{{UK road routebox|
| road= A3
| length-mi=
| length-km=
| direction= North east- South west
| start= City_of_London
| destinations= Cosham
Esher
Kennington
Kingston-on-Thames
Guildford
Haslemere | end= Portsmouth_Harbour | construction-date= | completion-date= | junctions= 50px M25_motorway
50px
50px M27_motorway
50px M275_motorway
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{{ukroadsmall|205}}
{{ukroadsmall|205}}
{{ukroadsmall|240}}
{{ukroadsmall|272}}
{{ukroadsmall|31}}
{{ukroadsmall|309}} }} Image:A3_near_Liphook.jpg]] The '''A3''' is a Trunk_road in Southern_England, connecting London to Portsmouth. The historic '''Portsmouth Road''' once had great strategic significance as the major link between the capital city and one of its major sea ports. Many of the towns and villages that it passed through gained income and prestige as a result — such as Kingston-upon-Thames, Esher, Guildford, Godalming, Haslemere and Petersfield. The modern A3 follows the general route of the Portsmouth Road, but Bypasses many of the towns and villages along the way, leaving the various stretches of the old Portsmouth Road for local traffic -- for instance, the A307 through Esher, also known as the Portsmouth Road. For some of its length, the road follows a similar line to the Portsmouth_Direct_Line railway, although one of the major exceptions is that the A3 does not go through or closely bypass Havant. However, a programme of road improvements starting in the 1930s transformed the road so that is now predominantly a two or three lane Dual_carriageway, bypassing the town centres, with a section of Motorway, the A3(M), just before the road reaches the A27 at Havant. The road was once the haunt of Highwaymen. For example, the legendary Jerry_Abershawe terrorised the area around Kingston and led a gang based at the Bald Faced Stag Inn on the Portsmouth Road. Another particularly dangerous location was in the vicinity of the Devil's_Punch_Bowl, Hindhead, about 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Guildford. Today, this is an area better known for traffic jams, for it remains one of the very few stretches of single carriageway on the A3, and is heavily used by commuters. Long queues build up here, particularly during the morning peak hours. A 1.2 Mile (1.9 Km) Tunnel under Hindhead Common is to be built, with advanced works to begin in 2007 and the main work to start in 2008Highways Agency - A3 Hindhead ImprovementGovernment News Network - ''£371 million A3 improvements will go ahead '' - 26/10/2006. This will improve the last remaining single carriageway section of the A3 outside of London and Portsmouth to dual carriageway. Another traffic black spot during Peak_hours is just outside London going northbound before the Hook underpass. The road is, before that point, three lanes, yet has to go down to two in order to go in the underpass. Also, the traffic from the A309 comes in just before the underpass creating congestion. The traffic is often busy in that section from about 7:50AM to 8:30AM and from 5:15PM to 5:50PM because of the sheer volume of the traffic. ==Cycle paths== There are several shared pedestrian and Cycle_paths on the A3, although many seem to be very infrequently used. One cycle path links the village of Liss with the town of Petersfield on the Portsmouth-bound side of the A3 Petersfield bypass. However, an alternative cycle route would be the B2070 or 'Old A3' which was the main route from Liphook and Liss to Petersfield before the construction of the bypass. Another links the village of Greatham with West_Liss. The path is on the London-bound side, linking to a bridge over the A3 to West Liss. This means cyclists and pedestrians are not required to cross the dual carriageway on foot at the Ham Barn roundabout as would be the case if they went to West Liss on Farnham Rd (the B3006). There is also a cycle path between Greatham and Liphook, and nearer Portsmouth there is a cycle path between Clanfield and the Queen_Elizabeth_Country_Park, a large forest near Petersfield next to the A3. ==London== In Central_London, the A3 starts at London_Bridge, going south-west along Borough_High_Street and Newington_Causeway to the Elephant_and_Castle roundabout. It continues along Newington_Butts, Kennington_Park_Road, Clapham_Road and Clapham_High_Street. The road then passes the north side of Clapham_Common and through Wandsworth to Wimbledon_Common. It bypasses Kingston upon Thames in outer London. ==A3(M)== {{UK motorway routebox| | motorway= A3(M) | length-mi= 5 | length-km= 8.5 | direction= North - South | start= Horndean | destinations= Guildford
