The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England.
The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it the longest two digit A road in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds–Exeter Trunk Road, when this description also included the A61. Before the opening of the M5 motorway in the 1960s and 1970s, the A38 formed the main "holiday route" from the Midlands to Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
Considerable lengths of the road in the West Midlands closely follow Roman roads, Between Worcester and Birmingham the current A38 follows the line of a Saxon salt road.
For most of the length of the M5 motorway, the A38 road runs alongside it as a single carriageway road.
Route description
Bodmin to Birmingham
The road starts on the eastern side of Bodmin at a junction with the A30 before traversing the edge of the town to meet the A30 again. It travels through the picturesque Glynn Valley to Dobwalls and Liskeard, which are bypassed by a dual carriageway. The Dobwalls section contains a bat bridge. The A38 continues through the Cornish countryside, bypassing the centre of Saltash and continuing through the Saltash Tunnel. Immediately after the tunnel the River Tamar is crossed using the Tamar Bridge where the route resumes dual carriageway status. The section from Plymouth to Exeter is known locally as the Devon Expressway; it forms the southern border of Dartmoor National Park, and serves as a southward extension of the M5 motorway opening in 1977.
In the early 1990s, the Marsh Mills junction was significantly remodelled, reducing the size of the roundabout and building a flyover over the top of it, allowing free flowing access from the Plympton bypass onto the Parkway. The viaducts carrying the A38 over the River Plym, which after the construction of the Marsh Mills flyover became the Exeter bound sliproads, were built in 1969–70 as part of the Plympton bypass. They were replaced in the 1990s due to suffering from Alkali Silica Reaction, and the project, completed in February 1996 at a cost of £12.25 million, involved the world's largest sideways bridge slide at the time for the , 5,500 tonne bridge. This required the road to be closed for only 48 hours, which won it an AA National Motoring Award in 1996 for innovation and minimisation of traffic congestion.
The road widens to a three-lane dual carriageway for the Plympton bypass. This opened in 1971 At the town of Buckfastleigh, the route once again bypasses on a new alignment, although due to the challenging topography of the area, the road crosses part of the town on a viaduct. The road occupies part of the alignment of the former Totnes to Ashburton railway line. From Buckfastleigh to the A385 junction, the current road follows the route of original single carriageway, with the majority of this section being upgraded between 1973 and 1974, although a small section at Dean Prior was upgraded between 1966 and 1967.
A junction to the south of Exeter represents a third meeting point of the A38 with the A30, from which point the A38 multiplexes with the M5 before re-emerging from junction 27 near Waterloo Cross, north of Exeter. From junction 27 the A38 heads north via Wellington, Taunton, Bridgwater, Highbridge and Bristol. From Waterloo Cross to Birmingham, the road is paralleled by the M5, where the A38 has reverted to taking local traffic only.
From Bristol, it continues north via Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Worcester and Bromsgrove to Birmingham. Between Worcester and Birmingham the A38 followed the line of an identified Saxon Salt road, one of six leading out of Droitwich. The bottleneck was removed when the bypass, linking the existing Liskeard bypass to the current single carriageway section through the Glynn Valley opened in the Winter of 2008. A campaign to open this road was started by villagers in Dobwalls in 1930, but planning for building the road was not granted until 2006, the work starting on 15 November that year. Two bat bridges and one bat house were added as the road cut through existing bat flight lines. After opening the Dobwall bypass experienced problems with surface water. This led to lane closures in winter due to risk of ice. A major scheme to reconstruct a mile of the bypass started in September 2014 and is expected to last until May 2015. It is thought it will cost an extra £10.6million.
In a separate improvement within the Glynn Valley, the Highways Agency stabilised a section of the road near Bodmin Parkway railway station. The work, which commenced in October 2007, was carried out to shore up the verge, which had been built on an embankment supported by dry stone walling and the root systems of large trees. It was completed in May 2008 seeing the installation of kerbing, road drainage gulleys, safety barriers as well as increasing the verge width to allow for a new surface water drainage system.
Devon
thumb|Devon Expressway signage
The A38 in Devon runs between Tamar Bridge outside Plymouth and junction 31 of the M5, where the motorway ends; this section is known as the Devon Expressway. It is mainly a two-lane dual carriageway which runs between Exeter and Plymouth serving as a continuation of the M5 motorway. It is a popular route for tourists travelling to Cornwall, though those wanting to use a continuous dual carriageway route to Cornwall can use the A30 rather than using the Devon Expressway before joining the less major roads over the border in Cornwall. It then runs concurrently with the M5 until junction 27, where it splits and enters Somerset independent but parallel to the M5.
