A3057
A3057 | |||||||||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||||||||||||||
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From: | Southampton (SU411119) | ||||||||||||||||||
To: | Andover (SU366464) | ||||||||||||||||||
Distance: | 25.2 miles (40.6 km) | ||||||||||||||||||
Meets: | A33, A3024, A35, M271, A27, A3090, B3398, B3084, A30, B3049, B3420, A303, B3402, A343, A3093 | ||||||||||||||||||
Former Number(s): | B3042, A342 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Counties | |||||||||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||||||||||||||
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The A3057 is an important local route for traffic heading north-west out of Southampton (although the M271 helps bypass some of the more congested parts) and then northward along the Test Valley.
The route starts on the A33 about 300 metres south-west of Southampton Central railway station, passing over the railway and then turning northwest to head along Shirley High Street. This part of the road is frequently congested. After Shirley, it crosses the A35 at traffic lights and then heads into more suburban areas, passing the offices of the Ordnance Survey on the way. There's then a bridge over the M27, followed by a roundabout where the M271 terminates.
From here, the character of the road changes, becoming more winding and rural. After some 2.5 km the A27 comes in from the north-east and takes the onward route over A3057, swinging north-westwards towards Romsey past the grounds of Broadlands House (to the left). After a roundabout junction which sees the A27 heading off south-westward, our overall north-by-north-west heading is continued for around 180 metres by the A3090, before that road, too, heads away (north-eastward) at the next roundabout by the Plaza Theatre (a former cinema).
The A3057 resumes its independent existence here, turning left into Winchester Road (West) and then TOTSOing right almost immediately into Alma Road and Malmesbury Road which we follow through Romsey before passing under the Salisbury to Romsey railway line to leave the town along Greatbridge Road. It's now a pleasant drive along the Test Valley through King's Somborne to Stockbridge, where we cross the A30 via a couple of roundabouts before continuing through the countryside once more – the river never far away on the left-hand side – before, after some 4 km, our route suddenly TOTSOs sharply left to cross a former railway bridge and the River Test itself.
The final section of the A3057 takes us along the valley of the River Anton to Andover. South of the town there's a GSJ with the A303 Andover bypass, after crossing which our road descends gently towards the town centre and ends its course by becoming the Andover inner ring road: a circuit – made up (in clockwise order) of Western Avenue, Northern Avenue, New Street (South), and East Street – which has roundabout junctions with the A343 and A3093.
History
The A3057 was originally numbered as the B3042 from Southampton to today's junction with the B3420 (then part of the A342), and then A342 to Andover. The B3042 was upgraded to A3057 very early on, probably on 1 April 1925, while the remainder of the route was renumbered on 1 April 1933.
The multiplex with the A27 south of Romsey dates from the 1950s, when the A27 was diverted from a more built-up route further east.
The Andover Southern Distributor Road was officially opened on 22 April 1986.