Andy Munns
The government has given the green light to build the road tunnel near Stonehenge.
It will cost a whopping £1.7 billion and will be two miles long, which is about 3.2 kilometres.
The tunnel will stretch from Amesbury to Berwick Down in Wiltshire.
This project was first given permission in 2020, but unfortunately, it got cancelled by the High Court in 2021 due to protests from local people who didn’t want it.
However, the Department for Transport has approved it again, and it’s all systems go!
Highways England, the organisation in charge, wants to construct this tunnel to help ease traffic and make it faster for people to travel on the A303 road.
To make the tunnel a reality, a total of eight miles of the A303 road will be revamped.
Wiltshire Council is supporting this plan, and they believe it will be a great improvement for everyone.
Wiltshire councillor Caroline Thomas, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “We’re delighted that consent has been granted once again for the A303 Stonehenge project, and it can now move forward.
“This huge infrastructure project represents a significant investment in Wiltshire that will boost the economy of both our county and the wider region, unlocking jobs and investment.
“Along with the construction, there will also be comprehensive programme of archaeological mitigation, which will enhance our understanding of the World Heritage Site,”
The news has not pleased everyone, with many taking to social media to make their feelings known.
Author Tom Holland, of The Stonehenge Alliance, branded the project approval an “act of vandalism that shames Britain”.
He described the project as a “monstrous white elephant of a road development that will permanently disfigure Britain’s most significant and sacred prehistoric landscape”.
He tweeted. “At the best of times this would be a grotesque decision, but at a time when the country is faced with so many bills, such a financial shortfall, this desecration of a World Heritage Site is the height of folly.
“The courts stopped the government before, hopefully, they will do so again,”
Feature Image: Highways England
