A350 road
Encyclopedia
The A350 is a north-south primary route in southern England
, that runs from the M4 motorway
in Wiltshire
to Poole
in Dorset
. Starting at junction 17 of the M4 motorway north of Chippenham
it goes past the small village of Lacock
and then through the towns of Melksham
, Westbury
, Warminster
, Shaftesbury
and Blandford Forum, ending in Poole beside Poole Harbour
, an English Channel
port There have been many bypasses built along the A350, including at Shaftesbury
in the 1950s, Chippenham, Warminster, Blandford Forum and most recently south of Melksham at Semington
. Most parts of the route are single carriageway but some of the new bypasses are dual carriageway
.
However, parts of the road - particularly the section between Shaftesbury
and Blandford Forum - remain unimproved; in at least one location the road is not wide enough to allow two lorries to pass safely, and the remainder of the Shaftesbury-Blandford stretch is narrow with several dangerous blind corners.
and the A364. In the 1990s the road was extended north from Chippenham to the M4 Motorway by renumbering the A429.
The council's selected route (shown on this Google overlay map) would pass to the east of the town. The council expects it to reduce traffic through Westbury, create more space for cyclists & pedestrians and improve journey time reliability on the A350, by two minutes. It would also provide a new access road to the West Wilts Trading Estate, though not to the other Westbury Trading Estates, or the Railway Station or the designated Future Intermodal Freight Terminal. The Eastern Westbury Bypass scheme, would, by the council's own forecasts, cause increased heavy goods vehicle flow through other West Wiltshire communities, such as Southwick, which already have over twice the HGVs of Westbury. The eastern bypass route is supported by the 'Westbury Bypass Now' group.
The council's route, which runs close to the Westbury White Horse
, two Sites of Special Scientific Interest, near Salisbury Plain
and through a Special Landscape Area
, is not included in the Regional Transport Priority for South West England
. The route has been described as 'highly intrusive' by the council's landscape officer. It is attracting opposition from various environmental and local groups including the White Horse Alliance, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Woodland Trust
, Friends of the Earth
, Campaign for Better Transport (UK) and Wiltshire Wildlife.
The scheme was 'called in' in 2007. An Inquiry into the scheme was held in July 2008. It was adjourned until September–October after objectors noticed that some figures for lorry counts were out by 100%. The inquiry ended in the autumn of 2008. The decision was with John Denham the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
. The planning inspectors have now recommended refusal of planning permission for Wiltshire Council's eastern Westbury bypass scheme. So the scheme has been turned down by the Government.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, that runs from the M4 motorway
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
to Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
in Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
. Starting at junction 17 of the M4 motorway north of Chippenham
Chippenham, Wiltshire
Chippenham is a market town in Wiltshire, England, located east of Bath and west of London. In the 2001 census the population of the town was recorded as 28,065....
it goes past the small village of Lacock
Lacock
Lacock is a village in Wiltshire, England, 3 miles from the town of Chippenham. The village is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust, and attracts many visitors by virtue of its unspoiled appearance.-History:...
and then through the towns of Melksham
Melksham
Melksham is a medium-sized English town, lying on the River Avon. It lies in the county of Wiltshire.It is situated southeast of the city of Bath, south of Chippenham, west of Devizes and north of Warminster on the A350 national route. The 2001 UK census cited Melksham as having 20,000...
, Westbury
Westbury, Wiltshire
Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire, most famous for the Westbury White Horse.-Name:The most likely origin of the West- in Westbury is simply that the town is near the western edge of the county of Wiltshire, the bounds of which have been much the same...
, Warminster
Warminster
Warminster is a town in western Wiltshire, England, by-passed by the A36, and near Frome and Westbury. It has a population of about 17,000. The River Were runs through the town and can be seen running through the middle of the town park. The Minster Church of St Denys sits on the River Were...
, Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
and Blandford Forum, ending in Poole beside Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...
