A3040
A3040 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Wallisdown (SZ065944) | |||
To: | Branksome (SZ055919) | |||
Distance: | 1.5 miles (2.4 km) | |||
Meets: | A35, B3061, A3049 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Highway Authorities | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the original A3040 in Budleigh Salterton, Devon, see A3040 (Budleigh Salterton).
Route
The A3040, in suburban Poole, is a largely straight road which, in the space of 1½ miles, descends down three river valleys and ascends back up to the top in between, giving a roller-coaster type road. It is single-carriageway in its entirety, with double yellow lines throughout, apart from the parking lay-bys outside the shops.
Wallisdown - Branksome
Travelling northwards, we start on the A35 at Branksome, outside the Branksome Retail Park. The road travels westwards for 60 yards before the junction with the B3061, where the A3040 turns right and heads northwards. At this point, we are some 50 m above sea level, but the road suddenly descends, allowing to see then next half-mile ahead of us. At the bottom of the dip, we have the traffic lights at the junction of Yarmouth Road – we have dropped to 30 m altitude – and at the top of the climb, the lights at Herbert Avenue. We have regained a height of 50 m.
After a short flat stretch with a row of shops on one side we again drop into a dip, where the Dorset Knob pub is on the right; the road drops to 33 m before rising again and swinging right to Sainsbury's roundabout.
From Sainsbury's roundabout we drop into the Bourne Valley (down again to 34 m) before our final ascent takes us up to the A3049 Wallisdown Road, where we are 52 m above sea level, just a couple of metres higher than when we started.
History
The A3040 was classified in the early to mid 1980s, before which it was just a local road. Until the late 1980s, after classification, the road was rerouted around the last ridge to allow access to the then new Sainsbury's supermarket. Until then, the road had been dead straight, but the rerouting avoided the steepest of the hills on the route. The original route is still present, providing access to an industrial area.