A1081 road

A1081
A1081 St Albans Road looking towardsHarpenden
Route information
Length	20.5 mi (33.0 km)
Major junctions
North end	Luton Airport 51.8697°N 0.3970°W/51.8697; -0.3970(A1081 road (northern end))
Major intersections	A505 M1 A4147 A5183 A414 M25 A1 A1000
South end	A1000 road,High Barnet 51.6563°N 0.2019°W/51.6563; -0.2019(A1081 road (southern end))
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
←A1080 →A1082

TheA1081is a road in the south ofEngland.It starts atLuton AirportinBedfordshireand runs toHigh BarnetinGreater LondonviaHarpenden,St AlbansandLondon Colney,a distance of around 20.5 miles (33.0 km).For most of its length, the A1081 follows the route of the originalA6.

The route

The first section of the A1081 runs south-west from Luton Airport to the spur of theM1 motorwayon the southern outskirts of Luton. This section is adual carriagewayknown asNew Airport Way.Just west of the airport, there is a junction with theA505.

At the M1 spur, the A1081 turns south to join the route of the original A6. It skirts the grounds ofLuton Hooestate, then crosses intoHertfordshire,passing through Harpenden before reaching St Albans.

In St Albans, the road has a junction with the A4147 and A1057 (both making up the formerA414), then meets theA5183(the formerA5). At this point, it bears south-east, bypassing London Colney before reaching junction 22 of theM25 motorway.There is a junction with the current A414, theNorth Orbital Road,just north of London Colney.

The A1081 thenmultiplexeswith the M25 to junction 23 atSouth Mimms,the junction with the currentA1andA1(M).From here, it continues south-east to High Barnet, ending at a junction with theGreat North Road(the former A1, now theA1000).

History

The A1081 designation was originally used on The Woodford Spur in east London. The Woodford Spur is a 1920s new build road that branches off theA12(formerA106) Eastern Avenue at the Gants Hill Roundabout and heads through Woodford.

It was allocated the A1081 number in 1925, although the road hadn't yet opened. It was opened not long afterwards between theA106andA11(nowA1199), with the section to theA104opened later (shown as under construction on the 1932 OS Maps).

The A1081 number became redundant after World War II when the road became an extension of theA406.The North Circular has since been rerouted and so the section east of theA113is now numberedA1400.

The current A1081 was established in the 1950s, when the section of theA6fromSouth MimmstoHigh Barnetwas so renumbered following the re-routing of theA1onto the 1920s-builtBarnetBypass.

When theM25was built in the 1980s, it took over the section of theA6fromLondon ColneytoSouth Mimms,which was already dual carriageway. The section fromLutontoLondon Colneywas then renumbered the A1081.