The A35 is a major

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

, connecting

Honiton Honiton () is a market town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, Devon, River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. Honiton has a population estimated at 12,154 (based on 2021 census). History The ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. It is a

trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...

for some of its length. Most of its route passes through

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

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, featu ...

. It originally connected

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

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 at the eastern junction with 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 and post road. It used to provide the fastest r ...

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

Axminster Axminster is a market town and civil parishes in England, 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, Devon, River Axe which ...

and

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

. 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 in the civil parish of Athelhampton and Puddletown, in Dorset, England. It is situated by the River Piddle, from which it derives its name, about northeast of the county town Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. Its earlier ...

bypass, until it reaches its

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types 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 junct ...

with the

A31 road The A31 is a major trunk road in southern England that runs from Guildford in Surrey to Bere Regis in Dorset. Its best-known section is the Hog's Back, a ridge forming part of the North Downs between Guildford and Farnham in Surrey. Route de ...

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 pub ...

. Continuing roughly south-easterly still, it becomes dual carriageway again near Upton, before returning to a single carriageway through

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

and

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, apart from a small section of dual carriageway on Wessex Way. On reaching

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, 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 The A337 road is a road in southern England that runs from the M27 motorway in Hampshire to Christchurch in Dorset. Route of Road The A337 begins at junction 1 of the M27 motorway near Cadnam. It heads south through the New Forest to the la ...

(to

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...

). It continues through Ashurst and

Totton Totton is a town in the civil parish of Totton and Eling, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. In 2021 it had a population of 28,094. History The name "Totton" means 'Tot(r)ingtun' farm of 'Tot(t)a', "Totton was "Totinctone" in 98 ...

, meeting the

A36 road The A36 is a trunk road and primary route in southwest England that links the port city of Southampton to the city of Bath. At Bath, the A36 connects with the A4 to Bristol, thus providing a road link between the major ports of Southampton an ...

and

M271 motorway The M271 is a motorway near Southampton in Hampshire, England. Construction began in 1973 and it opened in 1975. It provides part of the route to Southampton Docks from the M27, which in turn makes up another part of the route to the docks ...

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 tr ...

junctions. It then turns north-east, acting as the western part of Southampton's ring road, with the

A27 road The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 road, A36 at Whiteparish (near Salisbury, England, Salisbury) in the county of Wiltshire, follows the south coast of Hampshire and West Sussex, and terminates at Pevense ...

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.

History

1922 - Road classification

The road number was created with the 1922 classification of roads in the United Kingdom. At that time its western terminus was on the then A30 in

Heavitree Heavitree is a historic village and former civil parish situated formerly outside the walls of the City of Exeter in Devon, England, and is today an eastern district of that city. It was formerly the first significant village outside the city o ...

, Exeter. In 1966 the section from

to Exeter was de-trunked and renumbered to A3052, with the A35 directed over the former A373 to Honiton, terminating at the then-new A30 Honiton Bypass. This added the narrow long Charmouth Tunnel to the route, built in 1832 to avoid the summit of Thistle Hill.

1987/88 - Building of Dorchester and Bridport Bypasses

The A35 is a main route along England's south coast, and was congested. To help solve the congestion, sections of the A35 were upgraded between Honiton and Poole. In 1969 the Ministry of Transport recorded the case for bypasses around Bridport and Dorchester. The bypass to the south of Bridport opened almost two decades later in 1987, followed by the bypass to the south of Dorchester in 1988.

1990/91 - Building of Axminster and Charmouth Village Bypasses

Following the re-routing onto the former A373 road, a major

traffic bottleneck A traffic bottleneck is a localized disruption of vehicular traffic on a street, road, or highway. As opposed to a traffic jam, a bottleneck is a result of a specific physical condition, often the design of the road, badly timed traffic lights, ...

was the town of

. A much-desired southern bypass for the town was indefinitely postponed in 1980 by the then

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State for Transport are junior ministers in the Department for Transport of His Majesty's Government. They report to the Secretary of State for Transport and are responsible for various aspects of British transpo ...

Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham (born 2 July 1940) is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...

. The project was eventually authorized by Act of Parliament in 1987, with construction beginning in 1990 approximately following the line of a Roman road. Charmouth village was bypassed in 1991, with the Charmouth Tunnel bypassed at the same time. The defunct tunnel was converted into a

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by milita ...

in 2010.

1999 - Puddletown Bypass

The Puddletown dual carriageway bypass which opened in 1999 (together with the A30 Honiton-Exeter dualling) were financed under a Design, Build, Finance and Operate ( DBFO) contract running from 1996 to 2026.

2004-2007 - Road straightening between Slepe and Upton

An on-line straightening between

Slepe Slepe is a hamlet in the county of Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the nort ...

and the Upton bypass was carried out in 2004, and the extension of the speed limit west of Slepe by in 2007.

Bournemouth Centenary Way diversion

In Bournemouth, it has been diverted around the Sovereign Centre of

Boscombe Boscombe () is a suburb in 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 ...

along Centenary Way resulting in a

concurrency Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to: Law * Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea'' * Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...

with the A338; much of its former route is now pedestrianised.

Junction list

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. In October 2021 the edge of the eastbound carriageway collapsed into a field where the A35 ascends an escarpment east of Honiton. Due to the complex ground conditions repairs took 8 months to complete with temporary signals controlling single-file traffic for that time.

References

External links

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