A30 Traffic News
The A30 is an important road connecting London to the South West, finishing at Land’s End. The road is the third longest A-road in Great Britain at 284 miles. Only the A1 (396 miles) and the A38 (309.8 miles) are longer.
Along its 284 miles, starting in Hounslow, the road varies in function, beginning in the suburbs of London as a high-capacity arterial thoroughfare, it then gets superseded by the more modern A303. When the road reaches Honiton it regains its importance as a major expressway, serving Devon and Cornwall.
The primary destinations along the A30 include Egham, Popham, Basingstoke, Salisbury, Yeovil, Exeter and Penzance before it terminates at the world-famous Land’s End, which is mainland Britain’s most south-westerly point.
Over the years, the A30 has undergone a range of improvement works including realignments to heighten the safety of corners and dual carriageway bypasses. The stretch of road from Honiton to Penzance is now mainly dual carriageway.
Famous Scottish cartographer John Ogilby included the historic coaching road on his map of Britain in 1675, beginning at Hyde Park Corner. The majority of the A30 follows the route of the old coaching road.
The beautiful rolling hills of Devon, the picturesque villages of Cornwall and the breathtaking scenery of Bodmin Moor make the south-west section of the A30 one of the more pleasant routes to travel along in the UK.
Worst Junctions on the A30
If you’re planning to travel on this major road, first look up the latest A30 traffic updates to help you avoid congestion, roadworks and accidents. Due to this road being an important connection between London and Land’s End it experiences large volumes of traffic. The following junctions are common hotspots:
Sowton Interchange - M5 - A30 - A3015
This junction experiences high volumes of traffic, with people trying to use it as part of long distance journeys between the A30 and M5. Unfortunately it was originally meant to be a free-flowing junction but it is now made up of complicated and tangled slip roads with traffic lights causing hold ups and congestion.
Polyphant village junction
The old route of this road is taken by the eastbound carriageway onto the A30 and then meets a very tight right corner straight after. A new route was constructed for westbound traffic. Unfortunately, local traffic has to deviate across the eastbound carriageway to access the A30 travelling westbound. Westbound traffic is also required to cross over the eastbound carriageway to reach the village of Polyphant.
Accident Hotspots on the A30
The A30 stretches for 284 miles and is an extremely important route connecting London to Land’s End. This means there is always a large volume of traffic using the road daily. Therefore, this does mean the road experiences a high number of traffic incidents. It’s always advisable to check for A30 traffic news before you travel.
Upcoming A30 Major Roadworks
This major road connects London to Land’s End so, as you may expect, the A30 is considered for improvements on a regular basis. There are often short-term roadworks carried out along the route. By using the RAC Route Planner service you can identify and account for potential delays in your journey with travel news from the A30.
For up-to-date information about upcoming roadworks on the A30, please visit the National Highways website, or look up a specific postcode on the local council website.