A33 road

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A33 road shield

A33 road
200px
290px
The A33 near Spencers Wood just south of Reading
Major junctions
From: Reading
  A329 A329 road
A4 A4 road
[ M 4  ] M4 motorway
A339 A339 road
Break In Road
x19px A30 road
A34 A34 road
Break In Road
[ M 3  ] M3 motorway
x19px A27 road
x19px A35 road
A335 A335 road
A3024 A3024 road
A3025 A3025 road
A3057 A3057 road
To: Southampton
Location
Primary
destinations
:
Basingstoke
Winchester
Road network

The A33 is a major road in England, situated in the counties of Berkshire and Hampshire. The road currently runs in three disjoint sections.

Route

Reading - Basingstoke

The A33 currently starts on the Inner Distribution Road and bypasses most of suburban Reading, servicing the Kennet Island residential development, Madejski Stadium and Green Park Business Park, towards the M4, where it connects at junction 11. A two-year redevelopment scheme ran from early 2008 until late 2010, widening the northern section of the dual carriageway and significantly expanding and improving the motorway junction. The Mereoak Roundabout south of the motorway was replaced with two separate junctions with traffic lights.[1]

The section south of the M4 is dual carriageway up to the county boundary with Hampshire, where it reverts to single carriageway towards Basingstoke.[2]

Basingstoke - Winchester

The second section of the A33 starts near Popham, southwest of Basingstoke at a junction with the A30. The road from here to Winchester is a scenic mix of single and dual carriageway, that was progressively improved in the late 1960s.[3] The route runs through much of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane. At Kings Worthy, the road diverts onto part of the original Winchester Bypass, constructed in the late 1930s,[4] up to the A34.

Southampton

The third section of A33 starts at the Chilworth Roundabout, a junction with the M3 and A27, and runs south into the centre of Southampton, then west past the docks to the M271.

History

The A33 originally started at a junction with what was the A32 at Riseley Common and was a continuous route to Southampton[5] Between Basingstoke and Southampton, it mostly followed the course of the historic Roman Road between these towns.[6] This section of the route became part of the London - Southampton Trunk Road.[7] The road was progressively detrunked as the M3 was extended.

The Winchester Bypass was constructed in the mid 1930s. While a significant improvement at the time, as other parts of the road were improved around it, it became increasingly ineffective and dangerous. The bypass was subsequently replaced by the completion of the M3 over Twyford Down, which generated a significant road protest.

References

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External links

  • Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons
  • A33 route on OpenStreetMap

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