A38: Bodmin - Mansfield

Section 1: Bodmin - Gloucester
Originally, the A38 ran from Plymouth to Derby, but it was extended at both ends. It was known to some as "the longest country lane in England", and the south-western section was notorious at holiday times for the congestion. Fortunately, the M5 took care of that, and nowadays for most of its length the A38 is a fairly quiet road shadowing the M5 extremely closely. (I don't know how many junction signs on the M5 mention the A38, but it's a lot!)

It starts as a trunk road at a junction on the A30 east of Bodmin in Cornwall.

Tim adds:

Not quite, it doesn't, as I discovered when in Bodmin a few days ago. The junction referred to is limited access, giving no access from the A30 southbound. To provide access to the A38 from the southbound carriageway of the A30, the A38 actually starts here, in the north of the town, and initially runs to the west of the A30 - see here. Note that this means that the A38 sets off in a southerly direction - not a good start for getting to Mansfield!

From here it follows the valley of the River Fowey (known as the Glynn Valley), parallel to the main railway line. After Dobwalls there's a dual-carriageway bypass round Liskeard, where it meets the A390. It runs through cuttings and then returns to single-carriageway, through a roundabout at Trerulefoot (A374 junction) and across bridges at Tideford and Notter. The next section bypasses Saltash, initially single-carriageway to the A388 roundabout and then dual-carriageway. It returns to single-carriageway to head through a short tunnel, which connects with the Tamar Bridge into Devon.

Chris Goddard adds:

The tolls on the Tamar bridge are eastbound only. They cost exactly the same as the tolls on the Torpoint Ferry (now A374, but formerly A38 before the Tamar Bridge opened).

Then there's a dual-carriageway bypass through the outskirts of Plymouth, with motorway-style junctions. (I don't know how old this road is -- I remember it as being mostly single-carriageway.)

Chris Goddard adds:

The A38 dual-carriageway through Plymouth is called the Parkway and its route was first marked out in "The Plan for Plymouth" published as long ago as 1943. The route was reserved while development went on all around it.

An interesting point at the Tamar Bridge end of the Parkway is the old Devon County Council "ship" sign which was put up when the road was opened. Plymouth City Council took over responsibility for all services in Plymouth 1998, and Devon adopted a new logo. Plymouth have left the old Devon County sign in situ.

There's a three-level stacked roundabout junction with the A386 (the only three-level intersection in Devon), and then the road passes over the A374 roundabout. (When this roundabout opened, it was apparently the largest in Europe.) From memory, the next section of bypass round Plympton is three lanes each way, but after that you're onto the two-lane-each-way "Devon Expressway", a splendid sub-motorway road which in my opinion does not need to be a motorway! It bypasses Ivybridge, South Brent (A385 junction), Buckfastleigh (A384 junction), Ashburton, Bickington (A383 junction) before coming to a cutting near Telegraph Hill; then it meets the A382, bypasses Chudleigh and passes though the forest of Great Haldon past the racecourse.

After this the A380 from Torbay merges to form a three-lane road which bypasses Kennford. As you pass the next unassuming exit for the A379, be aware that this road is the original A38, and that to all intents and purposes you're now on the M5. There's only one more junction before the M5 proper -- the turn-off for the A30 towards Okehampton. Here the A38 vanishes for a while. Its previous route was round the Exeter bypass (now A379 and A3015), and along the B3181 via Broadclyst, Cullompton and Willand. At junction 27 of the M5 (Waterloo Cross) the A38 starts again as non-primary. It very soon crosses the M5 again, and then goes over the border into Somerset (where there's a short dual carriageway). There's a single-carriageway bypass round Wellington, and then it heads into Taunton.

