A37 road

A37 road shield

A37 road

The A37 north of Pensford
Route information
Length: 60.2 mi (96.9 km)
Major junctions
South end: Dorchester 50°42′43″N 2°28′23″W / 50.712°N 2.473°W / 50.712; -2.473
 

A35 A35 road
A352 A352 road
A356 A356 road
A3088 A3088 road
A30 A30 road
A359 A359 road
A303 A303 road
A372 A372 road
A371 A371 road
A361 A361 road
A367 A367 road
A39 A39 road
A362 A362 road
A368 A368 road
A4174 A4174 road

A4 A4 road
North end: Bristol 51°26′38″N 2°34′41″W / 51.444°N 2.578°W / 51.444; -2.578
Location
Primary
destinations
:
Bristol
Yeovil
Dorchester
Road network

The A37 is a major road in southern England. It runs north from the A35 at Dorchester in Dorset into Somerset through Yeovil and Shepton Mallet before terminating at the Three Lamps junction with the A4 in central Bristol. The road is entirely single carriageway, except in the Yeovil and Bristol built-up areas, at Ilchester (where it multiplexes with the A303), and north of Dorchester.

The road today

The road is subject to a stream of speed restrictions where it winds through a number of small villages. These parts of the road can be dangerous, especially where wide vehicles pass on sections where buildings are close to the road.

History

The original A37 in 1922 started in Weymouth, however, the section to Dorchester was soon renumbered A354, presumably to create a link between the major port of Weymouth and the A30 at Salisbury, from where the route would continue to London. Such a route has now been superseded by the M27 and M3.

From the Podimore roundabout northeast of Ilchester to Shepton Mallet the route traces that of the Fosse Way.

One of the worst accident spots on the A37 was the A371 junction just south of Shepton Mallet. The junction was always very busy and suffered long traffic queues due to the nature of the road. The junction was also a point where traffic would converge or pass through from multiple locations, this was further invoked by the A361 Glastonbury junction which backed right onto the first junction. This muddled configuration resulted in numerous road traffic accidents, many of which were fatal.

After a long campaign for the junction to be replaced, a roundabout was constructed in 1999 significantly improving road safety and traffic flow. There have been few other construction schemes on the road in recent decades.

In recent years the most of the overtaking lanes, provided on steep stretches, just south of Bristol have been blocked out with chevrons.

External links

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