A370 road


The A370 is a primary road in England running from Bath Road, near Temple Meads railway station in the city of Bristol to Weston-super-Mare before continuing to the village of East Brent in Somerset. A more direct route from Bristol to East Brent is the A38.

Route

Within Bristol urban area, the road begins at Bath Road roundabout, at the busy junction with A4 near Temple Meads. It then follows the new cut of River Avon west to Cumberland basin, via Bedminster.
From here on, it begins to head south-westwards out of the City. It first bypasses Long Ashton, then passes through Flax Bourton, Backwell, Brockley, Cleeve, Congresbury and Hewish, beyond which it crosses the M5 motorway at Junction 21.
The road then enters Weston-super-Mare: a dual carriageway extends most of the way, by passing the built-up area, including Junction 21 Enterprise Area to the east of the town. On reaching the waterfront, the road turns south to run partly along the beach, then leaves Weston at Uphill. It passes Bleadon and Lympsham before meeting the A38 road at East Brent.

Condition

The A370 can get extremely busy during rush hour. Congestion points include the approaches to the M5 motorway, the traffic lights in Congresbury and the Long Ashton bypass—which now has a high-occupancy vehicle lane solely for use by buses, taxis, motorcycles, and cars with two or more occupants.

Future

As part of the "Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study", a link road is 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.
By 2017, A370 Long Ashton By Pass will be connected to the South Bristol Link road, currently under construction as part of the MetroBus rapid transit scheme, providing a new road linking Hengrove to Long Ashton By Pass and the Long Ashton Park & Ride.

Points of interest