The A508 is a short A-class road for north/south journeys in south central England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, forming the route from Market Harborough

Market Harborough

Market Harborough is a market town within the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England.It has a population of 20,785 and is the administrative headquarters of Harborough District Council. It sits on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border...

 in Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, via Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

, to Old Stratford

Old Stratford

Old Stratford is a village in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The river Great Ouse forms the boundary with Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.-Location:...

, north-west of Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...

.

The road begins in the centre of Market Harborough and crosses into Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

 just outside the town. Crossing the A14 at Kelmarsh

Kelmarsh

Kelmarsh is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of Northamptonshire, England. The village is on the A508, close to its junction with the A14 about south of Market Harborough and north of Northampton.-Buildings:...

, it continues on through the centre of Northampton, merging with the A5199

A5199 road

The A5199 road is the direct road from Leicester to Northampton in England. It was formerly part of the A50 trunk road that ran from Bedfordshire to Lancashire...

 as it enters the town. Through Northampton the road repeatedly switches between being a dual carriageway and a single carriageway.

From there, it merges briefly with the A45 until it crosses the M1

M1 motorway

The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...

 at junction 15. Resuming its identity, it continues through Roade

Roade

Roade is a village in Northamptonshire, England and in the area of the South Northamptonshire District Council where it is in the two-member Blisworth and Roade ward.-Location:...

, Grafton Regis

Grafton Regis

Grafton Regis is a village and civil parish in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The village is east of the A508 road, on which it has a short frontage and two bus stops. It is ca. south of Northampton and north of Milton Keynes....

 and rural south Northamptonshire, reaching the A5 and the A422

A422 road

The A422 is an "A" road for east-west journeys in south central England, connecting the county towns of Bedford and Worcester by way of Milton Keynes, Buckingham, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon. For most of its length, is a narrow single carriageway....

 at Old Stratford

Old Stratford

Old Stratford is a village in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The river Great Ouse forms the boundary with Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.-Location:...

, a small town which adjoins Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...

.

Between Market Harborough and Northampton, travelling south, there are two fixed (Gatso

Gatso

Gatso is the brand that Gatsometer BV use on their traffic enforcement cameras, most notably their speed cameras and red light cameras. The most commonly encountered Gatso speed cameras emit radar beams to measure the speed of a passing vehicle...

) speed cameras. The first is on top of the A14 junction (40 mph (17.9 m/s) limit) and the second is approx 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) from the village of Lamport

Lamport, Northamptonshire

Lamport is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England. The village is on the A508, about south of Market Harborough and north of Northampton. Nearby is Lamport Hall...

(60 mph (26.8 m/s) limit). Both of these cameras are rotated, meaning that they face the opposite direction of travel every so often. There is a further speed camera just south of junction 15 and another in Roade. The majority of the stretch between Northampton and Milton Keynes is national speed limit (60 mph (26.8 m/s)), although there are 30 mph (13.4 m/s) limits in Roade and Grafton Regis.