The A36 is a trunk road and

primary route The United Kingdom has a network of roads, of varied quality and capacity, totalling about . Road distances are shown in miles or yards and UK speed limits are indicated in miles per hour (mph) or by the use of the national speed limit (NSL) sy ...

in southwest

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

that links the port city of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

to the city of Bath. At Bath, the A36 connects with the A4 to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, thus providing a road link between the major ports of Southampton and Bristol. It also provides a link between Bristol and London via the

A303 The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a pri ...

Route

Originally, the A36 continued to

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...

, beyond Bristol, but this section was renumbered to the A4. Within Bath the A36 acts as a

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

on the southern side of the river, from the junction with the A4 at Newbridge to the west of the city. From here traffic can continue to Bristol on the A4 or to

Wells Wells most commonly refers to: * Wells, Somerset, a cathedral city in Somerset, England * Well, an excavation or structure created in the ground * Wells (name) Wells may also refer to: Places Canada *Wells, British Columbia England * Wells ...

and

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

via the A39 and A368 roads. Another link to the A4 on the eastern side at Cleveland Bridge, which provides a route to the

M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...

via the A46, is highly congested. The A36 leaves Bath in an easterly direction towards Bathampton, then turns south to follow the Avon through its steep-sided valley, climbing out of the valley beyond

Limpley Stoke Limpley Stoke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies in the Avon valley between Bath and Freshford, and is both above and below the A36 road. The parish is surrounded to the north, west and south by the Bath and North E ...

. The road passes near a number of towns and a city, including

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...

, Wilton and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in Wiltshire, and Totton in Hampshire, on the western outskirts of Southampton, where it meets the

M27 motorway The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs between Cadnam and Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983, providing the largest two urban areas in Hampshire (Southampton and Portsmouth) with a direct mot ...

and the A35.

Standard of route

The majority of the A36 is built to single carriageway standard, but parts of it have been upgraded to

dual carriageway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

. The A36 is dual carriageway for its 1 mile (1.6 km) bypass of the village of

Beckington Beckington is a village and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, England, across the River Frome from Lullington about three miles north of Frome. According to the 2011 census the parish, which includes the hamlet of Rudge, which ...

, 3 miles (5 km), briefly combined with the A361 north of

. It shares part of

bypass with the A350. It is also dualled for approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) near its

grade separated In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tra ...

junction with the

A303 road The A303 is a trunk road in southern England, running between Basingstoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon via Stonehenge. Connecting the M3 and the A30, it is part of one of the main routes from London to Devon and Cornwall. It is a p ...

, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Wilton. The A36 in

acts as the city's ring road, bypassing the city centre to dual carriageway standard. Just south-east of Salisbury the largest dualled section runs for about 4 miles (6 km), bypassing the village of

Alderbury Alderbury is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, in the south of the county around southeast of Salisbury. The parish includes the village of Whaddon, which is adjacent to Alderbury, and the hamlet of Shute End. The River Avon fo ...

. Then, the road is briefly dualled from its

roundabout A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford En ...

with the A3090 to the

(junction 2) – this part of the road is erroneously thought by some to have been previously known as the A36(M); prior to the opening of the Totton Western Bypass on the other side of the junction, it was named as a spur of the M27, and hence is built to motorway standards. The A36 reverts to single carriageway standard through Totton until it terminates.

Points of interest

External links

SABRE page on A36
{{DEFAULTSORT:3-0036 Roads in England Roads in Hampshire Roads in Somerset Roads in Wiltshire