A35

A35

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From:

Honiton (ST171013)

To:

Southampton (SU437159)

Length:

97 miles (156.1 km)

Meets:

M271, A30, A31, A33, A37

Now part of:

A3052

Primary Destinations

Bournemouth • Dorchester • Honiton • Poole • Southampton •

Highways Authorities

Highways Agency • Bournemouth • Hampshire • Southampton

Traditional Counties

Devon • Dorset • Hampshire

Route outline (key)

A35	Exeter - Charmouth
A35	Honiton - Bournemouth
A35	Bournemouth - Redbridge
A35	Redbridge - Southampton

Route

The A35 originally ended in Exeter

According to the earliest recorded numbering (1922 lists) the A35 (Sidmouth Road) started at a junction with the A30 (Honiton Road) at Heavitree in the eastern suburbs of Exeter. The route is currently used by an unclassified road which links to M5 Junction 30, then the A376 from the M5 to Clyst St Mary and the A3052 via Sidford, Colyton and Lyme Regis to just west of Charmouth. The renumbering of this stretch and the renumbering of the A35 to commence from Honiton took place at the opening of the Honiton Bypass in December 1966. A trip along the A3052 through Lyme Regis shows a difficult part of the original route although the remainder is of reasonably high quality. The route from Honiton to Charmouth was originally numbered as the A373 and this part of the route was part of trunk route 37 listed in the 1946 Trunk Roads Act. This trunk road is known as the Folkestone to Honiton Trunk Road and encompasses many other roads along the south coast including A31, M27, A27 and A259.

Honiton - Southampton

The current (2009) route of the A35 starts with a junction on the A30 Honiton Bypass to the north of the town. The route includes a short section of the bypasses alignment of the A30 in Honiton and then climbs through a relatively urban setting towards the hills above the south of the town. This section has been subject of studies and a bypass proposal was contained in the A303 Marsh to Honiton Improvement and A35 Honiton Eastern Bypass scheme which was given the go ahead in January 1997. This route protection for this scheme was removed following the adoption of the proposed A358 improvements between Ilminster and the M5 in 2004 following the recommendation of the South West Area Multi Modal Study in 2002. The A35 continues along a relatively unimproved section through Wilmington and Kilmington in east Devon. The first improved section is reached with the single carriageway Axminster bypass opened in 1991. A further short unimproved section is present through Raymonds Hill which leads to the Devon Dorset border and a short section of dual carriageway until the start of the Charmouth Bypass where the A3052 (the old A35) from Lyme Regis joins the route. The improvement bypassed the Thistle Hill Tunnel and the route through the town. It was opened in July 1990. After the Charmouth Bypass the route is unimproved and leads through the two villages of Morecombelake and Chideock. A scheme was promoted for a bypass of these villages and orders were published. These, however, were withdrawn in 1998. A short unimproved section leads to the Bridport Bypass which in part uses the route of the old railway to West Bay. A picnic area is accessed from the junction to Eype. The bypass was opened in 1988. The road climbs out of Bridport uphill towards Dorchester via some improved sections initially with a climbing lane and then as a full dual carriageway in a couple of sections. The road drops from the hills down towards Winterbourne Abbas. Here, there were plans for a bypass which have been dormant following the change of government in 1997. The bypass remains an aspiration of Dorset County Council although there appears to be a realisation that it is unlikely to be constructed in the foreseeable future. An unimproved section is followed from Winterbourne Abbas to the western end of the Dorchester Bypass. Just before the start at Monkey’s Jump Roundabout, the road passes a large white building which was previously a Marconi transmitting station for transatlantic wireless messaging.

Dorchester Bypass

At Dorchester an improved single carriageway section bypasses the town to the south, meeting the A37, (which formed a northern part of the bypass promoted by the county council opened in December 1988), A354 and A352. The bypass opened in September 1988. The terminal roundabout near Stinsford leads to an unimproved single carriageway section with a rest area for eastbound traffic and continues as far as Cuckoo Lane bridge which marks the start of the dual carriageway Yellowham Hill Improvements which opened in December 1991. This section joins into the Tolpuddle and Puddletown Bypass which opened in 1998 and was constructed by a joint venture of Balfour Beatty and Tilbury Douglas. The construction of this bypass and also the A30 Honiton to Exeter Improvements formed the capital works part of the A30/A35 DBFO and the DBFO Concessionnaire (Connect A30/A35) carries out the maintenance of the A35 from the Honiton Bypass as far as the junction with the A31 at Bere Regis. The road bypasses the villages to the north and passes through chalk countryside above Tolpuddle, home of the "Martyrs" who were punished for forming a trade union. The dual carriageway ends at the start of the Bere Regis bypass which was opened in 1982. At a roundabout the A31 starts and takes forward the trunk road towards Wimborne Minster. The A35, now only a primary route, heads south for a short stretch along the county council funded part of the bypass until the terminal roundabout where the A35 turns east and heads for the Poole and Bournemouth conurbation. This next section is primary runs across Bloxworth Heath to the Bakers Arms roundabout and then becomes a dual-carriageway section to bypass Lytchett Minster and Upton. This section was opened in 1980. The A35 splits into two and one section meets with the A3049 and A350 at Holes Bay Roundabout with the other passing under Fleet’s Bridge roundabout to head as a single carriageway towards Parkstone, Branksome and Bournemouth. The A35 becomes a dual carriageway again as part of the Wessex way opened 1973. At the roundabout with Lansdowne Road the A338 takes over the Wessex Way, the A35 turns southwards and from this point becomes a non-primary road.

This non-primary section runs broadly parallel to the A338 and crosses the river Stour after which the Christchurch Bypass is reached which was opened in 1958. An unimproved single carriageway section runs from the east end of the Christchurch bypass across the New Forest to Lyndhurst. After a junction with the A337 and a one-way system in Lyndhurst, the A35 approaches the west of Southampton and becomes dual carriageway as the Totton Bypass. There is a freeflow junction with the A36 and the A35 crosses the River Test on the Redbridge Causeway. The road is grade separated at the M271 junction (Redbridge Flyover) and becomes briefly primary until the next junction (Millbrook Flyover) where the A35 turns off north towards Shirley and Southampton Common. This dual carriageway section known as Tebourba way was opened in 1953 and bypassed a section of the original 1946 trunk road from Millbrook to Shirley that at the time was numbered A3067. The section from Shirley now follows the route of the original trunk road as far as the A27. At its northern end, the A35 splits into two again, one section turns north to meet the A33 (meeting the former route of the London to Southampton Trunk Road) and the other crosses the A33 and meets the A335 and A27 at Swaythling.