A341
A341 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Kinson (SZ081965) | |||
To: | Merley (SZ015976) | |||
Distance: | 5.1 miles (8.2 km) | |||
Meets: | A347, A348, A349 | |||
Former Number(s): | A347 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the original, a road between Winchester and Lopcombe Corner, where it met the A30, see A341 (Winchester - Lopcombe Corner).
Route
The A341 is an urban A-road in the north of the Bournemouth urban area.
The A341 "Wimborne Road" starts at the Northbourne roundabout in the northern part of Bournemouth, where the A347 turns northwards towards Ferndown, whilst our road heads westwards. The A341 crawls through the suburb of Kinson, which is a very busy residential and shopping area.
After a mile or so, the road crosses the A348 at Bear Cross roundabout, which is named after the pub on the corner, and the road proceeds westwards as "Magna Road". In less than half a mile, we cross from Bournemouth into Poole, and from the suburb of Bear Cross to the suburb of Bearwood, but with an increase in speed limit from 30 to 40.
After half a mile, Bearwood gives way to Canford Park Arena then open fields. After a layby on the right, the land on the right is part of Canford School and the old entrance is passed with very ornate, but very rusty, gates. As the road skirts around the Merley housing estate, "Magna Road" becomes "Queen Anne Drive", before ending at traffic lights on the A349 Gravel Hill.
History
What is today the A341, used to be part of the A347 before that was diverted to Ferndown in 1935.
Most of today's route is original, apart from the section around Merley which has had a few routes over the years.
The section of road called "Queen Anne Drive" was built in the early 1970s as part of the Merley housing development. Before then, the the A341 (and the A347 before that), turned right down "Oakley Lane" which leads down to Canford School, before turning left and heading westwards to meet the A349 at Oakley Hill. When "Queen Anne Drive" took over the A341, the old route was renumbered the B341 before being unclassified sometime in the mid-1990s.
On some maps, particularly in the early 2000s, the road north from the A349/A341 junction towards the A31 is shown as part of the A341, but on the ground, it was always signposted as A349.
The speed limit used to be 50mph on the section of road between Canford Park and Merley, however this was reduced to 40mph in 2018 when cycle lanes were added.
There are plans for a A341 Kinson bypass, and the route, which runs nearer to the River Stour than today's road, has been protected, but no firm commitments have been made as to when or even if it will actually be built.