South Coast Trunk Road

The South Coast Trunk Road is a former designation of a 222-mile (357 km) long route in southern England, sometimes called the Folkestone to Honiton trunk route, made up of several numbered roads (from west to east):

• the A35 from Honiton (50°48′05″N 3°10′58″W / 50.8013°N 3.1829°W) to Bere Regis (50°45′26″N 2°12′42″W / 50.7571°N 2.2118°W)
• the A31 from Bere Regis to Cadnam (50°55′04″N 1°35′37″W / 50.9178°N 1.5935°W)
• the M27 from Cadnam to Portsmouth (50°50′12″N 1°03′54″W / 50.8366°N 1.0650°W)
• the A27 from Portsmouth to Pevensey (50°49′19″N 0°20′33″E / 50.8220°N 0.3425°E)
• the A259 from Pevensey to Brenzett (51°00′26″N 0°51′30″E / 51.0071°N 0.8582°E)
• the A2070 from Brenzett to Ashford (51°08′12″N 0°54′37″E / 51.1367°N 0.9102°E)
• the M20 from Ashford to Folkestone (51°05′41″N 1°09′29″E / 51.0948°N 1.1581°E)

The South Coast Trunk Road or Folkestone-Honiton Trunk Road as a road designation is not now in use, but road signage with that name was installed following the major expansion in British road building between 1975 and 1983. The reason that it was quietly dropped in the 1990s lay in the many changes in transport policy that have occurred since the designation was first initiated. The Wikipedia entries for the M27 and the A35 road amplify this sequence of events. Examples are the rerouting of the A35 in Devon between Exeter and Charmouth from the road now named A3052, and the many twists and turns in the intentions of the authorities in building, and then cancelling, motorway spurs near Southampton and elsewhere.