A361 road

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A361 road
Direction North-South
Start Ilfracombe
Primary
destinations1
Barnstaple
Glastonbury
Frome
Trowbridge
Swindon
Banbury
End Rugby
Roads joined A399 road
A3123 road
A39 road
A3125 road
A396 road
M5 motorway
A38 road
A372 road
A39 road
A37 road
A371 road
A359 road
A362 road
A3098 road
A36 road
A363 road
A350 road
A365 road
A342 road
A4 road
A4361 road
A419 road
A417 road
A40 road
A424 road
A44 road
A3400 road
A4260 road
A422 road
A423 road
M40 motorway
A45 road
A425 road
A5 road
Notes
  1. Primary destinations as specified by the Department for Transport.

The A361 is a major road in England and is the longest 3 digit A road in the UK. It runs south from Ilfracombe on the north Devon coast to Barnstaple, turning south-east to Tiverton then, after a break (the M5 connects the two sections), north east from Taunton in Somerset through Street and Glastonbury, past Frome and then into Wiltshire through Trowbridge, Devizes, Avebury and Swindon. It then runs through the eastern Cotswolds, via Lechlade, Burford and Chipping Norton and on through Banbury and Daventry before terminating at its junction with the A5 road at the village of Kilsby on the Northamptonshire-Warwickshire border near Rugby.

The road starts in Ilfracombe as part of the town's High Street, and is mostly single carriageway. The road passes through the villages of Knowle and Braunton, before becoming dual carriageway standard at Ashford, which continues for the short distance to Barnstaple. The section from Barnstaple to the M5 near Tiverton has been designated the North Devon Link Road, and enables relatively fast access to the Atlantic Highway, relieving pressure on the northern section of the A39 and A358. This section is a modern, wide single carriageway trunk road (which was de-trunked in 2002), apart from the 5-mile stretch between Tiverton and the M5, which is dual carriageway. Tiverton Parkway railway station is situated close to the junction with the motorway in order to give easy rail connections for people driving from north Devon.

The rest of the road, from Taunton to Rugby, is largely county-road class; the quality of the road surface, width and verges can sometimes be barely better than a B-road.


[edit] A4361

A4361 road
Direction North-South
Start Beckhampton
End Swindon
Roads joined A4 road
A361 road
A3102 road

The road has been re-numbered A4361 from its junction with the A4 immediately south of Avebury northwards, becoming the A361 again at the junction with the A419 which passes north-east of Swindon.


[edit] External links