Route advice re A303 (1 Viewer)

Sherpa

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I live and work very close to the A303 which passes by Stonehenge, and as the tourist season is about to begin the dual carriageway section heading south from the Countess Roundabout Amesbury to the Stonehenge Monument will be an absolute nightmare. This is certain from Fridays noon and all day Saturdays. Anyone who took this route over Easter willl be aware of this. I believe the tailback on Thursday afternoon (one day earlier owing to the bank holiday) was about six miles, a long way at one mile per hour.

Anyone intending to use this route to Devon or Cornwall particularly on either of these two days would be advised to use an alternative route if possible, but if you should find this inconvenient then it is possible to bypass the section between the Countess Roundabout and the Stonehenge Monument by following these instructions. This will save you about three miles of sheer frustration. It is a wee bit further to travel but, trust me, you wikll come back onto the A303 about thirty minutes ahead of the guy who was in front of you.

You most likely will be at the start of the hold up well before the Countess Roundabout but at least we can cut three miles out.

So, headinbg south from Andover on the A303 you will eventually come to the Countess Roundabout Amesbury. It is roughly ten miles from Andover and at the bottom of a very steep hill after passing the speed camera, and a large trading estate on your left.

On the approach to the roundabout get into the right hand lane and take the third exit, carry on to the next roundabout and take the first exit, keep heading on through Larkhill Army camp until you are through the built up area marked by the national speed limit sign and travelling past open grass land (actually artillery firing ranges). You then take the next left turn at the cross-roads, head straight on to the T junction and turn right then immediately left (should be signposted Salisbury). Keep on ahead to the next roundabout take third exit and you will be back on the A303.

There will probably be another traffic holdl-up at the next village (Winterbourne Stoke) but this is caused mainly by traffic slowing down at the speed camera. You will at least have bypassed on the major hold-ups on this road

Hope this helps, and have any of you actually been caught in the weekend hold-ups on this particulart stretch of the A303. I would be interested to hear from anyone in the future who used these directions and found them of benefit.
 
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JayDee

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Obviously a true Wiltshireman ::bigsmile:

John
 

geoff1947

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Morning Sherpa. Brilliant advice. I was station at Larkhill in the late '90s. As I lived in Plymouth and went home at weekends I know that route very well and have used it on numerous occassions. Hope the Packway can cope with all those vans coming through but I would give a word of caution to very large rigs RVs etc due to the narrow roads.:thumb:

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Sherpa

Sherpa

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Hi geoff

The roads are not that narrow, many hgv drivers use this route.

I was stationed at Bulford as a tank transporter driver and have been along this route a number of times, so I'm sure RVs would have no problem.

OFF SUBJECT
My wife comes from Plymouth, we go down quite often and pitch at the Riverside camping site at Coypool, easy to get into Plymouth City Centre on the park and ride just outside of the camp site, will be there in June for a week, cant wait to get down to the Barbican for a big fat greasy bacon sanny
 

Yetties

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Good advice

This is very good advice, but knowing the number of inconsiderate "im not sitting in the traffic" road users we have in this country who will no doubt block the outside lane aproaching Amesbury roundabout do you know the route to get off at Solstice services and exit through the back of there and over the bridge then join up with your previous route I cant quite remember it as I was diverted that way due to an accident blocking the roundabout this could add an extra time saving.
Neil
 
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Sherpa

Sherpa

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JayDee

Not a 100% pure Wiltshireman as Mum was from Wiltshire but Dad was from Liverpool, which makes me a Mongrel, but I still like cheese, so will carry on Moonraking.:ROFLMAO:

Sorry folks, but anyone not familiar with Wiltshire will wonder what the hell we are talking about.

PS
Thanks for your thanks Brisey

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Sherpa

Sherpa

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Yetties

Yes I do know the alternative route, and it's even better than the one I described, but due to the huge new industrial estate now at that location changing the layout of the road, it would be difficult to give clear instructions as you then have to go almost into Amesbury, on through Bulford Village then through Durrington and Larkhill, its a super way to miss all of the traffic jam on the 303 if you know the way, but for strangers to the area it is rather complicated.

Yes,, its the drivers that come up the offside lane that cause most of these holdups at bottle necks, so it would maybe help if the local councils or police were to clearly state single lane traffic from a point say half a mile back from the bottleneck, but I don't realy think that would help as you would then get the same situation but further back if you know what I mean, yep ya can't win.
 
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Sherpa

Sherpa

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Re my post A303 route advice, went up this road about an hour ago traveling east and could see traffic tailback was just under four miles heading south, saw three Motorhomes in the queue, there were probably more.

The above website report, states that normal conditions are expected around five pm, thats a joke, more like seven pm, and will be even heavier tomorrow, but on a Saturdayy it does normally clear by late afternoon.
 
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geoff1947

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Sherpa

Hi Sherpa I assume you will be going to Capn Jaspers in the Barbican for your refreshments Was there this afternoon after the Welcome Home Parade for my regiment 29 Commando RA. Weather was fab and the town packed which was a great welcome home for the soldiers ( and no protests either) Enjoy:Eeek:

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JayDee

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A 38 as well

Not intending to hi-jack the thread, but I saw this about the A38, which is worth noting as well.

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Oh well, at least some of our taxes are going to the right things.


John
 

JayDee

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JayDee

Not a 100% pure Wiltshireman as Mum was from Wiltshire but Dad was from Liverpool, which makes me a Mongrel, but I still like cheese, so will carry on Moonraking.:ROFLMAO:

Sorry folks, but anyone not familiar with Wiltshire will wonder what the hell we are talking about.


PS
Thanks for your thanks Brisey


Hi Sherpa,
You gonna let 'em in on the secret (for those that don't know)?

I used to live in a village, called Shapwick (the one in Dorset) which had a 'monster'.
I now live in a village that has a Devil's Stone. All these legends - it make the country interesting.


John
 
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Sherpa

Sherpa

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JayDee

Thanks for the info related to the A38, we will be heading for Plymouth in June, so will look for an alternative route if possible as I guess these problems will be ongoing for quite some time, and I hope other members of this forum will take note of this

There are a number of explanations regarding the Moonraker legend, click the link below for the most accurate account, Oh and I do know Shapwick near Blandford, but I think there's something fishy about the Monster legend.:ROFLMAO:


BBC - Wiltshire - Moonraking - Moonraking

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