SH2 - A Proposal For A Very Northerly Route

It is very easy for us to sit here and complain about the problems caused by the lack of dualling of the A303, the lack of bypasses, the idiocy of various bodies - the Highways Agency, the Department for Transport and Wiltshire Council - in closing the A344 before the A303 problems were resolved, despite the excellent advice they were given, in order to pander to the demands of English Heritage and the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.

It is very easy, because they have set themselves up as such easy targets for ridicule and derision - and they will be duly ridiculed and derided. 

However, whilst we must be resolute in learning the lessons of the past, we need to look to the future and ask ourselves how might the problem be solved.  So what is it we want to achieve exactly?  Well, here at WiSBAng, we would offer the following list of key points:

- Dual the entire length of the A303 (and the A358 and A30 to Penzance)
- Bypass villages such as Winterbourne Stoke
- Remove the A303 from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site sight-line
- Minimising the need to damage virgin farmland
- Minimising the cost
- In doing all of the above, eliminating rat-running through local villages.

However, we need to look at some of the limiting factors:

- The location of the World Heritage Site itself
- The location of Parsonage Down site
- The high cost of stuffing the A303 in a tunnel
- The unsuitability of the WHS geology for stuffing the A303 in a tunnel.

There are a few other factors that need to be borne in mind.

-The Armed Forces are retrenching to Wiltshire from Germany and are planning to accommodate a further 3,500-4,000 people, including families, at Larkhill, but:
- The Armed Forces have reduced massively in size since the heyday of activity in the Salisbury Plain training area;
- Not all of the Salisbury Plain Training Area is in use all of the time - so, very simplistically, it can't all be needed.
- The land occupied by the Salisbury Plain Training Area is already in government ownership or leasehold.
- The military population is largely transient - they come, they are posted, they go.
- Whatever route west is taken for the A303 - it is going to destroy/damage some archaeology.
- Most routes that have been proposed to date go through virgin countryside, or go so far south that they will start to have undesirable adverse impacts on the traffic flow in and around Salisbury.
- Whatever route west is taken, it will require some virgin countryside.
- Much of the virgin countryside that would need to be sacrificed to reroute the A303, especially on the routes previously proposed, is owned by rich and influential individuals who can be expected to object a wee bit.
- The Green lobby might also object a little - think 'Winchester Bypass.'

So, is there a route that could possibly deal with all, or most of the above?  We think so, and here it is:

 Just click on the picture to see the enlarged view.  Basically, the proposed route leaves the current A303 at the Parkhouse Roundabout, cuts northwest into MoD land and then heads due west, north of Bulford and Larkhill.  It then continues westwards until it reaches a point on the A360, roughly equidistant between Shrewton and Tilshead, before cutting back to the south west to rejoin the A303 at the Wylye junction.  As I write, I can hear the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth in MoD - it's going to mess up the small-arms- ranges between Bulford and Tidworth and cut the two camps apart - but there is a helluva lot of training area and rifle/grenade ranges can be resited - how hard is it to build a berm?  Then think of the benefits to MoD - most civilian traffic could be removed from Larkhill - benefiting the newly returned families and making a much clearer distinction between the living area and the training area. Unexploded ordnance along the route- well, there's bound to be some, but what a wonderful training opportunity. 

There is one other huge benefit in going this far north, and that is the possibility of joining into the A36 at Knook Camp, close to the Warminster bypass - and possibly providing some relief to the A36 villages - at least from traffic travelling to or from the east of England.  Like this:

OK, it's far from ideal, but it is the route which requires the minimum purchase of undeveloped countryside and achieves just about everyone's desired outcomes.  The A303 proposal turns a 14.4 mile section of road into one 17 miles long - adding less than 3 minutes to the journey time.  Compare that with the 1-3 hours that 14 mile stretch has taken this summer.

Let the cries of outrage begin!