A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

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jackal
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A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by jackal »

Consultation on this has now opened: https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... ilchester/

There are two options:

Option 1 is online, with two new junctions.
Option 2 is offline, with one new junction. The existing A303 would be retained for local access.

I know there's already an A303 thread, but it's mostly about the Stonehenge scheme. Sparkford to Ilchester is a significant scheme in its own right worthy of discussion.
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KeithW
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by KeithW »

Its somewhat disappointing that neither option involves removing the Podmore roundabout and installing a GSJ. How can the A303 become an expressway with a light controlled roundabout at Podmore ?
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RichardA35
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by RichardA35 »

KeithW wrote:Its somewhat disappointing that neither option involves removing the Podmore roundabout and installing a GSJ. How can the A303 become an expressway with a light controlled roundabout at Podmore ?
As there is an AADT of only ~20000 east of Podimore this has a good chance of being quietly dropped when the money becomes even tighter or only proceeding after Stonehenge is sorted.
The regional flows along the A37 and A3088/A358 have more significance for most of the people in the area than the A303 apart from the few weekends in the year when London decamps to the west country and disrupts their journeys...
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by mr_roggger »

What disappointing maps. Still, at least some work might happen there - here's hoping.
Is it possible that the A303/A37/A372 roundabout at Podimore upgrade to GSJ would be a separate scheme itself - the "maps" show this scheme stopping some way short of that, joining up with the existing dual carriageway. I believe this roundabout it future-proofed for a GSJ so shouldn't be a massive scheme.
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jackal
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by jackal »

Podimore has always been treated as a separate scheme, assumed open by 2028:
A303 schemes.PNG
RichardA35 wrote:
KeithW wrote:Its somewhat disappointing that neither option involves removing the Podmore roundabout and installing a GSJ. How can the A303 become an expressway with a light controlled roundabout at Podmore ?
As there is an AADT of only ~20000 east of Podimore this has a good chance of being quietly dropped when the money becomes even tighter or only proceeding after Stonehenge is sorted.
AADT is generally around 26,000, so broadly similar to the A358. Planning is also far advanced, with a preferred route announcement due this Autumn and planning application next summer. I could maybe see that sliding by a year due to HE's general budgetary pressures, but for a well-progressed and seemingly uncontroversial scheme like this to completely drop out of the programme you'd be looking at an exceptional turn of events, like a snap election and change of government.
Last edited by jackal on Wed Feb 15, 2017 13:21, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by jackal »

The Sparkford consultation brochure is coy about junction designs, but there are some preliminary sketches for the Hazlegrove GSJ in the accompanying Technical Appraisal Report:

Option 1
Sparkford option 1 - Copy.PNG
Option 2
Sparkford option 2 - Copy.PNG
Note the folded slip for option 1 - this is presumably to reduce weaving with the nearby A359 offslip, the proximity of which is noted as a weaving risk.
Last edited by jackal on Thu Apr 27, 2017 17:21, edited 3 times in total.
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RichardA35
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by RichardA35 »

jackal wrote:This is the only drawing I could find that covered option 1's second GSJ (option 1 is referred to as A2 in the TAR):
Sparkford A2 - Copy.PNG
RichardA35 wrote:
KeithW wrote:Its somewhat disappointing that neither option involves removing the Podmore roundabout and installing a GSJ. How can the A303 become an expressway with a light controlled roundabout at Podmore ?
As there is an AADT of only ~20000 east of Podimore this has a good chance of being quietly dropped when the money becomes even tighter or only proceeding after Stonehenge is sorted.
Errr, nope. AADT is around 26,000, so broadly similar to the A358. Planning is also far advanced, with a preferred route announcement due this Autumn and planning application next summer. I could maybe see that sliding by a year due to HE's general budgetary pressures, but for a well-progressed and seemingly uncontroversial scheme like this to completely drop out of the programme you'd be looking at an exceptional turn of events, like a snap election and change of government.
OK so over the last few years the traffic has been static around 23000 and then a 3000vpd uplift in 2015. Even more than Stonehenge in fact.......
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jackal
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by jackal »

Yeah, there is a bit of an uptick there.