In Taunton, the A38 runs up Wellington New Road and Wellington Road, past the Musgrove Park hospital. It skirts the town centre and then runs along East Reach, and left along Victoria Parkway. At the next roundabout the road turns right along the "Toneway", a dual carriageway running parallel to the River Tone. The next junction is a totso where the A358 carries straight on, and the A38 turns left over a bridge to Bridgwater Road. Then it's joined by the A3259 and becomes dual carriageway for a mile or so. The A361 branches off to the right, and the road continues via Adsborough to North Petherton.

Here there's a spur to M5 junction 24, and then you run along the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal into Bridgwater. Here you join an old dual-carriageway relief road round the town centre: this is a totso, since it comes in from the left as the A39, and A38 traffic needs to turn right. There are traffic lights at the A372 junction, and a roundabout at the A39 junction. The road is single-carriageway heading out of Bridgwater, then there's a dual-carriageway section at Dunball with a spur to M5 junction 23. The road runs straight to Pawlett, then to Huntspill, where the land has been drained by the artificial Huntspill River. Then it continues to Highbridge and over the railway.

There's then a spur to M5 junction 22 (I told you the A38 and M5 were pretty friendly!), where the road diverges slightly from the M5 and becomes primary, though I'm not quite sure why because it's not the signposted route into Bristol. It passes the ancient fort at Brent Knoll, then near East Brent the A370 leaves at a roundabout. It crosses the M5 again, and at Lower Weare bridges the River Axe. Then there's a right turn to the old A371, followed by another junction where the new A371 (Axbridge bypass) merges from the right. It crosses the border into what used to be Avon (now North Somerset) and arrives at Sidcot, where the A371 leaves for Weston-super-Mare. Then near Churchill there are traffic lights at the junction with the A368.

The road continues via Redhill to Bristol International Airport at Lulsgate Bottom, then runs between the reservoirs at Barrow Gurney and across the border into Bristol. Here it runs along Bridgwater Road and along Bedminster Down to a one-way system at Bedminster, which meets the A3029/A4174 outer ring road. At this point the "A38" signs cease, and the road is simply signposted "Bedminster", traffic for Bristol city centre being directed along the A3029 towards the Cumberland Basin, and then the A4.

According to the map, the A38 then runs through Bedminster as West Street, East Street and Bedminster Parade. However, East Street is now a pedestrian precinct, so whether the A38 technically runs along here I'm not sure. There's certainly no indication of the number at the next junction, Bedminster Bridge Roundabout (A370 junction). This roundabout is unusual in that it includes two bridges spanning the River Avon, and has six roads leading onto it, three on each side of the river - at first glance the signs for the roundabout look like those for a motorway-style roundabout junction, except that all the exits are two-way! From here the road (theoretically, at least) runs up Redcliff Hill to St Mary Redcliffe Church, which is the largest parish church in England -- many people mistake it for a cathedral, and it's often considered to be finer than Bristol's own cathedral. Here there's a roundabout, where the A38 briefly breaks off.

It originally ran through the city centre, but it's possible to rejoin it by taking the A4044 former Inner Circuit Road along Redcliffe Way, Temple Way and Bond Street to St James Barton roundabout. At this point it starts again (as non-primary), but the signs won't tell you that! You'll need to take the road signposted "Horfield" (this is part of an attempt to direct northbound traffic up the M32 instead). The road runs up Stokes Croft and Cheltenham Road, then bears right into Gloucester Road, through Bishopston and Horfield. Then it's Filton Road, and (in Filton) Gloucester Road North to a roundabout meeting the A4174 Avon Ring Road (running eastbound only; it's not complete and will probably never be so). It becomes dual carriageway past Filton Airfield to Patchway, then runs over the railway and past the Aztec West Business Park (say hello to Herr Bratsche here!) up to junction 16 of the M5.

