B3171
B3171 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Monkton Heathfield (ST263276) | |||
To: | Staplegrove (ST214261) | |||
Via: | Priorswood (just north of Taunton) | |||
Distance: | 3.5 miles (5.6 km) | |||
Met: | A38, A358 | |||
Now part of: | A3259, A358 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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The B3171 is the previous number for the A3259, which follows an east-west course to the north of Taunton.
On classification in 1922 the A361 was a much shorter route, terminating on the A38 at Walford Cross to the east of Taunton. The onward route into Devon was the A398, with the B3171 providing the link from the A38 to A358 avoiding the centre of Taunton. In 1935, the A361 was extended along the B3171 in order to consume the A398 on its way into North Devon. The current number presumably dates from the opening of the North Devon Link Road in the 1980s, which gained the A361 number.
The route hasn't changed that much. A kink has been ironed out at Monkton Heathfield and another near the roundabout at Maidenbrook but otherwise the road that was once the B3171 is still in use as either the A3259 or (in the west) A358 from near Walford Cross across Taunton to Staplegrove.