A3083

Route

The A3083 runs from Helston to the village of Lizard, just to the north of Lizard Point, and is noteworthy as being mainland Britain's most southerly classified road.

Helston - Lizard

The A3083 near Culdrose Airfield

The road starts at a small roundabout junction with the A394 to the south of Helston and next to a corner of RNAS Culdrose. It runs alongside the naval air base fence and there is a warning for low flying aircraft. The buildings and hangars of the airfield become visible and the road takes a circuitous route around the main runway. There is even a GSJ for personnel to cross from the northbound A3083 to the airfield on their right. It can be rather busy in this section due to the civilian contractors employed from Helston. After a big group of barracks is passed there is a roundabout junction for the B3293 which heads off on the left towards St Keverne and Coverack.

Leaving the airfield behind, the road meanders on its way to the most southerly point. There is a short steep descent, marked at 17%, after the hamlet of Cross Lanes and a matching climb up the other side of the valley. In this area a wind farm and the giant satellite dishes of the Goonhilly Earth Station can be glimpsed. The road then becomes rather straighter as it is on a raised plateau, based on serpentine geology.

There is a junction on the right for the B3296 which leads to the village of Mullion with its harbour below. After that, the sightlines really open up and it is usually possible to enjoy rapid progress. Just under 4 miles later it reaches Lizard, the mainland's most southerly village. The road just gives up in the village square. The unclassified Lighthouse Road will take you nearer the most southerly point, if you want to make the full trip to the south.

Apart from the 30 mph limit for the last quarter-mile in Lizard Village, the road enjoys NSL throughout.

History

The road was originally numbered as the B3295. It was re-designated as this route by 1932, although the A3083 got a different route in Helston, following the B3297 Clodgey Lane rather than the B3295 Meneage Road. This section was lost when the A394 was diverted from the town centre via Clodgey Lane as part of a rather curious and circular Helston bypass involving a newly built section in the south west of the town.

Originally the road ran straight from the Meneage Road/Clodgey Lane junction in Helston. However, the building of Culdrose Airfield required a complete rebuild of the top part of the road to avoid the crossing runways. The no-through lane that is the fourth exit from the current A394/A3083 junction is the start of the former route. The road had a junction with the B3293 which is now buried somewhere beneath the main runway. The junction with that road was moved south twice, upon construction of the airfield and upon its extension to the south in more recent years.