During the mid-1960s, small sections of the route between Plymouth and Exeter were upgraded to dual carriageway, such as those at Dean Prior and Heathfield. This was followed by the construction of Plympton bypass in 1970–71, with the majority of realignment, such as the Ivybridge and Buckfastleigh bypasses, being completed during 1973–74. The route, now known as the Devon Expressway, was largely complete by 1975, with the final section between Kennford and the M5 opening in 1977, coinciding with the completion of the final section of the M5 around Exeter during the same year. Whilst many of the sections were newly constructed realignments, some sections such as the Ashburton and Kennford bypasses were upgraded from the original 1930s single carriageway bypasses. and was used for a stage in the 1974 Tour de France, with a stretch closed to traffic in order to allow the visit of the race to the United Kingdom.
The viaducts carrying the A38 over the River Plym, which after the construction of the Marsh Mills flyover became the Exeter bound sliproads, were built in 1969–1970 as part of the Plympton bypass. They were replaced in the 1990s due to suffering from Alkali Silica Reaction, This required the road to be closed for only 48 hours, winning it an AA National Motoring Award in 1996 for innovation and minimisation of traffic congestion.
As with any major road, accidents are likely to occur; however due to the substandard design of some sections of the route between Exeter and Plymouth, the accident rate has been identified as being above the national average for the type of road. A spate of accidents in April 2009 heightened local awareness of the issue, with local MP Gary Streeter calling for a review of the road. A number of improvements have been made along the route in recent years, mainly being the replacement of worn-out road surfaces, such as those at Buckfastleigh and Ivybridge. These projects have also included the replacement of signage, and the reconstruction of exit/entry slips for side turnings, in a bid to make the road safer.
Presently, the route between Plymouth and the end of M5 is all dual carriageway, and branded the Devon Expressway, being the primary route that links Plymouth to the rest of the country.
Beyond the end of the M5, the road runs concurrently with and as the M5 until junction 27. The original route between Exeter and junction 27 of the M5 (Waterloo Cross) was downgraded to become the B3181 when the M5 was opened in 1977
Somerset
From junction 27 of the M5 to East Brent, the A38 runs broadly parallel to the motorway: junctions 22 to 27 are mostly spurs connecting to the road and all no further than from it. The A38 runs around Wellington, through the county seat of Taunton, North Petherton and Highbridge. Beyond Highbridge and junction 22, the road departs the motorway and resumes primary status, going through Winscombe, Churchill and Lower Langford where it crosses the A368 between Weston-super-Mare and Bath. This route is the suggested route for accessing the south of Bristol and Bristol Airport from the South West.
The centre of Bridgwater was a notorious bottleneck on the "holiday route" as traffic from both the A38 and the A39 had to negotiate through the town centre in order to cross the River Parrett. The construction of a new reinforced concrete road bridge, the Blake Bridge, which opened in March 1958 as part of a southern bypass took much of the traffic away from the centre of Bridgwater. The opening of the M5 in 1974 further reduced the traffic pressure. This is complemented by a link road (Western Way) linking the A38 and the A39 north and west of the town respectively.
Much of the A38 through Somerset was built as single carriageway, with some three-lane passing points. However, the construction of the M5 through Somerset, in the early 1970s, led to the building of links between the A38 and the M5 in the form of new roundabouts on the A38 linking into adjacent junctions on the M5.
Bristol
The A38 serves Bristol Airport to the southwest of the city, and enters the city itself at Highridge, along Bedminster Down and into Bedminster. It runs through central Bristol before leaving northwards along North Street, Stokes Croft and Gloucester Road. It runs past the former Filton Airport in South Gloucestershire to meet the M5 again at junction 16. Thereafter it runs through Almondsbury and by-passes Thornbury to enter Gloucestershire.
South of Bristol
South of Bristol, the road was diverted in 2001 to cater for an extension of the runway and installation of a category 3 landing system at Bristol Airport. The route south of the city, despite serving the airport, is single-carriageway and suffers from heavy volume of traffic at peak times, and congestion along Bedminster Down. From Bedminster Down the A38 follows West Street and East Street through the centre of Bedminster, but drivers from the south were advised by road signs not to follow the A38 into the city, but to use the A3029 (Winterstoke Road) to enter from the west, as this route had a greater capacity. As part of the Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study, a link road had been under consideration to the south of Bristol. This is in part due to the congestion at Winterstoke Road and Barrow Gurney, both of which are very busy, especially the latter where the road can only accommodate travelling at one direction at a given time; and the incomplete Bristol Ring Road (A4174). This road, named the South Bristol Link, was subsequently opened in 2017 and now surpasses the A3029 (Winterstoke Road) as the main route from Bristol Airport to the city centre and the motorway network north of Bristol.
Central Bristol
In central Bristol, the original route from Bedminster Bridge ran up Redcliffe Hill and then along Redcliff Street to Bristol Bridge. In the 1950s Redcliff Street was declassified, following completion of the Inner Circuit Road. The route resumes at The Centre. It then follows Rupert Street to the St James Barton roundabout and Stokes Croft.
