A38
From Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki
| A38 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| From: | Bodmin (SX087684) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| To: | Mansfield (SK535610) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Length: | 309.8 miles (498.6 km) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Meets: | M1, M4, M5, M6, M32, M50 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A373 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Now part of: | M5, A379, A3015, B3181, B3187 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birmingham • Bodmin • Bridgwater • Bristol • Bromsgrove • Burton upon Trent • Derby • Exeter • Gloucester • Lichfield • Liskeard • Mansfield • Plymouth • Taunton • Worcester • | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Highways Authorities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Highways Agency • Bristol • Cornwall • Devon • Gloucestershire • Somerset • South Gloucestershire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cornwall • Derbyshire • Devon • Gloucestershire • Nottinghamshire • Somerset • Staffordshire • Warwickshire • Worcestershire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Contents |
Revamp Announcement
The A38 pages are being revamped into a new, updated portal, similar in content to the new A1 pages - this is work in progress by User:Ravenbluemoon, but everyone is welcome to help on this project!
Route
Originally, the A38 ran from Plymouth to Derby, but it was extended at both ends. It was known to some as "the longest country lane in England", and the south-western section was notorious at holiday times for the congestion. Fortunately, the M5 took care of that, and nowadays for most of its length the A38 is a fairly quiet road shadowing the M5 extremely closely. (I don't know how many junction signs on the M5 mention the A38, but it's a lot!)
History
As one of the longest A-roads in the British Isles, it is enevitable that the road has changed a lot over the years. Of all the changes that it has been through, the gradual southern progression of the M5 during the 1970s has been the most damaging, ripping the heart from the road in more ways that one.
Notable locations along the route
Spaghetti Junction
The infamous Spaghetti Junction, Gravelly Hill provides the interchange between the M6, A38(M), A38, A5127 and an unclassified road. It does this by means of a complex array of slip roads and a roundabout.
Lydiate Ash
Lydiate Ash is junction 4 of the M5. It originally formed the northern terminus of the first section of the M5.
Bedminster Bridge
Located in Central Bristol and like Bath Bridge to the east, Bedminster Bridge is in fact two bridges crossing the River Avon, to form a roundabout.
Cullompton Bypass
The Cullompton Bypass, opened in 1968 as part of the A38, is the only part of the M5 to not have opened with that number. In its time as A38, the road was D2M standard, with wide central reservations, ready for the upgrade to M5.
Pearce's Hill
Pearce's Hill is the southern terminus of the M5 and is located south of Exeter. It is a trumpet interchange, joining the A30 to the M5-A38 route.
Saltash Tunnel
Almost as soon as you are off the Tamar Bridge heading into Cornwall, the A38 dives into this tunnel in Saltash.
Tamar Bridge
The Tamar Bridge forms the major of 2 crossings of the River Tamar between Plymouth and Cornwall (the other being the Torpoint Ferry) on the A38. The suspension bridge was built as 3 lane tidal flow and opened in 1961 with the toll booths located on the Plymouth side.
Links
Pathetic Motorways
CBRD
- Motorway Database - A38(M)
- A38(M) Video
- Motorway Database - A38 Devon Expressway
- Motorway Database - A38 Midlands
roadsUK
The Motorway Archive
Original Author(s): Tim, Guy Barry, Chris Goddard, Andy, Bob Sykes and Lez Watson
