Kev’s Column: Highway to The Future
Ever week Kevin publishes his very own “Kev’s Column” online, this week he takes a look at the latest news on the A303:
For centuries archaeologists and historians have pondered exactly how Stonehenge, a marvel of pre-historic human achievement was built. Yet for the last fifty years a similar riddle has been perplexing modern man, namely how to bypass it.
The current route of the A303 near Stonehenge follows the route that once saw Mail Coaches heading to London until the Railways started the era of mass travel. Whilst in the Nineteenth Century technology saw traffic shift from road to rail, the advent of mass motoring has been taking its toll on the rocks that have stood for millennia.
There is no doubt that the current situation at Stonehenge is bad news for heritage, the environment and the economy. The south west’s key route from London is regularly congested and the only major alternative route is to make an elongated journey via the M4 & M5. Things cannot stay as they are in the long term.
Various solutions have been proposed to remove the road from the view of the stones and solve congestion. Former Salisbury MP Robert Key once recounted in Parliament how during the 1980s then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had got onto her hands and knees to pour over maps of possible solutions with him.
Yet speculation is now rife that the A303 is set for major investment in the near future, not just to solve the riddle of Stonehenge, but to upgrade the whole route from Honiton to Basingstoke. Comments made by the Secretary of State for Transport when he took up my invitation to visit Paignton, along with the Prime Minister’s intervention this week, all signal positive intentions.
English Heritage and the National Trust have agreed to support the latest tunnel scheme proposed to solve the riddle of Stonehenge. In addition the region has finally developed what it has lacked for so many years, a united voice. Arguments about what bit of the A303 or other routes should come first have hampered efforts to get investment overall.
The message is now clear from our region that the key is to cut journey times and congestion along the route, any investment that deals with outstanding issues and does this will be welcomed. When the tracks were left hanging at Dawlish opinion was galvanised into pushing for permanent transport solutions, as other regions have been skilled at doing for decades.
The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, due to be given on the 3rd December, may well be the moment more investment is confirmed in the A303. The sum of money needed is eye-watering at first glance, the 2 mile tunnel for Stonehenge alone could cost up to £600m. Yet the impact on our region cannot be underestimated and given moving the stones is not an option the Chancellor should seize the chance to provide a lasting solution to a problem that must be resolved if the south west, including our bay, is to grow and reach its full potential.
In short the South West needs its Highway to The Future.