A68 road | |
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Route information | |
Part of E15 | |
Major junctions | |
From: | Darlington |
A1(M) motorway A7 road A696 road A69 road |
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To: | Edinburgh City Bypass |
Location | |
Primary destinations: |
Bishop Auckland Consett Corbridge Jedburgh |
Road network | |
The A68 is a major road in the United Kingdom, running from Darlington in England to the A720 in Edinburgh.
From Darlington, the road runs north, bypassing Bishop Auckland, and running through West Auckland, Toft Hill and Tow Law, past Consett and Corbridge. The road used to run through the centre of Corbridge but now runs on a new single-carriageway alignment to the east of the town, crossing the River Tyne over Styford Bridge. To bring the road back to the previous route of the A68 it now overlaps the A69 for 2.9 miles (4.7 km), before turning off north again.
The A68 passes through rural Northumberland, following the route of Dere Street for much of this stretch. It reaches the Scottish border at Carter Bar, where there is a junction with the A6088, leading to Hawick. The road then runs through the small Border towns of Jedburgh, St Boswells, Earlston and Lauder before going over Soutra Hill, passing through the village of Pathhead and by-passing the town of Dalkeith, before reaching the A720. Prior to September 2008, the A68 passed through the town of Dalkeith before terminating at the Sherriffhall Roundabout on the A720. The bypass has removed large volumes of traffic from the centre of Dalkeith.