61-759: The A3055 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England . It forms the Southern portion of the circular around-the-Island A-class loop, the northern section being the A3054 . The stretch along the south-west coast of the Island is formed by the Military Road. Because of the road's relatively short length, there are no confirmatory signs with distances, although on a few direction signs at junctions there are distances to
122-491: A landslide complex in Cretaceous soft rocks, a bench of slipped clays and sands above a low sea-cliff, backed by higher (100 metres (330 ft)) Upper Greensand and Chalk cliffs. The largest urban landslide complex in northern Europe, it dates from two main phases of landslides after the last Ice age : 8000–4500 years and 2500–1800 years ago. It is flanked by highly active landslip zones that have seen major slides over
183-452: A microclimate considerably warmer than elsewhere on the island. Although inhabited, the Undercliff is an area prone to landslips and subsidence, with accompanying loss of property over time. Settlements along the Undercliff, from west to east, are: lower Niton (also called Niton Undercliff), Puckaster , St Lawrence , Steephill , the town of Ventnor , and Bonchurch . The Undercliff is
244-610: A tuberculosis sufferer, moved to the Isle of Wight in 1869. On the basis of his experience of the climate of the Undercliff, he established a sanatorium east of Ventnor, the National Cottage Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest (later Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest). While the hospital was closed in 1964 and demolished in 1969, its grounds were redeveloped as
305-478: A private gated road for about 70 years. It served as a link between forts and barracks and fluctuated between private and military use with private rights vested in the Seely family. In 1930 or thereabouts, the landowner Sir Charles Seely donated what was then a narrow track to the Isle of Wight Council for public use. The original track was vulnerable to erosion and a new road was constructed further inland. Some vestiges of
366-447: A result of land movement following a period of prolonged rainfall amidst ongoing engineering works to stabilize the A3055 and prolong its use. There is currently no vehicular access between St Lawrence and Niton along the former road. Vehicular traffic must go via Whitwell. Pedestrian and cycle access was restored by late 2016. Bus routes are diverted and no longer serve St Lawrence; as of 2024,
427-563: Is "not advised". Exceptions to this are known in the forms of numbers on signs and past use of prefixes H and V on signs in Milton Keynes where main roads have a regular grid system . These designations are used when planning officers deal with certain planning applications , including the creation of a new vehicular access onto a highway. The letter Q is used for many important unclassified roads in Fife . In London, Cycleways are using
488-459: Is a tract of semi-rural land, around 5 miles (8.0 km) long by 0.25–0.5 miles (0.40–0.80 km) wide, skirting the southern coast of the island from Niton to Bonchurch . Named after its position below the escarpment that backs this coastal section, its undulating terrain comprises a mix of rough pasture, secondary woodland , parkland, grounds of large isolated houses, and suburban development. Its sheltered south-facing location gives rise to
549-547: Is also responsible for necessitating the town's distinctive routes in and out of Ventnor, which feature panoramic views across Sandown Bay to the north-east, and the English Channel to the south. Ventnor's microclimate is also created by the shelter of St. Boniface Down. The stable section of the Undercliff has evidence of long human occupation, with ancient churches at Bonchurch and St Lawrence, and archaeological evidence of Paleolithic and Neolithic habitation. Prior to
610-642: Is between Zones 1 and 2, where the River Thames defines the boundary so that all of Kent is in Zone 2. The first digit in the number of any road should be the number of the furthest-anticlockwise zone entered by that road. For example, the A38 road , a trunk road running from Bodmin to Mansfield starts in Zone 3, and is therefore numbered with an A3x number, even though it passes through Zones 4 and 5 to end in Zone 6. Additionally,
671-545: Is denoted by the colour of the sign border and direction arrow, and can be summarised as follows: Roads and lanes with yet lower traffic densities are designated as unclassified roads commonly using C , D and U prefixes but, while these are numbered, in general this is done for use by the local authorities who are responsible for maintaining them and the non-unique numbering is in a local series which usually does not appear on road signs; use of local numbers on signs in England
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#1733084972565732-468: Is free, and the rest are operated with a charge to those who are not members of the National Trust . Along the rest of the route, there is no such restriction, but most motorists choose only to stop in designated car parks. In Summer 2009 the Isle of Wight Council was warned that cliff slippage was endangering the road, and as of January 2010, portions of the cliff were only 10 metres (33 ft) from
