Britain’s ‘shortest dual carriageway’ is just 700 yards – and everyone’s saying the same thing
DRIVERS have found Britain’s shortest dual-carriageway – and claim it takes just 25 seconds to pass.
The tiny stretch of road in Norfolk is less than 700 yards long – or under five football-pitch lengths and has left locals baffled for decades.
Amused visitors to the B1150 between Coltishall and Tunstead looked into the stretch during a recent trip and found no known shorter-stretch of separated carriageways in the country.
The origins of the bizarre mini-road are said to lie in a now defunct air force base that needed to move larger trucks into the area, too large for existing rural lanes.
One local joked: “Literally if you blinked while you were drivingyou would miss it.
“It’s been there for ages so it’s one of those things you don’t think about when you live here. It’s only when a visitor comes they make you realise how unusual it is.”
Another resident quipped online: “This is what a dual carriageway looks like in Norfolk – a country lane with a central reservation.”
Manageress of the nearby Kings Head pub, in Coltishall, Tracey Hammon said: “It’s certainly very small – blink and you’d miss it if you were driving along there.
“It may say dual-carriageway on the sign but in places it’s not even wide enough to have two cars side by side on the same carriageway.”
Matt Woodall, of Tunstead, said:”It may catch out strangers who don’t know the area and may think they have a chance to speed up.
“But locals are used to it and know what to expect.
“I don’t think it has a bad safety record though it might be frustrating for some people because there are a lot of sugar beet lorries using that road which are quite slow.
“People who don’t know the area might see the sign and think there’s a good overtaking opportunity ahead but it’s not really safe.”
According to highways experts, any road can be classed as a dualed – as long as there is a clear separation between the two carriageways, no matter how many lanes on either side.
Although it isn’t known exactly when the carriageways were separated, it’s believed to be linked to the airfield at RAF Coltishall, which opened in 1940.
Locals said the original plans involved widening the local road network – including the B1150 – so there would be enough room for military vehicles to get around.
In the 1950s, with the start of the Cold War, the base saw its runways and boundaries extended – and it’s thought that is when the two separate lanes may have been created.
The switch allowed larger trucks travelling in opposite directions to and from the airfield to pass each other easily.
RAF Coltishall eventually closed in 2006 with its land sold to Norfolk County Council.
Locals claimed the speed limit was 60mph because only a single lane travels in either direction.
Norfolk County Council declined to comment.