B3105
| B3105 | ||||||||||||||||
| Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||||||||
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| From: | Bradford-on-Avon (N) (ST823622) | |||||||||||||||
| To: | Trowbridge (ST870588) | |||||||||||||||
| Via: | Staverton | |||||||||||||||
| Distance: | 4.2 miles (6.8 km) | |||||||||||||||
| Meets: | A363, B3109, B3107, B3106, A361 | |||||||||||||||
| Former Number(s): | A361 | |||||||||||||||
| Old route now: | B3108 | |||||||||||||||
| Primary Destinations | ||||||||||||||||
| Highway Authorities | ||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||
| Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||
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Route
The B3105 is a short B-road in west Wiltshire. It leaves the A363 to the north of Bradford on Avon, and goes eastwards and shortly afterwards crosses the B3109 as the main road. The B3105 then passes Woolley Green and crosses the B3107 at a staggered crossroads. The B3107 has priority at the junction, which is not surprising since it used to be the A3053.
A few hundred yards further on the B3105 reaches the River Avon at a narrow bridge controlled by traffic lights. The lights are three-way as the B3106 appears from the left just before the bridge. On the far side of the river, the road continues through the village of Staverton and crosses the Kennet & Avon Canal. Beyond the canal bridge the B3105 used to continue ahead along Marsh Road into Hilperton, while the B3106 turned right again at a mini-roundabout (its route has varied a little over the years). However, in c2014 the B3105 was re-routed, extending the multiplex with the B3106 along Hammond Way to a roundabout with Canal Way, the B3106. From the next roundabout, just a hundred metres or so to the east, a new road (Elizabeth Way) has been built to bypass Hilperton completely and meet the A361 at Fieldways (the western end of its bypass of Hilperton).
The B3105 has recently had a southern extension, although there is some uncertainty as to exactly where it goes. The latest OS mapping shows that after a short multiplex with the A361, it continues south along Leap Gate - another modern distributor route through modern housing estates - to meet West Ashton Road, and this is supported by signage at both ends. The same maps then show that a B road then doubles back North along West Ashton Road into Trowbridge town centre. However, signage on the ground has recently been patched with the B3105 number only from the West Ashton Roundabout South to meet the A350 at West Ashton. While it is not impossible that the B3105 forks and heads both ways along West Ashton Road, it seems more likely that the signage is correct and the OS have made a mistake.
History
As far as the canal bridge between Staverton and Hilperton the route of the B3105 is identical to its original 1922 route; however, this has not always been the case. In the late 1920s the road was extended west from Bradford on Avon via a short multiplex along the A363 and then on via Winsley to end on the A36 at Monkton Combe. For some reason this extension became the B3108 in 1935.
Much more recently, the Hilperton end of the route has been changed a number of times. Firstly, when the A361 was diverted around Hilperton in the early 2000s and then more recently as described above. The old route continues south east from the canal bridge along Marsh Road, Hill Street and Church Street to the old A361 line in the village. With the re-routing of the A361, the B3105 was then extended a short distance west along Trowbridge Road to the roundabout where the new line has been added in.
