B3136
B3136 | ||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||
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From: | Downside (ST624448) | |||||||||
To: | Pilton (ST600414) | |||||||||
Via: | Shepton Mallet | |||||||||
Distance: | 2.7 miles (4.3 km) | |||||||||
Meets: | A37, A371, A361 | |||||||||
Former Number(s): | A37, A361 | |||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||
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For the former B3136 from Cheddar to Wedmore, see B3136 (Cheddar-Wedmore).
The B3136 is part of the old road network through Shepton Mallet, before Kilver Hill and Kilver Street were widened to form a bypass. This road is still used as a major through route by many travelling between Glastonbury and Bath/Bristol, as it is rarely any more congested than the A361/A37 'Bypass' route.
Route
From the A37 at Downside, the road drops down the hill, under the Bath Road Viaduct from the former Somerset & Dorset Railway line, and so into the town, where it meets the A371 and a spur of the A361 at a mini roundabout. The B3136 then has a short multiplex with the A371 to a larger roundabout, where it turns right, rapidly reaching the edge of this small Mendip town. It is then roughly a mile, mostly downhill, to the A361 at the east end of Pilton.
History
The B3136 takes the route of the old A37 and A361 alignments through Shepton. The northern section down Bath Hill was originally the A37 in 1922, with that route being rerouted to the east in the 1950s. The southern section out to Pilton remained as the A361 for even longer, with that route only being diverted east to Cannards Grave in the 1970s.
The section on Rectory Road on Shepton Mallet Inner Relief Road opened in September 1973.