793-452: Is given a single letter (representing a category) and a subsequent number (between one and four digits). Though this scheme was introduced merely to simplify funding allocations, it soon became used on maps and as a method of navigation. There are two sub-schemes in use: one for motorways , and another for non-motorway roads. While some of Great Britain's major roads form part of the international E-road network , no E-routes are signposted in
854-460: Is now to construct a realigned road to a turning area for vehicles at each end side of the major slip, but there are still problems with groundwater levels which may delay construction. The road was lodged for planning permission in April 2016, and the council expected works to be completed between June and September. Leeson Road , named after the 19th century Bonchurch resident Henry Beaumont Leeson ,
915-437: Is of similar construction and mostly from the same time period to the stretch to the west of Chale which was re-built and upgraded at this time. This length of road is not usually understood to be covered by the term 'Military Road' and its name on street maps and signs is different. The section from Brook to Freshwater Bay is a clearway , so stopping on this section is only permitted at the five car parking areas, of which one
976-518: Is the section of the A3055 regional coast road on the Isle of Wight which starts at Chale in the East and ends at Freshwater Bay in the West. The road has had to be in part relocated and repaired due to coastal erosion at various times since it was built in the late nineteenth century, and this continues today. The original Military Road was constructed as part of a defence network in about 1860 and remained as
1037-548: Is the segment of the A3055 that runs from Ventnor, at the foot of St Boniface Down , along the clifftop above Bonchurch, the Bonchurch Landslips and the Devil's Chimney . 50°35′51″N 1°16′14″W / 50.59762°N 1.27047°W / 50.59762; -1.27047 Great Britain road numbering scheme In Great Britain , there is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads. Each road
1098-583: The A13 (London to Shoeburyness); the next radial is the A2 , followed by the A20 (London to Dover), and so on. These roads have been numbered either outwards from or clockwise around their respective hubs, depending on their alignment. The system continues to three and four digit numbers which further split and criss-cross the radials. Lower numbers originate closer to London than higher numbered ones. As roads have been improved since
1159-675: The C prefix and marked using pale green signs. There are also some CS prefixes for Cycle Superhighways, marked using magenta signs, but these are being phased out. Despite numerous large roads in Great Britain being part of the International E-road network , no road that forms part of this network is signposted as such and only the road's national designation is shown. The same is true in Northern Ireland. Undercliff (Isle of Wight) The Undercliff , Isle of Wight , England
1220-505: The M1 the zones were defined for Zones 1 to 4 based on the proposed M2 , M3 and M4 motorways . The M5 and M6 numbers were reserved for the other two planned long distance motorways. The Preston Bypass , the UK's first motorway section, should have been numbered A6(M) under the scheme decided upon, but it was decided to keep the number M6 as had already been applied. The first full-length motorway in
1281-516: The Southern Vectis 3 bus followed the section called Undercliff Drive as far as St Lawrence; the Southern Vectis 6 ran north-east from Ventnor to Bonchurch and beyond. The road's low-level continuation between Niton and Blackgang was broken by landslips in the 20th century. The road between St Lawrence and Niton collapsed in two places at the westerly edge of St Lawrence on 17 February 2014 as
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#17330849725651342-452: The 19th century, it was the location of a number of large estates, including that at Steephill, whose owners included Hans Stanley , Wilbraham Tollemache , and John Hambrough, builder of the now-demolished Steephill Castle . The Undercliff was a popular development site in the mid-19th century, which saw the construction of many cottages orné and marine villas, with associated grounds. These developments included Steephill Castle, owned in
1403-491: The 3 passes from Ryde via Bonchurch through Ventnor to Wroxall and Newport, while the 6 goes from Ventnor via Whitwell and Blackgang to Newport. A few steep roads (probably ancient routes, locally termed "shutes") connect the clifftop to the lower Undercliff level: Niton Shute, St Lawrence Shute, and Bonchurch Shute. The Undercliff was formerly served by railway stations at Ventnor ( Ventnor railway station and Ventnor West ) and St Lawrence . The area can be visited on foot by
1464-400: The A road designation, for example A3(M) , A329(M) , A38(M) , A48(M) and A627(M) . B roads are numbered distributor roads , which have lower traffic densities than the main trunk roads, or A roads. This classification has nothing to do with the width or quality of the physical road, and B roads can range from dual carriageways to single track roads with passing places. B roads follow
1525-690: The A1 in Newcastle upon Tyne has moved twice. Originally along the Great North Road, it then moved to the Tyne Tunnel , causing some of the roads in Zone 1 to lie in Zone 6. The designated A1 later moved to the western bypass around the city, and roads between the two found themselves back in Zone 1. For the most part the roads affected retained their original numbers throughout. Elsewhere when single-digit roads were bypassed, roads were often re-numbered in keeping with