Here it passes through the village of Almondsbury and over the M4, to resume running parallel with the M5. It runs through Alveston and around Thornbury, and past the Young Offenders Institution at Eastwood Park. At Stone it crosses into Gloucestershire proper -- the bit from Filton northwards is ex-Avon and now South Gloucestershire. It crosses the railway line at Berkeley Road (the OS map has this stretch down as Roman, but I don't know which one) and has a short dual-carriageway section near the wildlife sanctuary at Slimbridge. The next village is called Cambridge, but I believe that's with a short "A" after the local River Cam. Then it meets the A419 at a roundabout, and has another short dual-carriageway section.

The next roundabout connects with a road that I believe is technically the B4008, but is actually yet another spur from the M5 (junction 12); primary status resumes here. There's a dual carriageway around Quedgeley, after which the original A38 through Gloucester has been renumbered as the A430. (Despite Herr Bratsche's comments on Roads by 10, M40 confirms this as a recycled number -- it was originally Bristol-Chippenham.) The A38 now runs through the outskirts of Gloucester, with a dual-carriageway section at Coney Hill, and a roundabout meeting the A417. Here one turns left for the A38, which is once-again non-primary. A few roundabouts later one turns right, and comes out on the junction with the A40.

Guy

Andy adds: I recall that the A38 through Plymouth was built around 1983 / 84. My grandparents' old house stood atop one of the hills in Eggbuckland which overlooked the Marsh Mills roundabout, and I have vivid memories of watching the bridge supports going up bit by bit in the distance and the four new lanes being constructed in the valley below us. The older single road took a slightly different track through the middle of Crownhill before heading off to St Budeaux and the Tamar Bridge. It was a notorious traffic snarler-upper for many years before the bypass was eventually built.

As an aside, I also recall the overpasses on the A38 Marsh Mills - Exeter stretch falling victim to 'concrete cancer' around the same time. Anybody else remember this?

Bob Sykes adds:

1. Plymouth bypass - I remember the horrendous and hilly old road from family holidays down to Cornwall - many a summer Saturday spent crawling from Marsh Mills to the Tamar Bridge - in fact, most of the way to Bodmin and onwards. The proposed bypass was marked on atlases in the early 80s, and I think it finally opened in about 86/87. It's a fantastic stretch of road and must have cost a fair bit. I think the Marsh Mills flyover came later (early 90s). The rebuilding of the bridge supports was actually the bridge over the River Plym on the Plympton bypass, about 5 years ago, which I think was due to some incompetent design in the 70s when this stretch was built. It involved building a completely new bridge whilst keeping the old one in place. As a side point, the first time the Tour de France came to Britain was in 1974 when there was just one stage which was a time trial involving several laps of the Plympton bypass just before it opened - must have been inspiring.
2. Devon Expressway. I think this was built in small sections in the 70s and possibly early 80s - does anyone know exactly? I think, but am not certain, that the A38 was dualled long before the final sections of the M5 were finished - I reckon it was late 70s before the last bit between J30- 31 (and the A30 western bypass) was opened. Its a great road, fast and twisty, with some great hills. All of which would need substantial avoidance action before the route could be upgraded to motorway standard. Personally, I don't see why a motorway is needed, particularly now the A30 has finally been dualled (apart from the last bit over Bodmin Moor). I've never understood why the authorities don't make more of an effort to sign Cornwall traffic via the A30 - i think the A30 is now signed "Bodmin", but most holiday traffic stays on the A38 by default.
3. B3181 - wonder why this stretch was downgraded to B-road? The A38 runs alongside the M5 all the way from Brum, as both primary and non-primary sections, so why the gap here - there's no reason why it can't follow its old route all the way to Kennford (now A379).

Chris adds: If I remember right the Devon Expressway gains and drops the third lane several places along the way. It was also pretty barbaric to places like Ashburton - there seem to be people who live underneath the A38 where it crosses the town on a huge viaduct!

At a guess the B3181 numbering is to make sure everybody goes onto the M5 instead of following signs for the A38. They must have taken away just enough of it to make sure the next bit of A38 was off the top of most map pages!

