 This section, which passed through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), operated at or above capacity for much of the day and had an accident rate 40% higher than the national average for that class of road.By 2000 the A3 between Southfields and Havant had been built to dual carriageway standards for its entire length apart from the  Hindhead section (there are still sections of single carriageway within London and Portsmouth).The termini of the northern and southern sections of dual carriageway were at altitudes of and above sea level respectively and the single carriageway linking them followed a winding route around the Devil's Punch Bowl, reaching an altitude of .