The A1101 is the lowest

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

in Great Britain; for the whole length of the road, it rarely rises above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It is also the longest 4 digit A road in Great Britain at .

Route

The road runs from

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

north west to

Littleport Littleport is a town in East Cambridgeshire, in the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about north-east of Ely and south-east of Welney, on the Bedford Level South section of the River Great Ouse, close to Burnt Fen and Mare Fe ...

where it disappears for approximately , it then re-appears on the other side of the A10 heading north through

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland District, Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and ...

and to its end at the A17 in Long Sutton. The A1101's route takes it across

the Fens The Fens or Fenlands in eastern England are a naturally marshy region supporting a rich ecology and numerous species. Most of the fens were drained centuries ago, resulting in a flat, dry, low-lying agricultural region supported by a system o ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

and

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, a low-lying area to

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

through

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

. It is the main road for access between Lincolnshire and the Fenlands and the only road to directly link Suffolk with Lincolnshire. The stretch between

and Long Sutton was previously designated the A150. From Outwell north, where the western terminus of the A1122 is at, the road is classified as a

primary route Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

. At

Welney Welney is a village and civil parish in the Fens of England and the county of Norfolk. The village is about south-west of the town of Downham Market, south of the town of King's Lynn and west of the city of Norwich. The county boundary with ...

, the road often floods, causing it to be closed for 70 days in 2007. The Environment Agency said that "The A1101 road is on a causeway across the flood area and was expected to be under water at times." When the road across the

Ouse Washes Ouse Washes is a linear biological Site of Special Scientific Interest stretching from near St Ives, Cambridgeshire, St Ives in Cambridgeshire to Downham Market in Norfolk, England. It is also a Ramsar site, Ramsar internationally important we ...

is closed by flooding, it is a 22-mile detour.

Major junctions

It crosses the following major roads (from N to S): * A17 –

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent () or Newark is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

* A47 –

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

to Birmingham (partially reclassified as the B4114) * A10 (Great Cambridge Road) –

London Bridge The name "London Bridge" refers to several historic crossings that have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark in central London since Roman Britain, Roman times. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 197 ...

to King's Lynn * A11 – London to

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

* A14 –

Port of Felixstowe The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's largest container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd busiest container port in the world and 8th in Europe, with a ha ...

to the M1 junction with the M6 (19) north-east of

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

Road safety

The A1101 has a poor road safety record as reported by

EuroRAP European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) is an international nonprofit (Association without lucrative purpose, vzw) organisation registered in Belgium. It operates from Worting House, Basingstoke, Hampshire. In partnership with national m ...

. In 2006, the road was featured in the AA Motoring Trust/EuroRAP list of Most Dangerous Roads in Britain (excluding motorcycle accidents). The 21 km stretch of single-carriageway road between Outwell (A1122) – Long Sutton (A17) suffered 24 fatal and serious injury accidents between 2002 and 2004. This stretch of the road is currently rated as being of medium-high risk.

References

External links

SABRE – A1101
{{DEFAULTSORT:1-1101 East Cambridgeshire District Fenland District King's Lynn and West Norfolk Roads in England Roads in Cambridgeshire Roads in Lincolnshire Roads in Norfolk Roads in Suffolk South Holland, Lincolnshire Wisbech