The A35 is a major

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

, connecting

Honiton Honiton ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 11,822 (based on mid-year estimates for the two Honiton Ward ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

and

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 ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. It is a trunk road for some of its length. Most of its route passes through

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

and the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...

. It originally connected Exeter and Southampton, the original A35 ran along what is now the A3052 joining the present road at

Charmouth Charmouth is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England. The village is situated on the mouth of the River Char, around north-east of Lyme Regis. Dorset County Council estimated that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 1,31 ...

Route

Beginning in Honiton off the

A30 road The A30 is a major road in England, running WSW from London to Land's End. The road has been a principal axis in Britain from the 17th century to early 19th century, as a major coaching route. It used to provide the fastest route from Lond ...

, the A35 travels in a roughly south-easterly direction past

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe which heads towards the English Channel at Ax ...

and

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and wit ...

. After Bridport, there is a section of dual carriageway, before it reaches its bypass around Dorchester. After Dorchester, there are approximately of dual carriageway, including the

Puddletown Puddletown is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated by the River Piddle, from which it derives its name, about northeast of the county town Dorchester. Its earlier name Piddletown fell out of favour, probably because ...

bypass, until it reaches its roundabout with the A31 road at

Bere Regis Bere Regis () is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated north-west of Wareham. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,745. The village has one shop, a family-owned cheese barn, a post office, and two pubs ...

. Continuing roughly south-easterly still, it becomes dual carriageway again near Upton, before returning to a single carriageway through Poole and Bournemouth, apart from a small section of dual carriageway on Wessex Way. On reaching

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, there is a dual-carriageway bypass. It then heads in a north-easterly direction through the

, passing through Lyndhurst where it meets the A337 road (to

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the ...

). It continues through Ashurst and Totton, meeting the A36 road and

M271 motorway The M271 is a motorway near Southampton in Hampshire, England. It is long, and is one of the shortest motorways in the country. Construction began in 1973 and it opened in 1975.

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 ...

junctions. It then turns north-east, acting as the western part of Southampton's ring road, with the A27 road making up the eastern part. It terminates at

Swaythling Swaythling is a suburb and electoral ward of the city of Southampton in Hampshire, England. The ward has a population of 13,664. Swaythling is predominantly residential in character, and noted for its large student population due to its proxi ...

, on the northern outskirts of Southampton. In Bournemouth, it has been diverted around the Sovereign Centre of

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

along Centenary Way; much of its former road is now pedestrianised. Its route through Poole and Bournemouth passes through suburbs.

Improvements

The A35 is a main route along England's south coast, and is congested. To help solve the congestion, sections of the A35 were upgraded between Honiton and

. Some improvements have involved the construction of new dual carriageway bypasses such as the

bypass which opened in 1999, and others include new sections of single carriageway road, such as its straightening between Slepe and the Upton bypass in 2004, and the extension of the limit west of Slepe by in 2007. The Puddletown dual carriageway (together with the A30 Honiton-Exeter dualling) were financed under a Design, Build, Finance and Operate ( DBFO) contract running from 1996 to 2026.

Incidents

In May 2021, a sinkhole opened on the carriageway following emergency repairs to a pothole on the A35

bypass near the junction for Troytown. The road was closed to allow remedial works to be carried out.

References

External links

SABRE page on the A35
{{DEFAULTSORT:3-0035 Roads in England Roads in Devon Roads in Dorset Roads in Hampshire