North of Bristol
The route to the north of the city is also very busy: it runs as a single carriageway up to the junction with the A4174 ring road at Filton, and where it runs as Gloucester Road is a busy shopping parade. Beyond the ring road, it runs as dual-carriageway past the site of the now-closed Filton Airport which lies in South Gloucestershire, which contains bases for Royal Mail, Airbus, Rolls-Royce and others. The Almondsbury Junction to Southmead Roundabout Improvement would cost £4,915,000 for of dual cariageway in 1975. This improvement was first announced in April 1968, along with the M5 extension from Edithmead to Exeter, and the extension of the M32. It opened in parts, with the last part on 31 August 1978 It was built by Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Company.
Beyond junction 16 of the M5 it runs as a broad single carriageway, again parallel to the M5 in route towards Gloucester.
The present road from Bristol through Horfield was one of the additional roads added to the Bristol turnpike roads in 1749. This passed through Thornbury to Stone, just beyond the boundary of South Gloucestershire, where it met one of the Gloucester turnpike roads. From Almondsbury, the road approximately follows the line of the Roman road from Sea Mills to Gloucester. This seems to be parts of B4058, B4424, and then unclassified roads. However, Ogilby's Britannia shows a route following the B4058 as far as Cromhall, then through Stinchcombe Bottom, Dursley, and Cam before joining the present road.
Gloucestershire
The Bristol turnpike roads were continued by a turnpike road established in 1727, described as "from the City of Gloucester to the village of Stone being the great road from the north to west of this kingdom". Much of the road, follows a Roman road, but deviates from it between Buckover and Whitfield.
The A38 was rerouted along the Gloucester Bypass when it was built, and the old route through the city became the A430. In 2007 the Gloucester South Western Bypass opened to traffic, costing £43million. Though it is numbered A430 and not technically part of the A38, traffic wishing to continue on the A38 on the other side of the city is signed to use the bypass, rather than the existing A38.
Beyond Gloucester, the A38 was probably only improved in 1756 under an Act (29 Geo. 2. c. 58) dealing with roads from that city towards Cheltenham and Tewkesbury. <!--"Cheltenham" is in a list of trusts in Pawson; that this 1756 Act included A38 is inferred from 1798 Act. --> The next section (from Coombe Hill) was improved as one of the Tewkesbury roads, again from 1727. The Act refers to this as the Upper Way to Gloucester in contrast to the Lower Way, which went via Wainsload Bridge. When this Act was renewed in 1756, the road from Tewkesbury to a farmhouse called the Old Blue Ball (now Bluebell Farm) was also included. This was in Earls Croome, Worcestershire, and was where one of the Worcester turnpikes ended. Much of this stretch of the road originated as a Roman road, but the later road left the Roman line near Naunton in Ripple. The name Stratford Bridge on the county boundary confirms its Roman origin there. The first Turnpike Act for this road was an extremely early one, being passed in 1713 and recites:
When it was renewed by the Worcester to Droitwich Road Act 1725 (12 Geo. 1. c. 20), it was extended from the Tything of Whistons to the Lower Slip of the Quay of Worcester; from Droitwich to Dyers Bridge (M5 junction 5) near Bromsgrove; and through the town of Droitwich from "Netherwith" [Netherwich] Bridge to a place called "Chapel on the Bridge". In 1749, this was again extended, by the Worcestershire Roads Act 1748 (22 Geo. 2. c. 43), through the town of Bromsgrove to Spadebourne Bridge, immediately north of the town. Where the road leaves Worcester, it again does not follow the line of the Roman road in the same direction until it picks up the Roman line, just south of Martin Hussingtree. The Roman road took a more direct line over Rainbow Hill and through Blackpole, now B4550. From Martin Hussingtree, the A38 closely follows the Roman line to beyond Bromsgrove. The present road deviates from its line when it was originally classified at Droitwich where the main road is a bypass, the old road now mostly being B4090. This happens again at Bromsgrove, where A38 is again a bypass, the old line mostly now being B4091 and Bromsgrove High Street (now partly pedestrianised, then through the town centre. The Bromsgrove Eastern Bypass was constructed in 1980. <!-- Detail needed as to the dates of these two bypasses, with references -->
A short distance north of where the old A38 (now declassified) joins the Bromsgrove bypass, is Lickey End, where an old highway intersection has been replaced by junction 1 of M42 motorway. Here, the road is joined from the southeast by the B4096, Alcester Road, which was from 1754 one of the roads of the Alcester turnpike trust. The continuation northwards of B4096 is called Old Birmingham Road, because it was the original route of the turnpike to Birmingham, climbing to a pass in the Lickey Hills. The Roman road also went through the same pass, but its route to the pass was probably rather straighter. The road passed through the centre of Rubery until the £770,000 (£ in ), Rubery Bypass opened in December 1965.