Section 2: Gloucester - M6
From the A40 roundabout near Longford, the A38 runs roughly NNE via the villages of Twigworth, Norton and Coombe Hill, where there's a junction with the A4019 to Cheltenham. A dual-carriageway section continues to just south of Tewkesbury, and at the next roundabout the road takes a sudden turn to the right, avoiding the southern part of the town. A bypass for the town centre is under construction (can anyone update me on this?) but at present traffic turns sharp left at the junction with the A46 and then right at a roundabout in the town centre. The road then turns left again to cross the River Severn, after which the A438 branches off to the left, with the A38 continuing via The Mythe and Shuthonger to a "dumb-bell" junction with the M50 (junction 1).

From here on all maps seem to show the A38 as a trunk road, which is surprising since it still runs parallel to the M5 - indeed this section of the M5 is the oldest. It crosses into Worcestershire at Stratford, then runs close to the course of the River Severn via Holly Green (A4104 junction), Severn Stoke, Draycott and Kempsey. It crosses the A4440 Worcester ring road at a roundabout before heading into the centre of Worcester. Here there's a totso with the A44 where the A38 turns left, immediately continuing over the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, then turning right into the dual-carriageway City Walls Road and round the Corn Market roundabout. After this the road splits into two one-way streets, of which the northbound one, Foregate Street, gives its name to the adjoining railway station. The road out of Worcester, the Tything, forks into two, the left-hand road being a spur of the A449; the A38 itself passes under the A449 with no access, although at Fernhill Heath another spur allows full access from the north.

Martin Hussingtree isn't a new member of SABRE, but the next village, where the road's joined by the A4538. The next major settlement is Droitwich, which the A38 bypasses to the west. After crossing the railway, canal and river Salwarpe, it becomes dual carriageway with a multi- grade junction with the A4133; the A442 junction has to make do with a normal roundabout. The next single-carriageway section is a Roman road leading to junction 5 of the M5 near Wychbold, another "dumb-bell" with two roundabouts. After passing through Upton Warren we come to the outskirts of Bromsgrove. Here the A38 skirts the town centre to the east, meeting the A448 at a roundabout and continuing to junction 1 of the M42 near Lickey End. This junction only allows access to the eastbound M42, although it also incorporates a curious cannon -- the B4096 both joins and leaves the roundabout on the eastern side of the A38.

No sooner have we passed through the next village of Upper Catshill than we hit yet another motorway junction. This time it's M5 junction 4 near Lydiate Ash, where the A38 itself cannons off the M5; the A491 lies to the western side of the roundabout, and both A38 exits are on the eastern side. From here on the A38 is dual carriageway and starts to become urban, as we cross the border into the former West Midlands metropolitan county. It runs via Rubery and then left at a roundabout near the Longbridge motor works, continuing via Northfield to Selly Oak, where it crosses the A4040 (formerly the outer ring road). We cross the Worcester and Birmingham Canal again, pass under the main railway line, and run past Birmingham University's campus on the left. At the next major junction, Chris Bertram has pointed out one of the most ridiculously short A-roads in the country: the A4029 Pebble Mill Road, 200 yards of it, leading to the BBC's studios - and it's dual carriageway to boot!

We then run through Edgbaston to the junction with the A4540 Middleway, which passes beneath with slip roads leading up to the A38. At the next junction the A38 number briefly disappears; the carriageway continues as an underpass, but when we come out the other side we're on the A4400 Queensway (the inner ring road). Continuing round the Queensway takes us to the junction with the A34, where the A38 reappears briefly as Corporation Street. This takes traffic straight into the A38(M) Aston Expressway, of which you can find an account here; the A38 proper restarts at junction 6 of the M6, known to aficionados as Gravelly Hill and to most of the population as Spaghetti Junction. (It formerly ran along what is now the A5127.)

