A6 road (England)

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A6
Route information
Length	282 mi (454 km)
Major junctions
South end	Luton 51°52′42″N 0°24′29″W / 51.8782°N 0.4080°W / 51.8782; -0.4080 (A6 road (southern end))
Major intersections	A421 A45 A14 A46 A50 A38 A53 A57 A58 A49 A59 A65 A66 A69 A7
North end	Carlisle 54°53′43″N 2°55′52″W / 54.8954°N 2.9311°W / 54.8954; -2.9311 (A6 road (northern end))
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Primary destinations	Bedford Kettering Market Harborough Leicester Loughborough Derby Matlock Buxton Stockport Manchester Preston Lancaster Kendal Penrith
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← A5 → A7

The A6 is one of the main north–south roads in England. It runs from Luton in Bedfordshire to Carlisle in Cumbria, although it formerly started at a junction with the A1 at Barnet. It is the fourth longest numbered road in Britain; only the A1, A38 and A30 are longer.

Running north-west from Luton, the road passes through Bedford, bypasses Rushden, Kettering and Market Harborough, continues through Leicester, Loughborough, Derby and Matlock before passing through the Peak District to Bakewell, Buxton, Stockport, Manchester, Salford, Pendleton, Irlams o' th' Height, Pendlebury, Swinton, Wardley, Linnyshaw, Walkden, Little Hulton, Westhoughton, Chorley, Preston, Lancaster, Kendal and Penrith before reaching Carlisle.

South of Derby, the road is paralleled by the M1 motorway; between Manchester and Preston, the M6 and M61 motorways approximate its course; and from Preston to its northern terminus in Carlisle, it is paralleled by the M6 only. Between Derby and Manchester, the A6 follows a different route to the motorway network, crossing the Peak District rather than going around it. The A6 is considered to be less important than it was formerly because of these duplications.