View source for A350 road

{{Short description|Road in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2013}}
{{Infobox road
| country = GBR
| type = A
| route = 350
| image = The A350 at Two Mile Down - geograph.org.uk - 199412.jpg
| image_notes = The A350 near [[Hindon, Wiltshire]]; the overbridge carries the [[A303 road]]
| length_mi = 70.1
| length_ref = <ref>{{cite web|title=Driving directions to A350|url=https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=A350&daddr=50.7138936,-2.0024731+to:50.915087,-2.1952569+to:A350&hl=en&ll=51.07592,-2.15332&spn=1.040555,2.540588&sll=50.729502,-2.033501&sspn=0.131042,0.317574&geocode=FYs8BgMdqDnh_w%3BFSXVBQMd13Hh_yk9LQD-V6ZzSDGpfhhq9eTu4w%3BFQ_nCAMdyIDe_ylRnShLd7RzSDE39z0CoVDDYw%3BFbcIEgMd9Zzf_w&t=h&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=12&via=1,2&z=9|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=29 October 2013}}</ref>
| direction_a = north
| terminus_a = {{jct|country=GBR|M|4|dab1=Great Britain}}<br /> {{coord|51.5148|-2.1217}}
| direction_b = south
| terminus_b = {{jct|country=GBR|A|35|name1= }}<br /> {{coord|50.74034|-2.01756}}
| destinations = [[Chippenham, Wiltshire|Chippenham]]<br />[[Melksham]]<br />[[Trowbridge]]<br />[[Westbury, Wiltshire|Westbury]]<br />[[Warminster]]<br />[[Shaftesbury]]<br />[[Blandford Forum]]<br />[[Poole]]<br />[[Bournemouth]]
| junction = {{jct|country=GBR|A|429|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|420|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|4|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|365|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|3102|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|361|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|363|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|3098|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|36|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|362|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|303|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|30|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|357|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|354|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|31|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|35|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|349|name1= }}<br /> {{jct|country=GBR|A|3049|name1= }}
}}

The '''A350''' is a north–south [[primary route]] in southern [[England]], that runs from the [[M4 motorway]] in [[Wiltshire]] to [[Poole]] in [[Dorset]].

==Route==
Starting at junction 17 of the M4 motorway north of [[Chippenham, Wiltshire|Chippenham]], the first three miles are a dual carriageway to the northern outskirts of Chippenham, where a partly light-controlled roundabout splits traffic between the bypass section and the road into the town centre. The Chippenham bypass is punctuated by six more roundabouts, the last being at the Lackham College. In so doing it crosses the [[A420 road|A420]] to [[Bristol]] and the A4 for [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] to the West and [[Calne]] to the East.

It then goes past the small village of [[Lacock]] before reaching [[Melksham]] four miles later. The road then follows the [[Semington]] bypass,<ref>{{cite web|title=Bypass set to open to fanfare of celebrations|url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/7283608.print/|access-date=18 April 2015|location=Brighton|date=26 March 2004}}</ref> opened in 2004, to Westbury, crossing the [[A361 road|A361]] between [[Trowbridge]] and [[Devizes]]. This section of the road has two light-controlled junctions to connect the road to outlying areas of Trowbridge before reaching the [[Yarnbrook]] roundabout. This section is approximately 5 miles long.

The road takes a winding route through the town centre of [[Westbury, Wiltshire|Westbury]] before heading towards [[Warminster]], where it splits from its original route at a light-controlled junction along the Warminster bypass. Where the bypass meets the [[A36 road|A36]] Bath to [[Salisbury]] road, they merge for about 3 miles, before the A350 continues south towards [[Shaftesbury]], passing through Crockerton Green and [[Longbridge Deverill]] and beneath the [[A303 road|A303]].

The section between Shaftesbury and [[Blandford Forum]] is almost completely unimproved and in at least one location the road is not wide enough to allow two lorries to pass safely, with the remainder of this section being narrow with several dangerous blind corners, that could be described as resembling almost B-Road status. The road passes through the hamlet of [[Cann, Dorset|Cann]] and the villages of [[Compton Abbas]], [[Fontmell Magna]], [[Sutton Waldron]], [[Iwerne Minster]] and [[Stourpaine]] before reaching Blandford Forum.

At Blandford Forum is another bypass built to ease town centre traffic where the A350 crossed and merged with the [[A354 road|A354]]. The bypass still merges the two roads for a short stretch. There are four roundabouts on this section, the last of which sees the two roads go their separate ways. The road then passes through the villages of [[Charlton Marshall]], [[Spetisbury]] and [[Sturminster Marshall]] before crossing the [[A31 road|A31]] via a roundabout.

Before reaching Poole, the road joins the [[A35 road|A35]] at a grade separated junction before separating again at a roundabout at the north east end of [[Holes Bay]].  This section is a dual carriageway as far as Poole Railway Station. The final section crosses the Black Water Channel by the Poole Bridge before terminating at the roundabout on New Harbour Road where the Ferry Port is located.

