Diversion route for A360 closure confirmed

More details have been revealed for the planned closure of the A360 in the coming months.

Highways England has provided more details as they plan to close the A360 from the junction at the top of The Avenue to Longbarrow Roundabout on the A303.

These works were initially scheduled to take place in 2021 but were postponed while the judicial review of the A303 Stonehenge Tunnel project, of which these are part, was ongoing.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) will be installing two high-voltage electricity cables and a fibre optic cable along the A360 to connect power to the construction compound near Longbarrow roundabout.  

To allow the work to be done safely, a section of the A360 -  to the south of the A303 between Longbarrow roundabout  and The Avenue roundabout - will be temporarily closed for approximately three months from April.

Traffic will be diverted via the A345 and part of the A303 and A36.

David Bullock, National Highways’ Project Director for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, said: “The road scheme will ultimately tackle the longstanding issue of rat running and provide a real benefit to local communities, and for this essential preliminary work, we’ll be doing all we can to put in measures to lessen the impact of this work.

“We need to carry out the work now to ensure our programme timescales and we want to give local communities as much notice as possible.

“We appreciate that roadworks and road closures can be frustrating and we’d like to thank motorists, local residents and businesses in advance for their patience.

“Without the full closure, the work would take a lot longer to complete, and we’re making every effort to ensure that the impact on drivers and local communities is kept to an absolute minimum.

Highways England say they are working closely with Wiltshire Council who are introducing weight limits to deter heavy vehicles from using unsuitable local roads and will monitor traffic levels on the diversion route and local roads and introduce additional measures if required.