A3050

The A3050 is an urban A-road in north Surrey.

Route

The route starts at a mini-roundabout on the A317 at the top of Monument Hill in Weybridge. It heads east along the residential Oatlands Drive. There is a brief respite from housing as the road goes through a public park - but the next suburb appears shortly and the road continues northeastwards to run seamlessly into Walton-on-Thames. The A244 is crossed at a staggered signalised crossroads on the edge of the town centre just to the east of Walton Bridge over the River Thames.

The road runs along Bridge Street and bears right into Hepworth Way. These roads seem to be bypassing the town centre and so it is a bit of a shock to bear left past a shopping centre and continue into Church Street, one of the town's main shopping streets. Shops give way to housing and the road continues through the suburbs before becoming semi-rural, with open spaces behind hedges to the left. After passing a green to the right the embankment of Knight Reservoir can be seen beyond. The B369 passes to the right of the reservoir whilst the A3050 passes to the left. We soon pass the treatment works on our left.

Riverbank, East Molesey

At the far end of the reservoir we enter West Molesey. Initially there is a nature reserve to the left whilst the right varies between housing and waste ground. However, the road soon becomes wholly built-up. We continue through the suburb of Hurst Park, after which there is more open space to the left. A further short built-up section leads to the bank of the Thames by Molesley Lock. A bridge can be seen ahead, which takes the A309 over the river. Just before reaching it we give way to a one-way loop and end on the A309 yards later, with the westbound A3050 leaving the A309 just to the right. More-or-less opposite this junction is Hampton Court station, with the palace of that name on the far side of the Thames.

History

The entire of the above route was originally numbered B370. The section between the A317 in Weybridge and the A244 in Walton was given the A3050 number early on, in the mid-1920s. However, the remainder of the route remained the B370 until at least the 1970s when that section also gained the A3050 number.

Hepworth Way in Walton is indeed a relief road, with the old road, actually the mainline of the A244, following the entire length of Bridge Street.