London
Portsmouth | end= Bedhampton | opening-date= 1979 | completion-date= entire motorway | junctions= none }} This section of the road was opened in 1979The Motorway Archive - M27 Dates Page and acts as a bypass of the A3 road in this part of Hampshire. ===Junctions=== {| border=1 cellpadding=2 style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom: 1em; color: black; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- align="center" bgcolor="0080d0" style="color: white;font-size:120%;" | colspan="3" | '''A3(M) Motorway''' |- align="center" bgcolor="000000" style="color: white" | Northbound exits | Junction | Southbound exits |- align="center" | ''Road continues as '''A3''' towards Petersfield'' | rowspan="2"|J1 | Horndean '''A3''' |- align="center" | ''No exit'' | ''Start of motorway |- align="center" | Horndean, Lovedean '''B2149''' | J2 | Havant, Lovedean '''B2149''' |- align="center" | Waterlooville, Denmead '''B2150''' | J3 | Waterlooville, Havant '''B2150''' |- align="center" | Widley, Havant | J4 | ''No exit'' |- align="center" | Drayton, Cosham '''A2030'''
Bedhampton '''B2177''' | J5 | Chichester '''A27'''
Drayton, Cosham '''A2030'''
Bedhampton '''B2177''' |- align="center" | ''Start of motorway'' | Terminus | Portsmouth '''A27''' ('''M27''', '''M275''') |} == See also == *Great_Britain_road_numbering_scheme *List_of_motorways_in_the_United_Kingdom ==References==
==External links==
* CBRD Motorway Database - A3(M)
*TAB-MSAs: Photos: A3(M)
*A3 Hindhead Improvement – Highways Agency page
*Pathetic Motorways - A3(M)
*Society for All British Road Enthusiasts entry for the A3
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{{Template:UK motorways}}
Esher
Kennington
Kingston-on-Thames
Guildford
Haslemere | end= Portsmouth_Harbour | construction-date= | completion-date= | junctions= 50px M25_motorway
50px
50px M27_motorway
50px M275_motorway
{{ukroadsmall|27}}
{{ukroadsmall|205}}
{{ukroadsmall|205}}
{{ukroadsmall|240}}
{{ukroadsmall|272}}
{{ukroadsmall|31}}
{{ukroadsmall|309}} }} Image:A3_near_Liphook.jpg]] The '''A3''' is a Trunk_road in Southern_England, connecting London to Portsmouth. The historic '''Portsmouth Road''' once had great strategic significance as the major link between the capital city and one of its major sea ports. Many of the towns and villages that it passed through gained income and prestige as a result — such as Kingston-upon-Thames, Esher, Guildford, Godalming, Haslemere and Petersfield. The modern A3 follows the general route of the Portsmouth Road, but Bypasses many of the towns and villages along the way, leaving the various stretches of the old Portsmouth Road for local traffic -- for instance, the A307 through Esher, also known as the Portsmouth Road. For some of its length, the road follows a similar line to the Portsmouth_Direct_Line railway, although one of the major exceptions is that the A3 does not go through or closely bypass Havant. However, a programme of road improvements starting in the 1930s transformed the road so that is now predominantly a two or three lane Dual_carriageway, bypassing the town centres, with a section of Motorway, the A3(M), just before the road reaches the A27 at Havant. The road was once the haunt of Highwaymen. For example, the legendary Jerry_Abershawe terrorised the area around Kingston and led a gang based at the Bald Faced Stag Inn on the Portsmouth Road. Another particularly dangerous location was in the vicinity of the