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. Route Luton–Kettering The A6 begins as a short stretch of Crawley Green Road at an elongated roundabout with the A505 roadpart of the Luton inner ring road. The A6 follows Crescent Road past Luton railway station into New Bedford Road. It meets the A5228 outer ring road at a roundabout. On the outskirts of Luton, now Barton Road, it meets the Icknield Way Path. Leaving Luton, it enters Central Bedfordshire after a roundabout with Quantock Rise. A roundabout at Streatley, where the road becomes the dual-carriageway Luton Road, passing through the Bartonhill Cutting, the road becomes single carriageway at the roundabout with the B655 at the other end of the Barton-le-Clay bypass. It meets the A507 at a roundabout at Clophill, crossing the River Flit. It passes by Maulden Wood as the dual-carriage up Deadman's Hill then passes Haynes West End. It enters the district of Bedford and bypasses Wilstead. It meets the A421 at the Elstow Interchange grade-separated junction (GSJ). The A6 meets the A5134 at a large signal-controlled junction. The road crosses the Marston Vale Line and enters Bedford as Ampthill Road. There is a roundabout with the A5141, then it crosses the railway again near Bedford St Johns railway station. It meets the A600 and A5140 at a roundabout, then passes Bedford College