A3058

Route

The A3058 runs from Newquay to St Austell in Cornwall, meaning it has a good go at running from coast to coast.

Newquay - St Austell

The A3058 starts at the Mellanvrane Roundabout which is a junction with the primary A392; this is near sea level, right next to the tidal part of the River Gannel. The road heads into Newquay along a valley instead of away from it as may be expected. It passes a large ornamental pond and park, crosses a mini-roundabout and goes under a tall railway viaduct carrying the Newquay branch line.

Passing Newquay Zoo, the road climbs from the valley and, forking right at another mini-roundabout, it comes into a residential area, where it rounds several bends and reaches a further mini-roundabout. Ahead is the greensward at the top of the Atlantic cliffs so, turning right at the roundabout, the clifftop is followed for a couple of hundred yards before the road turns away from the coast again.

A further residential area is negotiated before a double mini-roundabout system where the left turn is the B3276 which continues northeast along the coast. There is now no gap between the residential suburbs of Newquay and St Columb Minor, which is now entered. The non-primary A3059 leaves from a T-Junction on the left, as the A3058 bends to the right. Fields and the NSL used to then appear. During the last few years, the Dutchy of Cornwall have started building a whole new settlement out here called Nansledan. A new roundabout has been built as part of this development. As of 2024 there are still some fields on the left and eventually the right but one wonders how long it will be until the development reaches all the way to Quintrell Downs. There is still a short NSL section that remains.

Approaching St. Columb Minor

Continuing for a mile or two, the road reaches the village of Quintrell Downs which has a 30 mph limit. A level crossing gets the road over the Newquay branch line again and a roundabout is reached. The left and right turn are the A392 again and very few drivers would have used the circuitous route of the A3058 to get to here from Mellanvrane.

Straight across the roundabout it is soon back to fields and the NSL. The road passes Dairyland Farm World, a farm-based attraction and then has the priority through the Gummow's Shop crossroads. The right turn is the A3076 which heads for Mitchell and the A30. Continuing ahead, the road reaches the A30 bypass of Summercourt. In advance of the bridge across, part of a former lane has been turned into sliproads to and from the A30 eastbound, which also carry the A3058 number.

After the crossing of the bypass is Summercourt itself, which has a 30 mph limit. Traffic signals guard a crossroads with the former route of the A30 through the village. This is a newer installation; when it was the A30, this was a simple crossroads with priority for that road. Although the crossing street is now unclassified, it forms the (rather long) slip/link roads to/from the westbound A30.

After Summercourt, the NSL resumes and there are a number of sharp bends. A roundabout is reached at Brighton Cross, where the road crossing is the B3275. Before re-routing this was the A39. As late as the 1980s this was another simple crossroads with the A3058 having to give way. The spoil heaps of the china clay industry then loom ahead as the road drops to a 40 mph limit for the hamlet of Menna.

Following that it's more open road until the larger village of St Stephen with a 30 mph limit. The limit continues through the hamlet of Gwindra. It's back to NSL and the road continues its twisty course to the hamlet of High Street which has a 40 mph limit. A left turn is there for the B3279. The speed limit continues through Lanjeth, although marked with a sign for the start of a restriction. The limit increases to 50 mph briefly before returning to 30 mph at Trewoon.

The road soon drops down into St Austell. We meet the B3274 at a signalised crossroads where traffic is advised to turn right for the westbound A390. Shortly thereafter the road terminates at a T-junction with the primary A390 itself; we can actually turn either way here.

History

The route was originally numbered as the B3278. It had acquired the current number by 1930. At first numbering, it ran along the Newquay seafront and ended at the harbour. The section through suburban Newquay to the start at the A392 did not exist at all in 1922, with Newquay being a much smaller settlement at that time.

The section of road between Newquay and Quintrell Downs was renumbered as part of the A392 in 1935 but got the A3058 number back in July 1990 when the A392 link road in western Newquay was opened. The westernmost section of the current A3058 was numbered A3075 until then.