Plans are under way to dramatically revise traffic patterns around England’s Stonehenge. The famous monument sits within a triangle bounded by a busy A-road, with a lesser road (which goes to the National Trust entrance and gift shop) running within feet of the circle.
The new plans have that side road grassed over, and the A-road run underground for almost a mile and a half, turning it all into a much more natural setting.
Charles Calvert, the barrister representing the Highways Agency, said it was “no ordinary road scheme”. He said the site’s current setting, flanked by the A344 and the A303, had been described by a committee of MPs as a “national disgrace”.
The A344 near Stonehenge will be rerouted through a new tunnel
The “master plan” was designed “most importantly” to protect the monument but would also allow the road to carry between 22,000 and 33,000 vehicles a day more effectively. “This is an opportunity that, quite simply, must not be lost,” said Mr Calvert.
The £192 million plan for a tunnel would also widen the A303, which is choked with traffic during the tourist season, and grass over the A344, which runs just yards from the stone circle. Other features include a bypass for the village of Winterbourne Stoke, a flyover and several new roundabouts.
The work could begin in spring 2005 at the earliest and could be completed in three and a half years. It is coupled with other improvements to the neolithic monument, including a £57 million visitor centre.
The National Trust, though, wants the tunnel much longer. Traffic engineers want the tunnel wider. Archaeologists are worried about barrows the new tunnel would bisect. And, almost certainly, some folks are worried about the price — though, for a monument like Stonehenge, it seems relatively cheap.
(via GoaF)
Unless they go deep enough, I can see this becoming another very expensive and time consuming effort like Mexico City’s and Rome’s subway system.
“Well we dug another 10 feet today and had to stop because of yet another Barrow we will need to investigate…”
If they are going to the trouble (which is a wonderful idea that I support wholeheartedly mind you) of digging a tunnel, you would think that it would be just as easy to swing the A303 tunnel 500 or so meters to the south, in an arc around it, to lessen the possibility “problems”.
Part of the problem is that, when you stand in Stonehenge and look around the broad, natural bowl it sits in, there are barrows as far as the eye can see. And probably quite a few more you can’t see.
Hmmm….
Yeah….
Well the other thing that might be a good idea would be to GPR (ground penetrating radar) the proposed routes and verify the depth and locations (of the barrows/monoliths/and other goodies) and determine the best route from the data collected.
Like the Rome subway, I suspect the “best” route would look like a drunken serpent. I do agree that the “least worst” route can and should be examined.