A30 Dual Carriageway History

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Richardf
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by Richardf »

Is an odd section of dual on an otherwise quiet non primary road. However when it was built the both the A30 and A303 were primary so both routes were important and we'll used. I am guessing they needed to improve that section and decided to dual it, like many other apparently isolated dual section's on S2 roads. It would have provided a useful place for overtaking.

Unless it was part of an abandoned plan to dual more of the A30?
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John House
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by John House »

Ref.Yeovil to Sherborne dual carriageway. This was done in the early 60's. The road was never closed,driving on bits of the old road and sections of the new. The main contractor was Price of Yeovil. Bits of the old road can still be seen, the lay-by on Babylon Hill and field entrances nearer Sherborne. The garage at the top of Babylon was owned and run by Mr Foward, it was as suggested never self-service and for many years was a Shell petrol station. What is now a chinese restaurant was originally made a Shell petrol station after the dual carriageway was built. At this time there were 19 petrol stations between Yeovil and Shaftesbury on the A30. The oldest being the Loveless's petrol pumps just before the old railway bridge at Henstridge, it is reckoned to be the first roadside petrol sold at pumps between Salisbury and Exeter. I will try to include some relevant photos.
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hoagy_ytfc
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by hoagy_ytfc »

I’m afraid I can’t back it up with a citation, but I was under the impression that this dialling was more about helping local traffic than any strategic trunk plans. Even back in the 60s.
CrazyInWeston
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by CrazyInWeston »

prodraught wrote: Sat Feb 01, 2020 17:24 The A30 was the original London - Cornwall link, and even had traffic issues pre war (it was partially by-passed itself by the building of the A303). Each town / local authority on the route submitted requests for By-passes and upgrades and when money became available (or when dubious deals were done in the corridors of power for extra development) the route was granted sectional upgrades. Whilst this continued into the 70's, the birth of the Motorway a decade before meant that the government had strategically withdrawn the need to continue with its trunk road upgrades in favour of the M4 / M5 link to Cornwall.
If the M4/M5 London to Cornwall is as you say, why does it fall short by 40 miles (as per A30 distance, not as the crow flies)
Image

While on the subject of A30 Dual history, I'm not going off topic here, but I'm enquiring about the Cornwall part. Why was some bits further west dualled before the bottleneck at a place further east was addressed?
I can remember when the A30 became a single carriageway way further east than it is now, but I can also remember bits of the A30 further west being dualled. I even remember a construction of one whilst I went there that particular year. Why wasnt it done in chronological order? Further west, less traffic as people go off to their holiday camps. So why for years was the bottleneck in the same place and they dualled the other parts before dualling it entirely as it is now up to Cambourne?
Edit: Sorry Theres a juction I know cant place it on a map but if take me there I'll know it, was a bottle neck few years ago, was SC, that been dualled yet? Edit: I found it, the Carland cross???
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crowntown100
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by crowntown100 »

CrazyInWeston wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 22:59 I can remember when the A30 became a single carriageway way further east than it is now, but I can also remember bits of the A30 further west being dualled. I even remember a construction of one whilst I went there that particular year. Why wasnt it done in chronological order? Further west, less traffic as people go off to their holiday camps. So why for years was the bottleneck in the same place and they dualled the other parts before dualling it entirely as it is now up to Cambourne?
Edit: Sorry Theres a juction I know cant place it on a map but if take me there I'll know it, was a bottle neck few years ago, was SC, that been dualled yet? Edit: I found it, the Carland cross???
Funnily enough, Cornwall isn't just a tourist destination, and locals getting between the main towns in Cornwall will almost inevitably use part of, or end up crossing, the A30, as most of the major towns are on its route or connected to the rest of Cornwall by it. There were also major bottlenecks on the old A30 (Bodmin, Camborne/Redruth and Liskeard) that were dualled in the 70's before the rest of the A30 because it got traffic out of the towns. The other stretches weren't deemed bad enough at the time to dual. Temple had been widened in the 50's, Carland to Chiverton didn't have to handle traffic in or out of Truro or A39/A30/A39 traffic and bypassed the city, East of Hayle is where traffic starts to tail off in terms of volumes, and Bodmin Moor wasn't good in bad weather but didn't have the local traffic to deal with at the time so was less of a priority.

TL;DR - Cornwall's unique, long and thin geography is why sections further west were dualled first.
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CrazyInWeston
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by CrazyInWeston »

crowntown100 wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 09:12 Funnily enough, Cornwall isn't just a tourist destination, and locals getting between the main towns in Cornwall will almost inevitably use part of, or end up crossing, the A30, as most of the major towns are on its route or connected to the rest of Cornwall by it. There were also major bottlenecks on the old A30 (Bodmin, Camborne/Redruth and Liskeard) that were dualled in the 70's before the rest of the A30 because it got traffic out of the towns. The other stretches weren't deemed bad enough at the time to dual. Temple had been widened in the 50's, Carland to Chiverton didn't have to handle traffic in or out of Truro or A39/A30/A39 traffic and bypassed the city, East of Hayle is where traffic starts to tail off in terms of volumes, and Bodmin Moor wasn't good in bad weather but didn't have the local traffic to deal with at the time so was less of a priority.