1586-615: The Board's senior engineers, to devise a classification system and then assign numbers to the highways for identification purposes. The work was interrupted by the First World War . It did not resume until the Ministry of Transport was formed in 1919 and given authority to classify highways and to allocate funding for road maintenance, authority for which was granted by section 17 (2) of the Ministry of Transport Act 1919 . A classification system
1647-496: The Deputy Chief Executive of the council was sacked after his resignation was refused. By March 2008 police determined there was insufficient evidence to continue their investigations. However, an internal investigation by Isle of Wight Council concluded that the council had broken both its own constitution, European Union and UK law by awarding a multimillion-pound contract without any tendering process. The scheme, which
1708-462: The East, but these plans have been repeatedly subject to criticism. Despite the council announcing that a new access road would be built by the summer of 2015, there have been further delays. Initial works were quickly halted when it became clear they had been carried out on land of unclear ownership in a Site of Special Scientific Interest without permission or consultation with statutory body Natural England . Local residents, who had been cut off from
1769-532: The Ministry direct control of major routes and a new classification system was created to identify these routes. Originally, those numbers beginning in T were to be made public, but that was eventually deemed unnecessary. With the introduction of motorways in the late 1950s, a new classification of "M" was introduced. In many cases the motorways duplicated existing stretches of A road, which therefore lost much of their significance and were in some cases renumbered. There
1830-573: The UK was the M1 motorway . Shorter motorways typically take their numbers from a parent motorway in contravention of the zone system, explaining the apparently anomalous numbers of the M48 and M49 motorways as spurs of the M4, and M271 and M275 motorways as those of the M27 . This numbering system was devised in 1958–59 by the then Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation , and applied only in England and Wales. It
1891-566: The United Kingdom in the Isle of Man , Jersey and British Overseas Territories . Work on classification began in 1913. The Road Board had been established in 1909 to administer Vehicle Excise Duty - money raised by taxation to pay for new road construction and for repair of damage done to existing roads by the growing number of motorists. As the Board needed to work out which roads should be funded, upgraded or replaced, its secretary, William Rees Jeffreys , appointed Henry Maybury , one of
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1952-616: The United Kingdom. Due to changes in local road designation, in some cases roads are numbered out of zone. There are also instances where two unrelated roads have been given exactly the same number; for example, the Leicester Ring Road and a road in Cumbria are both designated A594. This scheme applies only to England , Scotland and Wales ; a separate system using similar conventions is used in Northern Ireland , as well as outside
2013-407: The aim of better targeting road funding. Some A roads are designated trunk roads , which implies that central government rather than local government has responsibility for them. A more recent classification is that of primary routes , the category of recommended routes for long-distance traffic. Primary routes include both trunk and non-trunk roads. Some sections of A roads have been improved to
2074-416: The basis for the numbering of the A road network, they are no longer necessarily major roads, having been bypassed by motorways or other changes to the road network. These radials are supplemented by two-digit codes which are routes that may be slightly less important, but may still be classified as trunk routes, although many of these routes have lost a lot of their significance due to motorway bypasses, or
2135-641: The early 20th century by John Morgan Richards ; the villa of Richards' novelist daughter Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie ; and houses built for the industrialist William Spindler in the 1880s during his attempt, cut short by his death, to develop St Lawrence as a town. Bonchurch was a particular focus of development, a number of elite Victorians renting or owning homes there (e.g. William Adams , Thomas Carlyle , Charles Dickens , Henry Beaumont Leeson , Lord Macaulay , Elizabeth Missing Sewell , and Henry De Vere Stacpoole ). Victorian Undercliff development also extended westward beyond Niton to Blackgang , partly out of
2196-399: The general trend for speculative building, and partly in association with the establishment of the amusement park at Blackgang Chine . These properties, however, have largely been obliterated by landslides and coastal erosion over the 20th century. The growth of Ventnor in particular was driven by its popularity as a health and holiday resort from 1830. The physician Arthur Hill Hassall ,
2257-464: The indefinite closure of the road to traffic, effectively cutting the numbered route into two separate sections. It has since come to light that Geotechnical Design Reports drawn up before the work began had identified the risk of geological failures overwhelming the work site as very high, and specifically noted that this was likely to depend on future rainfall and groundwater , but proposed no mitigation measures to counteract this problem. When this issue