, an English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
port There have been many bypasses built along the A350, including at Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
in the 1950s, Chippenham, Warminster, Blandford Forum and most recently south of Melksham at Semington
Semington
Semington is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about south of Melksham and about northeast of Trowbridge.The parish includes the hamlets of Littlemarsh and Littleton....
. Most parts of the route are single carriageway but some of the new bypasses are dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
.
However, parts of the road - particularly the section between Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
and Blandford Forum - remain unimproved; in at least one location the road is not wide enough to allow two lorries to pass safely, and the remainder of the Shaftesbury-Blandford stretch is narrow with several dangerous blind corners.
History
When first designated in 1922 the A350 ran only from Warminster to Poole. By 1948 the road had been extended north from Warminster to Chippenham on the former routes of the A363A363 road
The A363 is a main road in the United Kingdom, which runs through Bath and North East Somerset and Wiltshire. It provides a link between the small market towns of West Wiltshire and Bath, the M4 westbound, and the M5. It runs from the A4 at Bathford to the A350 at Yarnbrook, running through...
and the A364. In the 1990s the road was extended north from Chippenham to the M4 Motorway by renumbering the A429.
Westbury Bypass
A controversial £33 million bypass around Westbury was initially proposed in 1997 with public consultation and a selection of route options proposed in 1999. Wiltshire County Council's Environment and Transport Committee selected the Eastern Route (though it was the least popular) as the 'preferred route' in 2001, because the Council said that it offered the best and lowest cost way of relieving traffic congestion in the town centre. The council submitted an initial planning application during 2005. The council said that the government indicated that it was in favour of the project in 2006. The Council presented a further planning application in 2007.The council's selected route (shown on this Google overlay map) would pass to the east of the town. The council expects it to reduce traffic through Westbury, create more space for cyclists & pedestrians and improve journey time reliability on the A350, by two minutes. It would also provide a new access road to the West Wilts Trading Estate, though not to the other Westbury Trading Estates, or the Railway Station or the designated Future Intermodal Freight Terminal. The Eastern Westbury Bypass scheme, would, by the council's own forecasts, cause increased heavy goods vehicle flow through other West Wiltshire communities, such as Southwick, which already have over twice the HGVs of Westbury. The eastern bypass route is supported by the 'Westbury Bypass Now' group.
The council's route, which runs close to the Westbury White Horse
Westbury White Horse
The Westbury or Bratton White Horse is a hill figure on the escarpment of Salisbury Plain, approximately east of Westbury in England. Located on the edge of Bratton Downs and lying just below an Iron Age hill fort, it is the oldest of several white horses carved in Wiltshire...
, two Sites of Special Scientific Interest, near Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain
Salisbury Plain is a chalk plateau in central southern England covering . It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation and largely lies within the county of Wiltshire, with a little in Hampshire. The plain is famous for its rich archaeology, including Stonehenge, one of England's best known...
and through a Special Landscape Area
Special Landscape Area
A Special Landscape Area is a non-statutory conservation designation used by local government in some parts of the United Kingdom to categorise sensitive landscapes which are, either legally or as a matter of policy, protected from development or other man-made influences.The term is commonly used...
, is not included in the Regional Transport Priority for South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
. The route has been described as 'highly intrusive' by the council's landscape officer. It is attracting opposition from various environmental and local groups including the White Horse Alliance, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Woodland Trust
Woodland Trust
The Woodland Trust is a conservation charity in the United Kingdom concerned with the protection and sympathetic management of native woodland heritage.-History:...
, Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
, Campaign for Better Transport (UK) and Wiltshire Wildlife.
The scheme was 'called in' in 2007. An Inquiry into the scheme was held in July 2008. It was adjourned until September–October after objectors noticed that some figures for lorry counts were out by 100%. The inquiry ended in the autumn of 2008. The decision was with John Denham the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, is a Cabinet position heading the UK's Department for Communities and Local Government....
. The planning inspectors have now recommended refusal of planning permission for Wiltshire Council's eastern Westbury bypass scheme. So the scheme has been turned down by the Government.