TL;DR - Cornwall's unique, long and thin geography is why sections further west were dualled first.
Thanks for your answer. I didnt think that the population of Cornwall was high enough, of which I mentioned the dualling in chronological order because of holiday traffic as it is a huge tourist destination.
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ajuk
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by ajuk »

I'm confused as to why this is D2, I thought the A303 superseded the A30 as the main route from it's inception, or is that not the case?
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Peter350
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by Peter350 »

ajuk wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 02:25 I'm confused as to why this is D2, I thought the A303 superseded the A30 as the main route from it's inception, or is that not the case?
The A303 did not supersede the A30 upon inception. It was designated in 1933 as an alternative route to the A30 when the Basingstoke Bypass was built, but was slightly longer and none of it had been improved at the time so most traffic only used the 303 if going to Andover, Amesbury, Mere, Wincanton, Ilchester or Ilminster.

The section of A30 in question between Sherborne and Yeovil was dualled in the 1960s because traffic flows between the two towns at the time warranted it. Since the A303 still hadn't been dualled west of Andover then, the A30 was carrying both local and long-distance holiday traffic to the South West. The A303 didn't really supersede the A30 as the long distance route to the south west until the 1970s, after the Mere, Wincanton and Ilchester bypasses had been built.

Also bear in mind that the A303 did not become a trunk road until the 1950s, and the A30 between Micheldever and Upottery was primary until the 1980s.
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by Herned »

CrazyInWeston wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 22:59 While on the subject of A30 Dual history, I'm not going off topic here, but I'm enquiring about the Cornwall part. Why was some bits further west dualled before the bottleneck at a place further east was addressed?
Basically the worst bottlenecks were bypassed first, so towns like Bodmin, Redruth (twice) and Launceston were done first by the early 1970s, and then the gaps between them slowly filled in until around 2000 when the Goss Moor segment opened. There was a bit of a delay after that until the Temple section was done a few years ago, and the final bit to Redruth is now starting. The same pattern happened on all long distance roads like the A1 or A12, it was all done piecemeal rather than to a single plan
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by Timbo58 »

I saw your interest in the A30 around Yeovil, I know the road you are talking about, coming down the hill into the town very well, from the 60s and early 70s, As I used to meet my auntie from London, who every year used to meet us at Yeovil, as it was half way between Cornwall and London. Every year we used spend the day catch up in the long lay by on the left as you come down the hill into Yeovil,I can't remember the road being a dual carriageway up to 1974, when we stopped the trips, I often look at the pictures we took at the time wondering what it all looks like now! Totally changed I bet?
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by A320Driver »

Herned wrote: Wed Aug 26, 2020 11:44
CrazyInWeston wrote: Mon Aug 24, 2020 22:59 While on the subject of A30 Dual history, I'm not going off topic here, but I'm enquiring about the Cornwall part. Why was some bits further west dualled before the bottleneck at a place further east was addressed?
Basically the worst bottlenecks were bypassed first, so towns like Bodmin, Redruth (twice) and Launceston were done first by the early 1970s, and then the gaps between them slowly filled in until around 2000 when the Goss Moor segment opened. There was a bit of a delay after that until the Temple section was done a few years ago, and the final bit to Redruth is now starting. The same pattern happened on all long distance roads like the A1 or A12, it was all done piecemeal rather than to a single plan
Opening dates for sections that I know of:-

Blackwater BP - 1988
Summercourt/Mitchell BP - 1992
Indian Queens/Fraddon BP - 1995
Goss Moor - 2009
Temple-Higher Carblake - 2015/16

Okehampton-Launceston - 1993 (not in Cornwall I know but relevant nevertheless)
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CrazyInWeston
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by CrazyInWeston »

Timbo58 wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 23:35 I saw your interest in the A30 around Yeovil, I know the road you are talking about, coming down the hill into the town very well, from the 60s and early 70s, As I used to meet my auntie from London, who every year used to meet us at Yeovil, as it was half way between Cornwall and London. Every year we used spend the day catch up in the long lay by on the left as you come down the hill into Yeovil,I can't remember the road being a dual carriageway up to 1974, when we stopped the trips, I often look at the pictures we took at the time wondering what it all looks like now! Totally changed I bet?
Welcome to Sabre Roads, but why not use the Google Street view to give you an Idea of whats changed? You could also always drive pass it yourself if you have the time :D
prodraught
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by prodraught »

Thanks to All above for contributions, knowledge and questions. Having been down again this summer its apparent that the long awaited 'Truro improvement' (which was on the cards back in 1977) is finally being constructed. This will lead to a section from Junction 31 of the M5 being complete to the Hayle roundabout without another 'give way' roundabout (all grade separated). I know there are still a couple of lane cross junctions (Polyphant and Temple), but This must make it one of the longest D2 roads of its type in the country. The A1 has 'Motorway' sections every 50 miles or so so does not count. Any other Contenders?
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solocle
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Re: A30 Dual Carriageway History

Post by solocle »

CrazyInWeston wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2020 02:04
Timbo58 wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 23:35 I saw your interest in the A30 around Yeovil, I know the road you are talking about, coming down the hill into the town very well, from the 60s and early 70s, As I used to meet my auntie from London, who every year used to meet us at Yeovil, as it was half way between Cornwall and London. Every year we used spend the day catch up in the long lay by on the left as you come down the hill into Yeovil,I can't remember the road being a dual carriageway up to 1974, when we stopped the trips, I often look at the pictures we took at the time wondering what it all looks like now! Totally changed I bet?
Welcome to Sabre Roads, but why not use the Google Street view to give you an Idea of whats changed? You could also always drive pass it yourself if you have the time :D

I have footage from the end of August slogging the whole length of the A30 between Yeovil and Milborne Port (doing LEJOG), but it's not yet on Youtube. Also bits of the A303 further West, and bits of the A30 down in Devon and Cornwall.
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