== History ==

When first designated in 1922, the A350 ran only from Warminster to Poole.<ref>[http://www.uk-roads.org.uk/roadlists/1922.shtml#3 1922 road list] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810214402/http://www.uk-roads.org.uk/roadlists/1922.shtml#3 |date=10 August 2007 }}</ref> By 1948 the road had been extended north from Warminster to Chippenham on the former routes of the [[A363 road|A363]] and the A364.<ref>[http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#391,171,1 1948 Ordnance Survey map]</ref> In the 1990s the road was extended north from Chippenham to the M4 motorway by renumbering the [[A429]].

The Chippenham bypass was built in the 1990s as a single carriageway and was designed for future widening to dual carriageway. Work to dual the section between Chippenham Golf Club, where the original dual carriageway from the M4 motorway narrowed, to the Badger roundabout was completed in 2014, and the section from Brook roundabout to Bumper's Farm roundabout, the junction with the A420 Bristol Road, was completed in 2016. The remaining sections, as far south as the junction with the A4 Bath Road, were completed in the following years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.connectingwiltshire.co.uk/connecting-your-journeys/a350-chippenham-dualling/|title=A350 Improvements|website=Connecting Wiltshire|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=23 May 2016|archive-date=10 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410062717/http://www.connectingwiltshire.co.uk/connecting-your-journeys/a350-chippenham-dualling/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2004, the route between Melksham and [[Semington]] was replaced by a new road that bypassed Semington and, like the Chippenham bypass, was designed to be dualled at a future date. The [[New Semington Aqueduct]] carries the [[Kennet and Avon Canal]] over this section.

In December 2023, [[Wiltshire Council]] awarded a £20.7 million contract for dualling the remaining sections of the A350 Chippenham bypass.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-21 |title=Wiltshire Council awards £20.7M A350 contract to MJ Church |url=https://www.tbeswindonandwilts.co.uk/business-news/wiltshire-council-awards-20-7m-a350-contract-to-mj-church/ |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=The Business Exchange}}</ref> Preparatory works began in January 2024 and were completed in mid-March.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Jason |date=2024-01-05 |title=Work starts next week ahead of £20m transformation of major route |url=https://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/24026353.a350-dual-carriageway-works-begin-chippenham/ |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=Wiltshire Times |language=en}}</ref> Construction is expected to start in May 2024 and continue until November 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Jason |date=2024-03-21 |title=Traffic 'hell' fears on busy A-road as 18 months of roadworks to start |url=https://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/24197362.a350-dualling-roadworks-start-sparking-traffic-hell-fears/ |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald |language=en}}</ref> 

==Proposed developments==

===Westbury===
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.<ref name=hist>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewestburybypass.co.uk/history.html |title=The Westbury bypass – History |publisher=Wiltshire Council |access-date=2009-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411150322/http://www.thewestburybypass.co.uk/history.html |archive-date=11 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Council presented a further planning application in 2007.

The council's selected route would pass to the east of the town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thewestburybypass.co.uk/plans.html |title=The Westbury bypass – Plan details and maps |publisher=Wiltshire Council |access-date=2009-05-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411150350/http://www.thewestburybypass.co.uk/plans.html |archive-date=11 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The council expected it to reduce traffic through Westbury, create more space for cyclists and 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.<ref name=hist/> The scheme, would, by the council's own forecasts, cause increased heavy goods vehicle flow through other West Wiltshire communities, such as [[Southwick, Wiltshire|Southwick]], which already have over twice the HGVs of Westbury. The eastern bypass route is supported by the 'Westbury Bypass Now' group.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bypassnow.info/|title=Westbury Bypass Now|access-date=2009-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611035812/http://www.bypassnow.info/|archive-date=11 June 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cprewiltshire.org.uk/cp_trans.html |title=Transport |publisher=Whiltshire CPRE |access-date=2009-05-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007095242/http://www.cprewiltshire.org.uk/cp_trans.html |archive-date=7 October 2011 }}</ref> The route has been described as 'highly intrusive' by the council's landscape officer.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2007-06-29 |title=Wiltshire bypass inquiry |url=https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/667719/wiltshire-bypass-inquiry |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251110125657/https://www.planningresource.co.uk/article/667719/wiltshire-bypass-inquiry |archive-date=2025-11-10 |access-date=2025-11-10 |work=Planning |language=en}}</ref> It attracted 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)|Campaign for Better Transport]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corridor-alliance.co.uk/|title=White Horse Alliance|publisher=White Horse Alliance|access-date=2009-05-09}}</ref> and [[Wiltshire Wildlife Trust]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.planningresource.co.uk/news/ByDiscipline/Development-Control/663053/Bypass-plan-sparks-demand-inquiry/|title=Bypass plan sparks demand for inquiry|publisher=Planning Resource|access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref>

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 (politician)|John Denham]] the [[Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/node/1812 |title=We help Westbury residents send strong message to Government |access-date=2009-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100904155838/http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/node/1812 |archive-date=4 September 2010 }}</ref> The planning inspectors recommended refusal of planning permission for Wiltshire Council's eastern Westbury bypass scheme.