Lydiate Ash was the northern end of the M5 for many years in the 1960s, with traffic transferring onto the A38, which was diverted at this point to link with the M5.
Birmingham
thumb|The A38 in central Birmingham (Great Charles Street Queensway)
At Longbridge, new turnpike joined the Roman road and the original turnpike, and runs straight towards the city centre. Hutton, the Birmingham historian described the road:
<blockquote>[Birmingham] to Bromsgrove 13 miles [is] made extremely commodious for the first four miles under the patronage of John Kettle esq in 1772 at an expense of £5000, but afterwards is so confined that two horses cannot pass without danger; the sun and winds are excluded, and the rivers lie open to the stranger and he travels through dirt at midsummer. </blockquote> The Northfield bypass, taking traffic away from the congested town centre opened on 11 April 2007. Between Northfield and Selly Oak, the road is likely to have been in use in the medieval period as the road approximately follows the boundary of the former Weoley Park, the great park belonging to Weoley Castle. This required new bridges to carry the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Cross-City railway line over the road. at the south end between Aston and the bypass origin at Minworth, and the London Road (former A446) at the north end between its terminus at Bassett's Pole and the Lichfield turn, where it (and, via the A5148 link road, the A5127, A5, and now M6 Toll) joins the A38 Lichfield bypass, with the old London road continuing into Lichfield as the A5206. Along the way, it has large roundabout interchanges with the A453 (Sutton-Tamworth, locally) and A5 roads, the latter having been upgraded with a free-flow underpass for the A38 to ease congestion, in concert with the former A5 through Hints being superseded by a dual carriageway bypass starting at the A38.
The bypass is two-lane dual carriageway throughout, offers a speed limit from Salford to Minworth, and is national speed limit ( for light vehicles) for most of the rest of its run. It is not, however, well-grade separated; all junctions as far as Minworth are at-grade, and although most minor local roads pass over or under the rural section without interacting with it at all (or at least are limited to left-in/left-out access only), a new underpass has been built at Weeford, and many gaps have been stopped up, there still remains some flat junctions with major crossroads and right-turn gaps in the central reservation even as far as the Lichfield junction itself (beyond which, the road is of a somewhat higher standard).
In Erdington and Sutton Coldfield, the original A5127 has been bypassed a second time by more minor urban relief roads, easing congestion in and allowing partial pedestrianisation of their respective town centre shopping areas. A further bypass between Sutton centre and the northern junction with the A453 Tamworth Road has long been under consideration to remove pressure from the narrow, mediaeval "high street" section (that features a pair of historic coaching inns and was, originally, part of the A38), but no actual plans have yet been confirmed even after many decades of discussion.
The bypass itself has been partly superseded, initially by the M42 further to the east, and in more recent years by the M6 Toll, which intersects it at junction T3, runs directly alongside part of the former A446 section between Bassett's Pole and Weeford Island, where it veers off (and has a further junction, T4) to shadow the A5 instead, also crossing the A5127 (at the limited-access junction T5) a few miles later on. The bypass has been effectively slightly downgraded as a result, first with the at-grade, signalised roundabouts of junction T3 interrupting traffic flow, and soon after by the imposition of a , SPECS-enforced average speed limit (ostensibly because of a substandard alignment – parts of the southbound carriageway were formed directly from the old A446 – and in order to discourage illegal car and motorcycle racing) on the A453-to-A5 section, making the toll road a slightly faster option even during off-peak hours.
Historically, it is not clear which turnpike trust was responsible for the section of road from Birmingham to Lichfield, or even whether it was a turnpike. Also, the A5127 out of Sutton picks up the Roman road route a little north of Mere Green (having itself diverted via Metchley Fort, the modern suburbs of Perry Barr and Kingstanding, then Sutton Park and Four Oaks/Little Aston), and follows it to Lichfield. The point south of Lichfield where it interchanges with the A5 (once a staggered junction, altered to a simpler crossroads roundabout by the Wall Bypass, then complicated once more by the coming of the A38/A5148 and M6 Toll) marks the crossing of two Roman streets, with the old A5 continuing to the historic fort of Wall, a mile or so after branching off to the west.
Staffordshire
The road (now A5127) from the county boundary at Shenstone Woodend, through Shenstone to Lichfield was one of the roads of the Lichfield Turnpike Trust, established in 1729. However, this section of the old A38 has been replaced by new dual carriageways.
Beyond Lichfield, the old A38 (now A5127) joins the Roman Ryknild Street at Streethay and immediately after that A5127 joins the present A38. Ryknild Street had to that point run roughly parallel to A38, but following a different line from Metchley through Wall, its line sometimes being used by modern roads (including B4138). Beyond the start of the Derby bypass, the old A38 has been reclassified as A5250. This follows Ryknild Street as far as Littleover.