The B3181 is basically the old route of the A38 between M5 J27 and Exeter. This was not the original renumbering, however, as this road carried the number B3176 for a while. It is not known why the A38 number was not returned to the road when the M5 swallowed up the Cullompton Bypass, which opened as A38 in 1968.
Route
Willand - Pinhoe
The B3181 starts at the Waterloo Cross junction with the A38, a roundabout interchange that in the past was a junction between the A38, which used to carry on down the current B3181, and the A373, which was renumbered to A38. The road is a fairly typical bypassed A road, still being an NSL S2 until it reaches Willand, which it passes through without ceremony.
Shortly afterwards, the B3181 passes Diggerland, which is fairly near to northern terminus of the Cullompton Bypass, which has long since been removed. The road remains the same NSL S2 standard it was before Willand up to a roundabout with a new Cullompton relief road, where the 30mph limit is once again imposed.
Through Cullompton the road squeezes down to be a narrow S2, and a 20mph zone has been imposed on the section through Fore Street. Once getting out of the town, the 60mph limit does not return and is instead 50mph, with no further NSL for the rest of the road. Parts of this section were clearly once S3 and are now S2+1, with faded kicker arrows for the 'wrong' side still visible. It is around here that a gated access to the M5 exists, which was the southern terminus of the Cullompton Bypass. This is now used as an emergency access for the police.
The B3181 continues on, through Broadclyst and Pinhoe, before forming part of the Exeter Ring Road. Overall, an uninspiring if fairly quiet road.