Following the public inquiry into the A303 Stonehenge Improvement scheme, the Department has led an inter-departmental review of the scheme and alternative options. The review was necessary because of a significant increase in the cost of the proposed tunnel past Stonehenge. Detailed work on the assessment of options has been carried out by the Highways Agency.
As well as the published scheme heard at the public inquiry (with its proposals for a 2.1 km long twin-bored tunnel), the options chosen for detailed review included:
a (cheaper) cut-and-cover tunnelled scheme;
surface routes for upgrading the A303 passing to the north and south of Stonehenge; and
partial solutions, comprising various combinations of closing the local A344 road (which runs immediately adjacent to Stonehenge), improving the junctions on the A303 either side of Stonehenge at Amesbury and Longbarrow (at the boundaries of the World Heritage Site) and providing a bypass for the local village of Winterbourne Stoke (to the west of Stonehenge).
The Review Group submitted its report to Ministers last summer. However, in order to understand more fully the effects of the partial solutions on the operation of the A303 and the local road network, it was clear that further detailed analysis based on up-to-date traffic information was needed. Fresh traffic surveys were carried out by the Highways Agency last autumn to provide the basis for further analytical work which is currently being undertaken. The results from this work will be considered alongside the findings of the Review Group to inform our decision on the way forward for this scheme.