Near Burbage the continued route north to Swindon is designated A346, the A338 turning off to the right at a roundabout and heading east then north-east and crossing the border into Berkshire.

[5] In February 2011 it was announced that £20m of funding for repair works on the 6.5 miles (10.5 km) stretch south of the junction with the A31 was turned down by the government.

As a result of the funding request being unsuccessful, ad hoc work will now be carried out over a number of years instead of a period of about 6 months as originally planned.

This section of the road has a poor safety record; it is heavily trafficked and the resulting risky overtaking is responsible for a number of head-on collisions.

Following four fatal head-on collision accidents in 2008 alone, local residents have renewed their calls for the road to be upgraded to dual carriageway to provide a safe overtaking facility and deal with the capacity problems.

The point where the road crests the downs before beginning the steep drop into Wantage ('Alfredston') is the spot where young Jude stands one evening and looks out for the first time on Oxford ('Christminster').