A137
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| A137 | ||||
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| From: | Ipswich (TM150445) | |||
| To: | Colchester (TM011255) | |||
| Length: | 18.4 miles (29.6 km) | |||
| Meets: | A12, A14, A133 | |||
| Primary Destinations | ||||
| Colchester • Ipswich • | ||||
| Highways Authorities | ||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||
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Route
Ipswich - Colchester
The A137 starts at a junction with the former A12 (now A1214 towards Copdock and A1071 to the town centre) at the point where it crosses the River Orwell. The A137 follows the river, passing through a one way system giving access to the station on the other side of the river, and then at a complex junction with the A1022 inner ring road, crosses the river itself.
Ipswich is a tedious place to get out of, as both the A1156 (former A45) and A1214 (former A12) pass through seemingly endless suburbs to reach the bypass. However, the A137, which runs beside the Orwell past the docks, gives rapid access to the bypass.
The bypass is reached up a steep hill with a crawler lane. At the top of the hill, the bypass junction itself is a simple dumbbell and we are then in open country. The road has seen little improvement as the A12 provides for all long distance traffic and it serves no intermediate destination larger than Manningtree, which has fast train services to both Colchester and Ipswich (except at the time of writing, when the road has a large number of extra buses as the tunnel at Ipswich is closed).
The A137 passes Alton Water, a large reservoir, but there is little to see from the road – the dam is two miles away – and we continue in close company with the railway, crossing it at a recently strengthened bridge at Brantham. Skirting the village, and descending steeply to the bridge across the Stour at Manningtree, we enter Essex and come to a curious crossing of the railway – there is both a ten-foot headroom underbridge and a level crossing. On both sides of the crossing the exiting route has priority over the one entering – thus however you negotiate the crossing you have to give way once, (but only once).
At Lawford we reach a T junction – left is the B1352 (and a "Secret Bunker" – so secret that the sign telling you about it is covered with semi-transparent white tape!), but the A137 turns right and resumes its winding way towards Colchester. We cross the railway (for a third time) by a bridge which was narrowed by the provision of extra-strong Armcos, and with a 20mph limit imposed. These measures were provided in the aftermath of an accident in 2002 when an articulated lorry missed the bend approaching the bridge and crashed through the parapet to land on the track, where it was hit by a train - fortunately the consequences were far less serious as those at Great Heck on the M62 the previous year. We pass another reservoir at Ardleigh before crossing the A120 Colchester bypass, with which there is no interchange, and enter what is proudly proclaimed to be "Britain’s Oldest Town" – it was the first town established by the Romans after the invasion, the existing fortification there, like other pre-Roman settlements, not really qualifying as towns. The original Roman town didn’t last long, as Boudicca sacked it in AD60. However, as a key strategic location it continued to be fortified over the centuries, and Colchester remains to this day a garrison town. There is a medieval castle in the centre of the town, next to the end of the A134 on the High Street.
Original Author(s): T1(M)
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