B303

This article is about the current B303, the former A3 on Clapham Common.
For the original B303, now the southern end of the A3220, see B303 (Battersea).

The B303 is rather less illustrious and, by a huge factor, shorter than its counterpart numbered A303. Of course the original A303 ran from Vauxhall to Wandsworth, so not far from this road in geographical location. The B303 follows the original route of the A3 in this area.

Opening fork junction

The route is made up entirely of one-way streets and starts on the A3 as it makes its way along the north side of Clapham Common. Rather imaginatively the road is called Clapham Common North Side.

At the fork junction, the B303 takes the road name and the A3 continues as Long Road. Somewhat unusually for such a short road, its designation is marked on the road sign. "Clapham B303". The lovely smooth entry for the fork has been blocked somewhat in recent years by a bicycle lane and elongated traffic island. Although somewhat awkward, right turns are not actually banned from the A3 westbound.

Merge with Rookery Road

As we move into the road, on the left are rather grand town houses and apartments. The common continues on the right. A "plateau"-type hump has been installed within the last year or two here. Past another elongated island, traffic from the unclassified Rookery Road merges with our road. This is followed by another fork where both branches are the B303. The right fork is marked "Brixton (A2217)" although to get to this you have to meet the A3 again. This road is called The Pavement and continues alongside the common. Once again it has a merge with traffic, this time with the B224 which comes in from the left and terminates our road number.

Merge with B224 towards Battersea

Back to the previous fork the road continues as Old Town we pass the Prince of Wales pub on the left, which is completely filed with items collected down the years. It's like Steptoe and Son's yard inside. Then we pass a large triangular apron on the right, which buses use as a stand. We then merge into the B224 heading in the other direction and make the two-way traffic part of that road.

So the B303 is a very short road, but one which packs in a lot for its size. With the one-way traffic and all the forks and merges it doesn't really have the feel of most South London roads. Save for two Zebra crossings and the seemingly pointless single hump, it's a completely free-flowing route: there is not a single give-way line or traffic light to face from beginning to end. It's also usually moving swiftly, which is another bonus in South London.