The A63 is a major road in Yorkshire, England between Leeds and Hull.

Leeds – Howden

The route begins just east of Leeds city centre at a junction with the A61, although, prior to its February 2009 realignment along the new East Leeds Link Road, it began at a junction with the A64 in the Halton Moor area of the city (now signed as the B6159). Heading out of Leeds the route, despite being of dual carriageway standard, is subject to a 40mph speed limit, and incorporates peak-time HOV lanes. At the end of this dual carriageway section, the route meets the M1, and the road continues north along the motorway for one junction then resumes as the A63.

From junction 46 of the M1, the Thorpe Park roundabout, the route continues east, meeting the A642 at Garforth. There is a turning for ''Lidgett Lane'' (B6137) to the left, next to Garforth Community College, with the TOTAL ''Garforth West'' garage on the right. It crosses the Leeds Country Way (a former railway), and there is the B6137 to the right for Kippax. On the Garforth/Micklefield parish boundary is a roundabout with the A656 Roman Ridge.

At the Boot and Shoe junction, with the former A1, there is the Esso ''Boot & Shoe Service Station'', and the Best Western ''Milford Hotel''. There is a grade-separated left turn for the B1222 (for Sherburn-in-Elmet). This dual-carriageway section of the former A1, follows the Leeds - North Yorkshire boundary (Ledsham and South Milford), and was built as part of the Brotherton-Micklefield scheme in November 1964 by Dowsett Engineering Construction. At the Selby Fork junction south of the Selby Fork Hotel, the A1246 continues southwards along the former A1, and the road enters the district of Selby, in North Yorkshire.

It crosses the A1(M) at junction 42 at South Milford. It meets the A162 at a roundabout, crosses a railway, and passes through Monk Fryston. It follows Causeway Dike and passes through Hambleton, where to the east it crosses the Selby Diversion of the East Coast Main Line, and the A1238 (former A63) at a roundabout. The route follows the six-mile £44 million Selby Bypass and £5 million Barlby Bypass, the latter of which is shared with the north-south A19, although the A19 still passes through Selby itself. On the bypass the road passes Selby Golf Club, meets the A19 at a roundabout at Brayton, crosses the Selby Canal, crosses the Doncaster-Selby railway, meets the A1041 at a roundabout, and crosses the River Ouse (Ouse Swing Bridge) and the Selby-Hull railway. The short section around Barlby follows what was the old East Coast Main Line railway before the Selby Diversion opened in the early 1980s. An alternative route eastwards from the Selby bypass, to the M62, is the A1041 via Camblesforth, then the A645 past Drax power station. The route out to Hull is shadowed by the Hull to York Line (Selby-Hull).

It leaves at the dangerous ''Barlby Crossroads'' to the right, passing Osgodby then over the railway line and passes Hemingbrough. The Osgodby Bypass was cancelled due to increases in prices of land. It crosses the River Derwent and enters the East Riding of Yorkshire. It passes through Newsholme before passing straight through Howden next to Howden Minster. It passes through the town as ''Bridgegate'' and ''Hull Road'', passing Howden School and Technology College, where it meets the A614 at a roundabout at the BP ''Longs Corner Garage''. Access to the M62 is via junction 37 to the west, along ''Boothferry Road'' (A614).

From Howden, the A63 is renamed to be the B1230, at the Howden end but is still signposted as the A63. The B1230 continues and carries the A63 traffic over the M62 motorway and onwards in to Gilberdyke. When the B1230 was originally the A63, the main road through Gilberdyke was a dual carriageway for about three miles to the other side of Newport. Where the B1230 crosses the M62 motorway at Newport, the M62 finishes and the A63 starts. Prior to the last eastern section of the M62 to be built, the motorway terminated at a temporary junction at Balkholme onto the A63 (now B1230). Before the M62 opened, the single carriageway A63 was Hull's main route to the South of England, causing many bottlenecks.

North Cave – Hull

There is the Beacon Service Area on the eastbound side, with the ''South Cave East'' Little Chef and Shell ''Beacon'', situated just south of Everthorpe and Wolds prisons. The road skirts the southern edge of South Cave, and near Ellerker it crosses the former route (and Ermine Street from Brough, then known as Petuaria, to York) at the A1034 junction.

