The planned Stonehenge road tunnel which would divert traffic from the ancient monument threatens to become a ‘hugely expensive white elephant’ as costs exceed £2billion, the Government has been warned today.
For decades motorists on the A303 in Wiltshire, which passes the stone circle, have endured severe congestion on the popular route to and from the South West.
Under proposals drawn up by Highways England, the A303 would be moved into a tunnel under the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
The long-delayed project was given the green light by Rishi Sunak in his first Budget in March before lockdown, but was last week postponed again by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps until November following a recent archaeological find.
For decades motorists on the A303 in Wiltshire, which passes the stone circle, have endured severe congestion on the popular route to and from the South West. Under proposals drawn up by Highways England, the A303 would be moved into a tunnel under the World Heritage Site
The long-delayed project was given the green light by Rishi Sunak in his first Budget in March before lockdown, but was last week postponed again by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps until November following a recent archaeological find
Last month it emerged that a team of archaeologists had discovered a ring of at least 20 large shafts a short distance from the stones.
Experts believe these may have served as a boundary to a sacred area.
Though Highways England says the two-mile tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic passing the site, some environmentalists and archaeologists have voiced their opposition to the plan due to its potential impact on the area.
Lord Dobbs, author of House of Cards, highlighted the decades of wrangling over the project and the rising costs, which he said now topped more than £2billion
The latest delay to the scheme was raised with the Government in the House of Lords by Lord Dobbs.
Lord Dobbs, author of House of Cards and a local resident, highlighted the decades of wrangling over the project and the rising costs, which he said now topped more than £2billion.
Pressing roads minister Baroness Vere of Norbiton, the Tory peer said: ‘Does she agree that it seems any tunnel could be finished much before 2030 by which semi-autonomous electric vehicles will be commonplace and perhaps even compulsory, making traffic passed Stonehenge less intrusive, less polluting and easier to manage?
‘So, may I ask, because of these advances in vehicle technology, whether it’s just possible that by the time any tunnel might be completed it could already be on the verge of becoming a hugely expensive white elephant?’
Lady Vere pointed out that self-driving vehicles ‘do still need road space and therefore further road enhancements will be necessary’. However, she could not say how long it would take for the tunnel to be built.
When the project was revealed in 2002, the tunnel was due to cost £183 million. Officials have promised the project will avoid important archaeological sites and will not spoil the view of the setting sun from Stonehenge during the winter solstice
The project was designed to slash travel times on the A303 in Wiltshire which is often at a standstill on bank holidays. The scheme is one of dozens intended to ‘level up’ the regions by improving road links. They have been unveiled as part of a Road Investment Strategy for the next five years
Though Highways England says the two-mile tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic passing the site, some environmentalists and archaeologists have voiced their opposition to the plan due to its potential impact on the area
Independent crossbencher Baroness Boycott said the years of delay had been ‘extremely frustrating’, adding: ‘I find it really shameful that one of our greatest monuments is regularly passed by a rumble of trucks day and night and the area for visitors is so cramped.
‘Given the recent findings about how big, extensive and important this whole site is, would it not be worth putting a big ring road around the site – at least something which we could get on with much quicker? The stones may fall down at this rate because we have wasted so much time and money.’
Lady Vere said: ‘This is a very complicated and difficult situation. When it became a World Heritage Site it was one of the commitments that we would do something about the road.
‘But Highways England has done an enormous amount of work around the archaeological elements of this area and continues to employ archaeologists to make sure we could not only build the tunnel if it’s appropriate, but also preserve the site.’
The Stonehenge Alliance, a campaign group which opposes the plans and has gained nearly 60,000 signatures on an online petition, said the tunnel would need to be deeper and more extensive, adding: ‘Anything shorter would cause irreparable damage to this landscape, in breach of the World Heritage Convention.’
Tom Holland, the group’s president, called the proposal ‘a scheme that constitutes the most grotesque act of desecration ever contemplated by a British government: the driving of a great gash of concrete and tarmac through our most significant, our most sacred prehistoric landscape.’
The tunnel project is one of eight schemes to upgrade the whole of the A303, which passes close to the stone circle, and the A358 further west.
Who else has opposed the ‘Stonehenge tunnel’?
The Stonehenge tunnel plan has run into opposition in the past, with UNESCO warning that changes to the A303 at Stonehenge would have an ‘adverse impact’ on the ‘outstanding universal value’ of the site.
A report from the National Audit Office released in May last year cast doubt on the whether the £2billion project will represent value for money and whether the work could be completed by even the proposed opening date of December 2026.
The NAO, the independent parliamentary body responsible for auditing government departments, says the project is predicted to deliver £1.15 in benefits for every £1 spent, in part due to the high cost of building a tunnel.
‘While Highways England used approved methodologies to do this, calculating benefits in this way is inherently uncertain,’ the report said.