===Trowbridge===

A scheme has been proposed since 2015 to improve the A350 [[West Ashton]]/[[Yarnbrook]] junction to ease traffic flows at a noted bottleneck. This will involve the construction of a new relief road to replace the section north of the junction. Three new roundabouts are also proposed, to connect with the A363 Westbury Road, a link to Yarnbrook village and one at the existing West Ashton Road.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.connectingwiltshire.co.uk/connecting-your-journeys/a350-chippenham-dualling/|title=West Ashton/Yarnbrook improvements|access-date=2015-12-18|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222085813/http://www.connectingwiltshire.co.uk/connecting-your-journeys/a350-chippenham-dualling/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Melksham ===
In 2020, the government said £135m could be available to bypass [[Beanacre]], north of Melksham, and provide a new route east of the town.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-51486212|title=Town bypass gets £135m funding pledge|date=2020-02-13|publisher=BBC News|access-date=2020-02-16|language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Wiltshire Council]] consulted with the public in late 2020 and early 2021 on a number of options, including short and long routes to the east and west of the town, taking into account local traffic and east–west movements as well as the north–south primary route.<ref>{{Cite web|title=A350 Melksham bypass|url=https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-a350-melksham-bypass|access-date=2021-06-01|website=Wiltshire Council}}</ref>

In June 2021, Wiltshire Council's cabinet resolved to progress an eastern route that starts to the north of Beanacre and meets the [[A3102 road|A3102]] and [[A365 road|A365]] before rejoining the current A350 south of the town, beyond [[Bowerhill]]. A shortlist of options around this route will again be subject to public consultation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=1 June 2021|title=Proposed A350 Melksham bypass: Cabinet agrees to second consultation|url=https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/news/cabinet-agrees-a350-melksham-bypass-next-steps|access-date=2021-06-01|website=Wiltshire Council}}</ref>

=== Future status ===
The A350 from the M4 to Warminster is designated as part of the 'major road network', a network of local authority 'A' roads which are not classed as 'strategic' but are locally or regionally important.<ref>{{cite web|date=26 November 2021|title=Major Road Network|url=https://maps.dft.gov.uk/major-road-network/index.html|access-date=2021-11-26|website=Department for Transport}}</ref> Since 2020, Highways England (now [[National Highways]]) has been developing a South Coast to M4 route strategy. The current preferred route is the [[A36 road|A36]] to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], then the [[A46 road|A46]] to the M4. Due to the traffic situation in Bath, Highways England may propose de-listing the current route and adopting the A350 instead; this may release funding for further works between Poole and the M4.<ref>{{cite web|last=Highways England|date=2020|title=M4 to Dorset Coast Connectivity Route Strategy|url=https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/documents/s196156/Appendix%203%20for%20A350%20Melksham%20Bypass.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=2021-11-26|website=Wiltshire Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126160118/https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/documents/s196156/Appendix%203%20for%20A350%20Melksham%20Bypass.pdf |archive-date=26 November 2021 }}</ref>

==Gallery==
{{Gallery
|title=Image gallery
|width=210 | height=140 |align=center
|footer=
|File:Warminster Road - geograph.org.uk - 654929.jpg| alt1=heavy goods traffic in Westbury| Traffic in [[Westbury, Wiltshire|Westbury]]
|File:Westbury White horse.jpg|alt2=a View of the Westbury White Horse from the proposed eastern bypass|View of the [[Westbury White Horse]] from the proposed route
|File:Upton Cow Down - geograph.org.uk - 84975.jpg|alt3=View of southern section of proposed bypass route|View of southern section of bypass route
|File:A350 Milestone.JPG|alt4=historic milestone near Lacock|Early 19th century [[milestone]] near [[Lacock]], stating "To [[Bath, Somerset|BATH]] 12"
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{GeoGroup}}
*[http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#391,171,1  1948 Ordnance Survey map]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111007095242/http://www.cprewiltshire.org.uk/cp_trans.html  Wiltshire CPRE]
*[http://www.corridor-alliance.co.uk/  White Horse Alliance]
*[http://www.westbury-wilts-bypass.info/  Westbury Bypass scheme information]
*[http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/roadlists/r10/notes.php?number=A350 SABRE page on the A350]

{{Portal bar|Roads|England}}
{{GB A road zone 3|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:3-0350}}
[[Category:Roads in England]]
[[Category:Roads in Dorset]]
[[Category:Roads in Wiltshire]]