A642

The A642 is an A-road in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

which runs from

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

to the A64 near

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. It partly follows the route of a historic turnpike road, which is evidenced by surviving

toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and ...

s. The road begins at

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

east of the town centre at the junction with A629 and continues via

Lepton In particle physics, a lepton is an elementary particle of half-integer spin (Spin (physics), spin ) that does not undergo strong interactions. Two main classes of leptons exist: electric charge, charged leptons (also known as the electron-li ...

Grange Moor Grange Moor is a village in the civil parish of Kirkburton, in the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire, England, between Huddersfield (6 miles (10 km) away) and Wakefield (9 miles (14 km) away). In 2019, it had an estimated population ...

where the A637 branches off. From there it passes through Middlestown and

Horbury Horbury is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated north of the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder about three miles (5 k ...

(on the Horbury bypass) and leads to the junction with

A638 The A638 is a major road in England. It runs between the A1 at Markham Moor, Nottinghamshire and Chain Bar Interchange – Junction 26 of the M62 motorway, south of Bradford in West Yorkshire. History The section of road between Markham Moor ...

west of Wakefield City Centre. In Wakefield it follows the route of A638 and A61, branching off the latter north of the city centre and continuing via

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

, Junction 30 of the

M62 Motorway The M62 is a west–east Pennines, trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Kingston upon Hull, Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; of the route Concurrency (road), is shared with the M60 motorway, ...

, Oulton,

Swillington Swillington is a village and civil parish near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. It is situated east from Leeds city centre, north of the River Aire, and is surrounded by streams including Fleaking ...

, and

Garforth Garforth () is a town in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It sits in the Garforth and Swillington ward of Leeds City Council and the Leeds East parliamentary constituency. As of 2011, the population ...

before meeting the

M1 Motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

at Junction 47, where also A656 joins. North of the latter, the road continues as B1217. It is joined by B6433 in Lepton and B6118 in Grange Moor, crosses B6117 in Horbury Bridge, A639 in Oulton, B6475 in Lupset, and A61 in Wakefield City Centre. Branches of B6128 join west and east of Horbury. East of Horbury it passes under the M1 motorway without a junction. The new Wakefield Eastern Relief Road, opened in 2017, connects to the A642 in Stanley. Roads in Yorkshire Transport in West Yorkshire Transport in Huddersfield {{England-road-stub