B3183 (historical)
B3183 | ||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||
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From: | Cowley Bridge Road (SX910941) | |||
To: | Heavitree Road (SX935925) | |||
Distance: | 3.3 miles (5.3 km) | |||
Met (1961): | A377, A30, A377, A30 | |||
Former Number(s): | B3182 | |||
Now part of: | A377, A3015, B3212 | |||
Primary Destinations | ||||
Traditional Counties | ||||
Route outline (key) | ||||
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For the current B3183, also in Exeter, see B3183.
The B3183 is a road number in Exeter with a complicated history.
The original B3183
The original route of the B3183 was a very short route in Exeter city centre, and from the 1923 MOT map it appears to simply be a link between South Street and Fore Street using West Street and Coombe Street. In the 1960s much of this area was re-developed with the new A30 inner bypass (now A3015 Western Way) crossing the old route, making it impossible even to walk along today.
The later B3183
However the B3183 was quickly extended to the north of its western end, with the 1932 OS Ten Mile map showing it running along the modern route of the A377, along Bonhay Road, past St Davids Station and along the Exe to meet the A377 at Cowley Bridge Road. However, in point of fact this extension doesn't seem to have been quite enough, and in 1935, when the MOT were re-assessing the allocation of route numbers around the country, they decided that the B3183 should be extended eastwards to include the route of the original B3182. This number therefore became defunct, albeit to be re-used later.
This route of the B3183 seems to have survived until around 1970, with atlas evidence suggesting that it then disappeared for a few years before reappearing on its modern route. Essentially the A377 swapped with the B3183, but for some reason the A377 followed the B3183 route as well as its own for about a decade before the B3183 re-appeared, coinciding with the opening of the M5.