect directly onto the grid roads.

Usually, in other towns, the main roads are connected to many side streets, cul-de-sacs and even alleyways. However, in Milton Keynes, this is not the case. Instead, all of these residential streets feed into a "collector road", which weaves its way through the neighbourhood before connecting with the grid road at either end.

In turn, the grid roads connect each of these neighbourhoods by running between them, not through them. In total, there are about 100 neighbourhoods in Milton Keynes, each neighbourhood being situated in one "grid square" (i.e. bounded on each side by a grid road)

Facts
A few little facts about the H and V Roads:

• H1 is the shortest of all the grid roads

• H1 is also in two parts, it should cross the A5, but the bridge is yet to be built

• H7 is the longest of all the grid roads, yet none of it is dual carriageway

• V4 is called Watling Street as it runs along the Roman Road of the same name for its entire length

• V7 has a 40mph section between H7 and H9, this is because it passes through the main shopping area

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