2318-450: The latter. Shortly after this, the numbers started to appear in road atlases and on signs on the roads themselves, making them a tool for motorists in addition to their use for determining funding. The numbers of the roads changed quite frequently during the early years of the system, because it was a period of rapid expansion of the network and some numbered routes did not follow the most usual routes taken. The Trunk Roads Act 1936 gave
2379-474: The new motorway would take the name of the old A road rather than having its own number. The most notable example of that is the A1(M) . In England and Wales the road numbering system for all-purpose (i.e. non-motorway) roads is based on a radial pattern centred on London . In Scotland the same scheme is centred on Edinburgh . In both cases the main single-digit roads normally define the zone boundaries. The exception
2440-625: The next town. The final destination of the road (Freshwater/Totland or Ryde), in common with most UK roads, is not signed along the whole length of the route. As well as fitting with national practice, this is also because anybody wishing to travel from Totland to Ryde by road would do so via the North coast A3054 , as it is much more direct. Numerous landslips have affected the road in recent history, particularly around Undercliff Drive between Ventnor and Niton , which has resulted in sections being closed for repair on several occasions. The Military Road
2501-449: The original track are still visible along the coast from Shippards Chine to the north west of the slumped area. The construction of the new road took place in the early 1930 with the formal opening of the last section in March 1936. The road from Chale to Niton was built as a diversionary inland route following the collapse of the previous coastal road between Niton and Blackgang in 1928. It
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2562-477: The original zone boundaries. A few roads are anomalously numbered . Motorways first came to Britain over three decades after the advent of the A-road numbering event, and as a result required a new numbering system. They were given an M prefix, and in England and Wales a numbering system of their own not coterminous with that of the A-road network, though based on the same principle of zones. Running clockwise from
2623-482: The past two centuries: the Blackgang landslip at the west, and the Bonchurch Landslips at the east. The main section is more stable, though there are ongoing concerns over coastal erosion , further slippage and subsidence . The main through road, Undercliff Drive, was disrupted by a mud slide near St Lawrence in 2001, requiring 18 months to build a new road section and in 2014 further erosion after heavy rain fell and
2684-498: The road and rebuilding as part of the county's refurbishment of all its roads under a Private finance initiative . The section of destroyed road was repaired, and a diversion has yet to be implemented. Undercliff Drive is the segment of the A3055 that runs the length of the Isle of Wight Undercliff between Niton and Ventnor . Due to the unusual geology of the area, with significant clay layers, it has long been vulnerable to weathering and underground watercourses causing erosion in
2745-502: The road network for eight months, rebuilt a road access themselves in October 2014, although there were concerns that this unofficial repair encroached onto the Site of Special Scientific Interest, might pollute the environment and the road itself could be dangerous, so this was cordoned off by safety inspectors. An agreement allowing the transfer of land between the council and a local wildlife trust
2806-486: The road was under repair, leading to more damage, and nine houses being evacuated. Interactions between the heavy chalk -based rocks of St. Boniface Down , the highest chalk downland on the Isle of Wight, and the softer rocks of the Undercliff below Ventnor means that subsequent erosion has caused Upper Ventnor, or Lowtherville , to gradually start moving towards the cliff edge, in a feature referred to residents as 'The Graben '. This rapid geological change in terrain
2867-428: The road. The harsh weather over winter 2009-10 caused a large number of landslides. By February 2010, another land slip on the section between Brook and Hanover car park, brought the top of the cliff to about 5 metres from the edge of the road. The coastal path was lost, and the council erected traffic barriers at one side of the road to alert drivers. A further landslide, on the same section, on 23 February 2010, brought
2928-544: The same numbering scheme as A roads, but almost always have 3- and 4-digit designations. Many 3-digit B roads outside the London area are former A roads which have been downgraded owing to new road construction; others may link smaller settlements to A roads. B roads in the county of Devon have further sub-classifications according to their accessibility. This is due to the rural nature of Devon's topology making some roads unsuitable for certain types of vehicle. The classification
2989-405: The same standard as motorways, but do not completely replace the existing road; they form a higher standard part of the route for those which are not excluded. These sections retain the same number but are suffixed with (M), for example the A1(M) and A404(M) . There have been occasions where this designation has been used to indicate motorway bypasses of an existing road, but the original retains