Guy

Section 3: M6 - M1
According to Brad Jackson, this is where the A38 starts "getting good". (As a West Countryman I rather resent the implications in that remark!) He describes it as "a groovy sixties looking concrete dual carriageway". It's now called Tyburn Road, and runs alongside the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. After crossing the A4040 again it turns right to bridge the canal, meeting the A452 at a roundabout in Tyburn. The A4097 leaves at a roundabout in Minworth, after which the A38 turns north to bypass Sutton Coldfield, leading to Bassetts Pole, a five-way roundabout meeting the A453 and A446 (which sneaks up alongside it). Beyond the roundabout the new M6 (Toll) can be seen sidling up from the left (west) and shadowing the A38 on its way to the A5. (If you turn left at the first available exit - a quarry - you can get a fine view of the M6 (Toll) southbound toll plaza from the adjacent overbridge.) The large A5 roundabout was tranformed recently by the creation of a grade-separated A38 as part of the A5 Weeford and Hints bypass (opened September 2005). This junction also provides access to junction T4 of the toll motorway.

Passing the Young Offenders' Institution at Swinfern Hall, we then come to a well-known TOTSO junction. In design it's a standard motorway- style junction, with a roundabout and slip roads down to a dual carriageway below. This road used to be the A38 straight through the junction, but nowadays the left-hand section has been renumbered as the A5148, with A38 traffic having to negotiate the roundabout. (The junction also incorporates the A5206 to Lichfield.) The next junction is with the A5192, but it's limited access; only northbound exit and southbound entry are permitted. Then at another limited-access junction near Streethay, the road is joined by traffic from the historical A38 through Lichfield, now the A5127.

The next section runs along the course of a Roman road (Ryknild Street), and has several grade-separated junctions, of which the most important is the A513 junction at Alrewas. The next major junction is with the A5121, which is the original course of the A38 through Burton-on- Trent; the modern A38 runs alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal. Then the road regains its Roman course, crossing the A5132 at a simple grade-separated junction near Willington and coming to a three-level stacked roundabout where it meets the A50, running past the car factory at Etwall.

The next section bypasses Derby, with the original road renumbered as the A5250. Here the A516 joins at one junction and leaves at the next, then we hit our first roundabout for many miles, at the junction with the A5111, shortly followed by another roundabout where we cross the A52. The A6 junction at Allestree is grade-separated, but after crossing the river Derwent we hit another roundabout - the junction with the A61. In fact the A61 only exists to the south of this junction, since the section to the north through Little Eaton has been superseded by the A38 and downgraded to a B-road. For this reason the A38 now swings north to run alongside it, with a multi-grade junction at Holbrook allowing access to the A609 to Belper (which has no direct access). A junction with the A610 allows access to Ripley, then at the next junction the A61 reappears running north and the A38 swings eastwards. This section of the A38 supersedes the original A615, which formerly ran through Alfreton and South Normanton and is also now a B-road. The roads join at the roundabout at junction 28 of the M1.

Guy Barry and Lez Watson

Section 4: M1 - Mansfield
The A38 was extended from its original terminus at Derby. Now in the 6-zone, (the only 3-road to get there), it follows a long (about ten miles) multiplex with the A61, and then a new link to the M1 at junction 28. From here, the final seven miles is partly on new construction and partly on former B roads, as it makes its way through the Mansfield hinterland to an ignominious end on a 4-digit road, the A6009 Mansfield Ring Road. Because of the convoluted start at Bodmin, both ends of the A38 actually face roughly the same direction, north- east.

Thus ends the longest two-digit A road in Great Britain, and also the longest A road entirely in England. At 292 miles, it is beaten only by the A1, which it so nearly meets. Through traffic from the A38 for Worksop via the A60 or for the A1 via Ollerton and Dukeries Junction leaves the A38 at Sutton in Ashfield, to skirt Mansfield to the north on the A6075 – this eventually crosses the A1 at Tuxford to end on the A57 at Darlton, in the 1-zone. The A6075, and not the A38, is the through route at Mansfield, so Darlton is the spiritual end of the A38.

Tim