A346
A346 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Ludgershall (SU249514) | |||||||||
To: | Chiseldon (SU190809) | |||||||||
Via: | Marlborough | |||||||||
Distance: | 20.2 miles (32.5 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A342, A338, B3087, B3052, A4, B4005, M4, A417 | |||||||||
Former Number(s): | A345 | |||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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For the pre-1935 version of the A346, now A338, see A346 (Shipton Bellinger - Collingbourne Ducis).
The A346 is an important north-south road in Wiltshire.
Route
Ludgershall - Chiseldon
The road starts as a small rump branching off the A342 west of Ludgershall for a mile or so before meeting the A338 in Collingbourne Ducis. I think this used to be a TOTSO but it's a roundabout now. It then disappears from view for nearly 5 miles before reappearing at Burbage, where it picks up primary status from the A338.
The A346 runs to the west of Burbage on a single carriageway bypass, before picking up the old road to the north. It then heads over the Reading to Taunton railway line and Kennet and Avon Canal before burrowing into thick forest. It runs through forest for several miles before emerging at a sharp drop down to Marlborough, where there's a brief multiplex with the A4.
North of Marlborough, the A346 continues along the Og Valley. At Ogbourne St George it meets the main Roman Road from Winchester (here unclassified) and runs along its course for several miles, crossing the Ridgeway en route. It ends at a roundabout with the M4 at J15 just outside Swindon, the road ahead being a rerouted A419.
History
The entire of the above, including the lengthy multiplex with the A338, was numbered A345 on classification in 1922. In 1935 that road was rerouted south of Marlborough and the A346 took over its old route; the A338 was also rerouted in that year and so the multiplex has always existed.
The A345 was later abolished to the north of Marlborough and so the A346 has taken on its old route as far as the M4.
Burbage Bypass - the 2 mile road was opened on 22 August 1991 by Charles Morrison, MP for Devizes. Cost was £2 million.