B3349
B3349 | ||||||||||||||||
Location Map ( geo) | ||||||||||||||||
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From: | Wokingham (SU806686) | |||||||||||||||
To: | Alton (SU703389) | |||||||||||||||
Via: | Arborfield Cross, Shinfield, Spencers Wood, Mattin | |||||||||||||||
Distance: | 27.5 miles (44.3 km) | |||||||||||||||
Meets: | A321, B3030, A327, A33, B3011, A30, M3, A287, A339 | |||||||||||||||
Former Number(s): | B3350, A33, A32, A339 | |||||||||||||||
Primary Destinations | ||||||||||||||||
Highway Authorities | ||||||||||||||||
Traditional Counties | ||||||||||||||||
Route outline (key) | ||||||||||||||||
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Route
The B3349 is a lengthy B-road in Southeast England.
The road starts on the A329 one-way system by the station in Wokingham. It heads southwest, crossing a level crossing immediately before following Barkham Road out of town. However, this is leafy, suburban Berkshire so where Wokingham ends and Barkham starts isn't obvious. We do eventually appear to reach open country, where after crossing Barkham Brook the road used to TOTSO right to meet the A327 in Arborfield; since late 2020, however, the A327 has been diverted west of the village, and so the B3349 now carries straight ahead to meet that road at the start of its bypass. On the way we pick up the B3030, which comes in from Arborfield along the A327's old route, and pass the new village of Arborfield Green, being built on the site of a former Army garrison.
The B3349 now multiplexes north-west along the bypass for a couple of miles and across the River Loddon into Shinfield. Here the A327 turns right at a roundabout onto another relief road and the B3349 regains its number by heading straight onto the A-road's former route. We turn left at the next roundabout and run through a semi-urban environment into Spencers Wood, where the road TOTSOs left at a T-junction. We continue vaguely southwards and cross the River Loddon again. It's still not easy to tell whether the road is rural or urban. Presently we reach Riseley where the road bears right to reach a T-junction on the edge of the heath. Right is a short spur leading to a roundabout on the A33 but the mainline of the B3349 turns left, then right at the next roundabout by the entrance to the Wellington Country Park.
Now definitely rural, the B3349 heads south across the wooded heath and meets the B3011 at a roundabout. The small villages of Heckfield and Mattingley are bypassed and the road continues across country before a sharp left-hand bend takes it towards Hook. The A30 is crossed at a roundabout after which the road follows a modern route through a housing estate, under the railway line and then through an industrial estate to reach a roundabout, where it turns left to cross Bartley Heath and reach a large roundabout at M3 J5.
There's a short D2 multiplex along the A287 to the next roundabout and the B3349 reappears and goes through North Wanborough, where it crosses the River Whitewater and the Basingstoke Canal. After skirting the western side of Odiham we pass RAF Odiham. The terrain is now quite different from earlier on the route, with wide, open fields and even a few hills. After going through South Wanborough we climb Swaines Hill to a crossroads by the Golden Pot PH, then continue through a wood and along a valley. The road descends into Alton and reaches a mini-roundabout. We turn right here, away from the town centre, and run along the edge of the urban area as far as a TOTSO on the A339, where the B3349 ends. Continue straight on to head back northwards again.
History
The majority of the route above is part of the original A32 and only became part of the B3349 in the 1980s. However, in 1922 the B3349 did not exist at all. The number only came into existence in the late 1920s to cover the route between the A329 in Wokingham and the A327 at Arborfield Cross.
In 1935 the road was extended west via a multiplex along the A327 to take over the whole of the former B3350, thus taking it to the A33. The B3349 has also taken on part of that road following construction of the Spencers Wood bypass. The southernmost section of the B3349 is the original route of the A339, explaining the TOTSO.
In 2018, following the completion of the Shinfield Eastern Relief Road, the A327 was diverted, with the road through Shinfield being renumbered as the B3349.