A363 road
A363 | |
---|---|
Major junctions | |
North end | Bathford |
A4![]() ![]() ![]() | |
South end | Yarnbrook |
Location | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Road network | |
TheA363is a main road in the United Kingdom which runs throughBath and North East SomersetandWiltshire.[1]It provides a link between the smallmarket townsof West Wiltshire and Bath, theM4westbound, and theM5.It runs from theA4atBathfordto theA350atYarnbrook,passing throughBradford-on-AvonandTrowbridge.It also linksWestburyby merging with the A350.
Route
[edit]The road starts off bypassing Bathford to the west. It then climbs up the hill known locally asSally in the Woods,on the edge of theCotswoldsArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty,which has been the scene of a fatal accident.[2]
The road summits at the turn-off toMonkton Farleigh,[3]at an altitude of 144 metres. After this, the road quality improves in that it widens and is straighter. This continues up to the approach to Bradford-on-Avon. Through Bradford-on-Avon itself, the road descends a steep 1 in 7 (14%) hill, known asMasons Lane.This is the road's main bottleneck since this leads to Bradford-on-Avon's only vehicle bridge over the River Avon (which splits the town in two), and at this stage travellers have merged with traffic fromMelksham,CorshamandChippenham(B3109) which is fed here.
The road passes on towards Trowbridge. 1/4 mile (400 m) afterTown Bridge,traffic toFromesplits off upon the restart of the B3109 which had been concurrent with the A363 for a short distance, thus easing congestion. The road passes over a low hill, then descends into Trowbridge.
It is concurrent for a short distance with theA361,then emerges asBradley Road.There are three roundabouts as the road goes throughNorth Bradleyvia the White Horse Business Park, to the south. Until the 1980s it passed through North Bradley's residential lane, but since the opening of the business park, the older road through North Bradley became declassified. The A363 then terminates at a roundabout with the A350 in Yarnbrook.
When it was first designated in the 1920s, the road continued on from Yarnbrook as far asChippenham,but by 1948 this stretch had been redesignated as a continuation of theA350.
Points of interest
[edit]Point | Coordinates (Links to map resources) |
OS Grid Ref | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Bathford | 51°24′09″N2°18′35″W/ 51.4025°N 2.3096°W | ST784671 | Bathford |
Yarnbrook | 51°17′36″N2°11′25″W/ 51.2932°N 2.1903°W | ST867549 | Yarnbrook |
References
[edit]- ^"Traffic statistics on the A363, Bathford, Bath and North East Somerset | ST786670".roadtrafficstats.uk.Retrieved14 December2023.
- ^"Woman cyclist killed in crash".Bath Chronicle.Retrieved14 November2010.
- ^"Monkton Farleigh".Wiltshire Council.Retrieved11 December2009.