{"id":77902,"date":"2017-01-12T00:15:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T00:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=d78707ad1df32e6e8db471ae498d5ff7"},"modified":"2017-01-12T00:15:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T00:15:00","slug":"news-story-next-step-in-major-investment-for-south-west-as-a303-stonehenge-plans-published","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=77902","title":{"rendered":"News story: Next step in major investment for south-west as A303 Stonehenge plans published"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>Major plans to transform the A303 as part of a \u00a32 billion investment in the south-west, which will see the construction of a tunnel at the historic Stonehenge site, have today (12 January 2016) been unveiled by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.<\/p>\n<p>The upgrade will develop the A303 corridor into a high quality, high performing route linking the M3 in the south-east and the M5 in the south-west, improving journeys for millions of people.<\/p>\n<p>Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">This government is taking the big decisions for Britain\u2019s future, underlined by our record \u00a315 billion funding for road schemes.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">This major investment in the south-west will transform the A303 and benefit those locally by cutting congestion and improving journey times. It will also boost the economy, linking people with jobs and businesses with customers &#8211; driving forward our agenda to build a country that works for everyone and not just the privileged few.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Drivers, hauliers, residents and other road users are being invited to have their say on the proposal to upgrade a seven-mile single carriageway stretch of the A303 near Stonehenge in Wiltshire into a dual carriageway.<\/p>\n<p>The single carriageway section of the A303 currently runs alongside the stones and the proposed option is to construct a 1.8 mile dual carriageway tunnel to improve journey times, remove the sight and sound of traffic and enhance the world heritage site.<\/p>\n<p>The 2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/road-investment-strategy\">Road investment strategy<\/a> committed to upgrading all remaining sections of the A303 between the M3 and M5 to dual carriageway standard, starting with 3 schemes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>at Stonehenge<\/li>\n<li>between Sparkford and Ilchester<\/li>\n<li>between Taunton and Southfields<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Highways England Chief Executive Jim O\u2019Sullivan said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">We are delivering the biggest investment programme in our roads in a generation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Our plans for the A303 recognise the national importance of the route and these improvements will bring real benefit to the region and local communities.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">The public exhibitions will provide an excellent opportunity to explain further our plans and to hear feedback from stakeholders on our proposals to deliver the scheme.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The <a rel=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/www.highways.gov.uk\/a303stonehenge\/consultation\">Stonehenge consultation<\/a> launches on 12 January and will offer the public the chance to view the proposals and meet the project team. Public consultation for the latter 2 projects will follow in due course.<\/p>\n<p>The Stonehenge scheme proposals also include a bypass for the village of Winterbourne Stoke and improvements to existing junctions between the A303 and the intersecting A345 and A360 north-south roads.<\/p>\n<p>The consultation runs between 12 January and 5 March. Following the consultation the preferred route will be announced later in 2017 and is subject to the completion of statutory procedures for development consent.<\/p>\n<p>Public exhibitions will be staged at the following locations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Manor Barn, Manor House, Winterbourne Stoke on Saturday, 14 January (11am-5pm)<\/li>\n<li>Antrobus House, Amesbury, on Wednesday, 18 January (2pm-8pm)<\/li>\n<li>Shrewton Village Hall, The Hollow, Shrewton, on Friday, 20 January (5pm-9pm)<\/li>\n<li>Avon Valley College, Recreation Road, Durrington, on Saturday 21 January (11am-5pm)<\/li>\n<li>Larkhill Primary School, Wilson Road, Larkhill, Tuesday, 24 January (5pm-9pm)<\/li>\n<li>The Manor Barn, Manor House, Winterbourne Stoke on Friday, 27 January (2pm-8pm)<\/li>\n<li>Salisbury Guildhall, The Market Place, Salisbury, on Saturday 28 January (11am-5pm)<\/li>\n<li>Grove Hall, Church Street, Mere, near Warminster, on Saturday 4 February (11am-5pm)<\/li>\n<li>Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, on Monday 6 February (2pm-8pm)<\/li>\n<li>Antrobus House, Amesbury, Wednesday, 8 February (2pm-8pm)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Following the consultation, the preferred route will be announced later in 2017.<\/p>\n<div class=\"contact \" id=\"contact_1018\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Roads media enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Press enquiries<\/span><br \/>\n              020 7944 3021\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out of hours<\/span><br \/>\n              020 7944 4292\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Public enquiries<\/span><br \/>\n              0300 330 3000\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plans for tunnel under Stonehenge, part of roads package to cut congestion in the south-west.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77914,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77902\/revisions\/77914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}