Good to see that this scheme is back to 'normal' pricing for a rural D2, at £112m for option 1 and £101 for option 2. That's around £30m per mile, compared to the ridiculous £80m-£90m per mile for the A120 scheme.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by Truvelo »

If wonder if those traffic flow figures will increase significantly when the Stonehenge improvement opens? To what extent is summer congestion around Stonehenge impacting this far west?
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jackal
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by jackal »

45,000 AADT is forecast for Sparkford-Ilchester fifteen years after opening (2037).
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by RichardA35 »

jackal wrote:45,000 AADT is forecast for Sparkford-Ilchester fifteen years after opening (2037).
Which in context is 50% more than today's level at Thruxton just east of Amesbury and about double the current figure for Sparkford Ilchester.
It will be interesting to understand where this demand is coming from.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by JonB2028 »

jackal wrote:Yeah, there is a bit of an uptick there.

Good to see that this scheme is back to 'normal' pricing for a rural D2, at £112m for option 1 and £101 for option 2. That's around £30m per mile, compared to the ridiculous £80m-£90m per mile for the A120 scheme.
A120 documents have been revised I see so on the same basis (2010) as A303 A120 works out as £55-75m per mile. A120 is a much more complex scheme IMHO.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by Bomag »

jackal wrote:Consultation on this has now opened: https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... ilchester/

.
Is this news? I am sure I went to the exhibition at Sparkford with the route options, I can even remember going to the FAA museum in the afternoon.

Sorry, I had a flashback to 1st October 1993!

I have to say that the current options are a bit of a dead ringer to those from 1990's; perhaps somebody stored the drawings.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by Sou'wester »

RichardA35 wrote:
jackal wrote:45,000 AADT is forecast for Sparkford-Ilchester fifteen years after opening (2037).
Which in context is 50% more than today's level at Thruxton just east of Amesbury and about double the current figure for Sparkford Ilchester.
It will be interesting to understand where this demand is coming from.
It will come from the thousands of drivers that use the M5/M4 route instead. As I work in offices in Taunton and frequently head to the East/South East along with many colleagues, more often than not it makes more sense to use the M4/M5 as it is a more reliable journey - even if the A303 route is actually quicker if it is completely clear.

I genuinely suspect that once the entire A303 is dual carriageway it will relieve a number of bottlenecks on the M4/M5, namely around Bristol and Reading.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by SteveA30 »

Some traffic surveys could be illuminating. M4/M5 for one but, also A343/A30/A36 via Salisbury. There may be some who take that route to avoid Stonehenge in summer. Perhaps even along the whole A30 to the west end of the A303.
Could be that Stonehenge is a dam, just as Hindhead was for the A3. Lots of suppressed demand behind it.
I'll be going to Sparkford next Thursday to see the plans. I was expecting a route along the valley, avoiding the high ground from Sparkford rbt to Yeovilton.
Last edited by SteveA30 on Sun Feb 26, 2017 17:27, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by sotonsteve »

Agreed, once a dualled route is complete, the pent up demand will be relieved. From a Southampton to Honiton perspective, there isn't much in it journey time wise between A31/A35 and A34/A303. A31/A35 is more direct but is a pathetic excuse for a trunk road, whilst A34/A303 is of a higher standard but longer distance. Google Maps reckons 1h52m and 92 miles versus 2h3m and 114 miles. With the A303 dualled, the journey time will drop. The A31/A35 route on the other hand is only going to get worse and worse as traffic grows, as other than sorting out the bottleneck at Ringwood it is one of Highways England's forgotten trunk routes that they lack any vision for.
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jackal
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by jackal »

Richardf wrote:Not sure which option I prefer. Offline (option2) looks like it would be longer than the current road, but would be less disruptive to the current road to build and avoids the problem of the properties fronting onto the A303. Online might be cheaper and take less land!?

Anyone know of any older plans for thus section? How do they compare with the current options?
As Bomag mentions above, there were plans in the 90s, but I don't know if anyone has drawings.

What I do have is the TAR, which assessed four options in detail - two 'central options' and two 'northern options'. These are the central options:
Sparkford A2 - Copy.PNG
Sparkford E4 - Copy.PNG
A2 was taken to consultation as option 1.
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Re: A303 Sparkford to Ilchester

Post by jackal »

These are the northern options:
Sparkford B4 - Copy.PNG
Sparkford F1 - Copy.PNG
F1 was taken to consultation as option 2.
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A303 Sparkford to Podimore

Post by hoagy_ytfc »

The mostly-online Option 1 is preferred, apparently:

http://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/some ... een-673395
Last edited by hoagy_ytfc on Wed Oct 25, 2017 22:22, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A303 Sparkfold to Podimore

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