Devil's_Punch_Bowl, Hindhead, about 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Guildford. Today, this is an area better known for traffic jams, for it remains one of the very few stretches of single carriageway on the A3, and is heavily used by commuters. Long queues build up here, particularly during the morning peak hours. A 1.2 Mile (1.9 Km) Tunnel under Hindhead Common is to be built, with advanced works to begin in 2007 and the main work to start in 2008Highways Agency - A3 Hindhead ImprovementGovernment News Network - ''£371 million A3 improvements will go ahead '' - 26/10/2006. This will improve the last remaining single carriageway section of the A3 outside of London and Portsmouth to dual carriageway. Another traffic black spot during Peak_hours is just outside London going northbound before the Hook underpass. The road is, before that point, three lanes, yet has to go down to two in order to go in the underpass. Also, the traffic from the A309 comes in just before the underpass creating congestion. The traffic is often busy in that section from about 7:50AM to 8:30AM and from 5:15PM to 5:50PM because of the sheer volume of the traffic. ==Cycle paths== There are several shared pedestrian and Cycle_paths on the A3, although many seem to be very infrequently used. One cycle path links the village of Liss with the town of Petersfield on the Portsmouth-bound side of the A3 Petersfield bypass. However, an alternative cycle route would be the B2070 or 'Old A3' which was the main route from Liphook and Liss to Petersfield before the construction of the bypass. Another links the village of Greatham with West_Liss. The path is on the London-bound side, linking to a bridge over the A3 to West Liss. This means cyclists and pedestrians are not required to cross the dual carriageway on foot at the Ham Barn roundabout as would be the case if they went to West Liss on Farnham Rd (the B3006). There is also a cycle path between Greatham and Liphook, and nearer Portsmouth there is a cycle path between Clanfield and the Queen_Elizabeth_Country_Park, a large forest near Petersfield next to the A3. ==London== In Central_London, the A3 starts at London_Bridge, going south-west along Borough_High_Street and Newington_Causeway to the Elephant_and_Castle roundabout. It continues along Newington_Butts, Kennington_Park_Road, Clapham_Road and Clapham_High_Street. The road then passes the north side of Clapham_Common and through Wandsworth to Wimbledon_Common. It bypasses Kingston upon Thames in outer London. ==A3(M)== {{UK motorway routebox| | motorway= A3(M) | length-mi= 5 | length-km= 8.5 | direction= North - South | start= Horndean | destinations= Guildford
London
Portsmouth | end= Bedhampton | opening-date= 1979 | completion-date= entire motorway | junctions= none }} This section of the road was opened in 1979The Motorway Archive - M27 Dates Page and acts as a bypass of the A3 road in this part of Hampshire. ===Junctions=== {| border=1 cellpadding=2 style="margin-left:1em; margin-bottom: 1em; color: black; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- align="center" bgcolor="0080d0" style="color: white;font-size:120%;" | colspan="3" | '''A3(M) Motorway''' |- align="center" bgcolor="000000" style="color: white" | Northbound exits | Junction | Southbound exits |- align="center" | ''Road continues as '''A3''' towards Petersfield'' | rowspan="2"|J1 | Horndean '''A3''' |- align="center" | ''No exit'' | ''Start of motorway |- align="center" | Horndean, Lovedean '''B2149''' | J2 | Havant, Lovedean '''B2149''' |- align="center" | Waterlooville, Denmead '''B2150''' | J3 | Waterlooville, Havant '''B2150''' |- align="center" | Widley, Havant | J4 | ''No exit'' |- align="center" | Drayton, Cosham '''A2030'''
Bedhampton '''B2177''' | J5 | Chichester '''A27'''
Drayton, Cosham '''A2030'''
Bedhampton '''B2177''' |- align="center" | ''Start of motorway'' | Terminus | Portsmouth '''A27''' ('''M27''', '''M275''') |} == See also == *Great_Britain_road_numbering_scheme *List_of_motorways_in_the_United_Kingdom ==References==