A3 road
The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road or London Road in sections, is a major road connecting London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its 67-mile (108 km) length, it is classified as a trunk road and therefore managed by Highways England. Almost all of the road has been built to dual carriageway standards. Apart from brief sections in London the road travels from that city in a southwest direction and, after Liss, in a slightly more southerly direction (SSW).
Close to its southerly end, traffic for Portsmouth is routed via the A3(M), A27 and M275 — the A3 becomes a single carriageway through some south Hampshire settlements (as exceptionally through Battersea, Clapham and Stockwell towards the northern end).
History
The historic Portsmouth Road once had great strategic significance as the major link between the capital city and what became the settled main port of the Royal Navy as well as a non-military port. Many of the towns and villages that it passed through gained income and prestige as a result — such as Kingston upon Thames, Esher, Guildford, Godalming, Haslemere and Petersfield. The modern A3 follows the general route of the Portsmouth Road, but bypasses many of the towns and villages along the way, leaving the various stretches of the old Portsmouth Road for local traffic — for instance, the A307, its original course through Kingston-upon-Thames and Esher is also known as the Portsmouth Road.