The Elloughton bypass was built in October 1971, from the A1034 to the Welton/Brough junction passing Brantingham to the west. It replaced the former road through Elloughton and Brough. This section skirts the southern edge of the Yorkshire Wolds.

The Welton/Brough – North Ferriby section opened in 1963. At the Elloughton-cum-Brough-Welton parish boundary, there is a grade-separated junction for Brough to the south and Welton to the north. The road passes on the south side of South Hunsley School (with a leisure centre) at Melton, part of the parish of Welton. The Shell ''Grand Dale'' is on the westbound side, west of the Melton interchange.

At the west end of North Ferriby on the parish boundary with Welton, the former traffic lights and crossroads were replaced in early 2007 with an interchange. The Yorkshire Wolds Way crosses at this point.

The North Ferriby bypass and North Ferriby – Hessle were two sections that opened in 1961. The former route is partly the B1231 (for Swanland). The road meets the A15 at a grade-separated junction. The former route, before the South Docks Road improvement, followed the current A1105 into Hull.

The road continues through the Humber Bridge Country Park, across the railway, and under the Humber Bridge. The bridge was designed to take some of Hull's traffic southwards, but the vast majority takes the A63 westwards, then along the M18. It passes the south side of Hessle, next to Hessle railway station. The railway follows the road on the northern side. There is a junction with ''Priory Road'', and at Gipsyville it meets the A1166 at a grade-separated roundabout near St Andrew's Quay. Near the Albert Dock, there is a fly-over where it rejoins the former ''Hessle Road'' next to the Smith & Nephew factory to the south. It meets the A1079 (for central Hull) at a junction, which is planned to incorporate the Castle Street Improvement. It crosses the River Hull at Myton Bridge (a swing-bridge), near the Hull Tidal Surge Barrier and The Deep. At Drypool it meets a roundabout as ''Garrison Road'' with the A1165, then a junction for the A1033 (''Hedon Road'') where the road terminates.

It terminates in Hull. This final section carries the name ''Clive Sullivan Way'', and was named after the rugby league player Clive Sullivan, being originally titled the ''South Docks Road''.

A section of the A63 forms part of the unsigned Euroroute E20.

References

External links

Rugby career

Rugby league club Hull, had different ideas about Sullivan and gave the young man, who boasted phenomenal speed, a chance to play rugby league. In his debut for Hull, Sullivan had an outstanding game and gained the support of the Hull club and city. Sullivan became known for his exceptional speed and the way he would outplay rugby league's finest opposition wingers. His upper-body was deceptively strong which gave him excellent cover defence. Despite his knees which haunted his childhood requiring constant attention and further operations, he played a total of 352 games for Hull, scoring 250 tries. In his 213 games for Hull K.R. he scored 118 tries.

His international career took him to great heights having made his debut for Great Britain in 1967. The following year he played three World Cup matches, grabbing a hat-trick against New Zealand. In 1969, he toured Australasia, but only participated in one game due to injury. He however won a further three test caps against New Zealand in 1971. In 1972 he was handed the captaincy of Great Britain and played two tests against France. The World Cup took place that same year, and he captained Great Britain to become world champions. He scored a try in each of Great Britain's four games. Sullivan scored possibly the most famous try in the history of the World Cup to level 10-10 against Australia in the final, after a length of the field run.

In 1973 his Great Britain career came to an end with three tests against Australia. The 1975 World Cup saw Sullivan lead Wales in all four matches, scoring a try in the defeat of England in the second game for the Welsh team. Wales ended up finishing 3rd in the five-team World Cup.

When Sullivan died of cancer in 1985 aged just 42, the city of Hull held him in such high regard that a section of the city's main approach road (the A63) between the Humber Bridge and the city centre was renamed Clive Sullivan Way in his honour.

Sullivan represented Great Britain 17 times and appeared at three World Cups, 1968 and 1972 with Great Britain and in 1975 for Wales.

Career records

Genealogical information

References

External links

Category:1943 births Category:1985 deaths Category:Black Welsh sportspeople Category:Cancer deaths in England Category:Doncaster RLFC players Category:Footballers who switched code Category:Great Britain national rugby league team players Category:Hull FC players Category:Hull Kingston Rovers players Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Oldham Roughyeds players Category:People from Cardiff Category:Rugby league wingers Category:Rugby union wings Category:Wales national rugby league team players Category:Welsh rugby league players Category:Welsh rugby union players