Hi -- just stumbled upon this community while I was looking for something else and am very impressed. I've been a roadsenthusiast since an early age, even though I don't drive and have no intention of ever learning! (Am I the only non-driver here, I wonder?) There are so many questions I'd love to know the answer to, but I'll start with one relating to the area I grew up in.
Most of the trunk road from London to Penzance is numbered as the A30. (OK, so the London end probably isn't a trunk road any more, having been superseded by the M3, but the road's still there.) However, there's a long section through parts of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon where the trunk road is numbered as the A303, while the A30 is a subsidiary A road running parallel to it. Stranger still, the non-trunk A30 serves the major destinations of Salisbury and Yeovil, while the most significant town on the route of the A303 is Andover in Hampshire. This means that Devon and Somerset are full of signs pointing to Andover (hardly the most important destination for travellers in that area), while Hampshire and Wiltshire are full of signs for Honiton in Devon (again, hardly a major destination). Much of the A303 is dual carriageway now, but this hasn't always been the case -- I well remember the notorious traffic jams in places like Sparkford and Ilchester before the bypasses were built.
All of which leads me to wonder how this curious state of affairs came about. Why was the road via Andover chosen as the trunk road? And when it was chosen, why wasn't it numbered as the A30? Was it a plan by the Department of Transport to reduce congestion by confusing motorists into taking the 'wrong' road?
Wrong thread I know, but I'd have to nominate the A303 as one of *my* top ten roads -- how a road with such an unassuming number and such a quirky route can manage to be one of Britain's major traffic arteries is just one of the many charms of our quaint numbering system. I just hope they get the Stonehenge tunnel sorted out...
Guy
Why the A303?
Moderator: Site Management Team
Hi Guy,
Nope, I'm not a driver either! That makes two of us.
As for the A303, I couldn't say but it bothers me too.
Primary routes are chosen to connect "primary towns" - you can see them on AA road maps, they have their names outlined in green. My first suspicion was that Yeovil and Salisbury might not be primary while Andover is, but in fact all three are. Presumably the A30 isn't primary then so that it's less of an option than the A303.
Second, looking at the A303 route, it seems less densely populated than the A30 and so easier to expand.
Even so, I still don't know why the A30 and A303 couldn't have swapped numbers. A30 is a well known South West route.
Chris
Nope, I'm not a driver either! That makes two of us.
As for the A303, I couldn't say but it bothers me too.
Primary routes are chosen to connect "primary towns" - you can see them on AA road maps, they have their names outlined in green. My first suspicion was that Yeovil and Salisbury might not be primary while Andover is, but in fact all three are. Presumably the A30 isn't primary then so that it's less of an option than the A303.
Second, looking at the A303 route, it seems less densely populated than the A30 and so easier to expand.
Even so, I still don't know why the A30 and A303 couldn't have swapped numbers. A30 is a well known South West route.
Chris
Chris
Roads.org.uk
Roads.org.uk