3050-562: The scheme commenced, some roads with 3 or 4 digit numbers have increased in significance, for example the A127 , A1079 and A414 . New routes have also been allocated 3 or 4 digit numbers, for example the Edinburgh City Bypass is the A720 . The Major Road Network is a proposed classification of major local-authority controlled A roads that the government committed to implementing in 2017, with
3111-553: The short M85 became part of the M90 . In England and Wales, the six single-digit numbers reflect the traditionally most important radial routes coming out of London. Starting with the A1 which heads due north, numbers were allocated sequentially in a clockwise direction, thus: Similarly, in Scotland, important roads radiating from Edinburgh have single-digit numbers, thus: While these routes remain
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#17330849725653172-421: The top of the cliff to virtually the edge of the road. The road was reduced to single file, with traffic light control. Since then various meetings of the Isle of Wight Council have included discussion of the road's future. One view has been that the road is unrepairable, and should be closed, while parking and turning areas should be created at both ends. More recently the possibility has been discussed of diverting
3233-459: The twenty-two-acre (8.9 ha) Ventnor Botanic Garden , which takes advantage of the same mild conditions to grow plants from worldwide Mediterranean habitats . Later Undercliff residents included the writers Alfred Noyes and Aubrey de Sélincourt , and the yachtsman Uffa Fox . The Undercliff is accessed by the A3055 road running its length from Niton to Bonchurch. West of Ventnor, before 2014
3294-553: The unstable landscape, with various plans for a long-term stabilisation of the land (including the road) drawn up in the first decade of the 21st century, not without controversy. Allegations of irregularities regarding the contract to rebuild the road following a landslip in 2001, which could have amounted to "criminal activity or public sector corruption" were investigated by Hampshire Police in November 2007, several senior officers at Isle of Wight Council were suspended, and John Lawson,
3355-555: The upgrading of other A-roads (such as the A38 (M) ). These routes are not all centred on London, but as far as possible follow the general principle that their number locates them radially clockwise from the associated single digit route. For example, the A10 (London to King's Lynn) is the first main route clockwise from the A1, the A11 (London to Norwich) is the next, then the A12 (London to Lowestoft) and
3416-533: Was abandoned by mid-November 2007, had already cost almost £3 million and was projected to cost more than three times its original estimate of £5.6 million. Another scheme designed to stabilise the road was started by Island Roads in 2013 as part of their Private Finance Initiative deal with the local council, at the same time as works on a similar issue near Yarmouth . However, a significant landslip occurred on 8 February 2014 after an "unusually heavy and prolonged rain" while these works were in progress, leading to
3477-415: Was created in 1922, under which important routes connecting large population centres, or for through traffic, were designated as Class I, and roads of lesser importance were designated as Class II. The definitive list of those roads was published on 1 April 1923, following consultations with local authorities . Government funding towards the repairs of these roads were set at 60% for the former and 50% for
3538-613: Was decided to reserve the numbers 7, 8 & 9 for Scotland. In Scotland, where roads were the responsibility of the Scottish Office (Scottish Government after 1999), the decision was taken to adopt a scheme whereby motorways took the numbers of the all-purpose routes they replaced. As a result, there is no M7 (as no motorway follows the A7 ), and when the A90 was re-routed to replace the A85 south of Perth ,
3599-410: Was highlighted, some people began to question why the works had been planned to take place during the wettest part of the year. The military helped to evacuate several homes, at least one of which suffered structural damage and was declared unsafe. Official proposals, costed at £6–20 million have been to rebuild a replacement road for access to and from the West, with only a bridleway for access to
3660-764: Was no consistent approach to the renumbering – some A roads retained their existing number as non-primary roads (e.g. the A40 running alongside the M40 ), others were given "less significant" numbers (e.g. the A34 in Warwickshire became the A3400 after the M40 was built), and the remainder were downgraded to B or unclassified roads (e.g. the A38 , which was replaced by the M5 between Tiverton and Exeter ). Occasionally,
3721-483: Was not agreed until September 2015 and a further year-long delay was expected when it became clear that a survey would be needed of the local bat population, which was not due to be completed until August 2016. However, in February 2016, two years after the landslide, Island Roads confirmed that there was no evidence of bat habitation in the majority of the trees which would be affected by the planned works. The short-term plan
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