A363 road

UK road routebox
road= A363
length-mi=
length-km=
direction= North-South
start= Bathford
destinations=
end= Yarnbrook
construction-date=
completion-date=
junctions= ukroadsmall|4
ukroadsmall|361
ukroadsmall|366
ukroadsmall|350The A363 is a main road in the United Kingdom, which runs through Somerset and Wiltshire. It provides a link between the small market towns of West Wiltshire and Bath, the M4 westbound, and the M5. It runs from the A4 at Bathford to the A350 at Yarnbrook, running through Bradford-on-Avon and Trowbridge on the way. It also links Westbury by merging with the A350.

Route

The road starts off bypassing Bathford to the west. It then climbs up the hill known locally as "Sally in the Woods", on the edge of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The gradient is generally fairly shallow, however because of its tight bends it is notorious for accidents Fact|date=February 2007.

The road summits at the turn off to Monkton Farleigh, at a height of 144 metres. After this, the road becomes better quality, that is wider and less twisty, until the edge of Bradford-on-Avon. Through Bradford-on-Avon itself, the road descends a steep 1 in 7 hill, known as "Masons Lane". This is the road's main bottleneck since all the traffic travelling through the town has only one way across the river. The traffic from Melksham, Corsham and Chippenham is also fed in here. As a result of the road being so narrow, carrying a large volume of traffic and being on a steep hill, Masons Lane is one of the most polluted stretches of road in the UK Fact|date=February 2007.

The road passes on towards Trowbridge. A quarter of a mile after "Town Bridge", the traffic to Frome splits off onto the B3109, thus easing congestion. The road passes over a low hill, then descends into Trowbridge.

It is concurrent for a short distance with the A361, then emerges as "Bradley Road". There are three roundabouts as the road bypasses North Bradley to the North. The A363, then terminates at a roundabout with the A350, in Yarnbrook.