Breakfast With Nick Clegg at Stonehenge

Well, not exactly.  It's a bit of hyperbole to say that I actually had breakfast with the Deputy Prime Minister - I was up at Stonehenge this morning for the BIG announcement, as was Nick Clegg, and I was stood fairly close to him with a cup of coffee, which might pass for breakfast, but I never actually got to speak with him.  Never mind, we were all around for a common purpose - to give interviews to the Press.

Before getting up to Stonehenge, I had an assignation with a lovely lady called Rebecca Rooney from BBC Wiltshire, for an interview on the A303 funding announcement.  We met up on the forecourt of the Bell Inn, Winterbourne Stoke, with the fast-moving, early morning, commuter traffic providing an "interesting" backdrop.  We had the usual mix of large HGVs travelling at well over the 40 mph limit to help them get up the hills on either side of the village.  We had school kids using the light-controlled crossing with fast moving vehicles bearing down on them with seemingly little realisation that there was a crossing there at all.  Then we had the usual nightmare of villagers trying to get out of the village onto the A303 - with one taking almost 10 minutes to find a nearly safe gap into which to pull out.

I'll even forgive Rebecca for calling me Mr Churchill - perhaps I should go into politics after all and give John Glenn MP a run for his money?

So what's the big deal?  Well, the Government announced that it was going to be earmarking some £15 billion for important road projects across the UK.  Its worth contrasting that sum with the £17 billion earmarked (so far) for the HS2 - and bear in mind that only 10% of goods traffic and a fraction of passenger traffic is shipped by rail.

Of the £15 billion, some £2 billion has been ear-marked for the A303 and £1.3 billion earmarked for a tunnel under Stonehenge - though it isn't clear if the £1.3 billion is separate from the £2 billion, or the major part of it.  It sounds a lot of money, but how far will it go?  Well lets have some facts and figures:

- dual carriageway cost between £20 million/mile to £25 million/mile to build on average - so £2 billion would buy 80-100 milesof dual carriageway - much more than is needed for the A303.   £0.7 billion gets you 28-35 miles - probably about right.
- tunnels cost a darned site more to build than dual carriageway, though I'm not sure £1.3 billion is necessarily realistic.  
-to put things in perspective, the A3 Hindhead tunnel at 1.9km long cot the bulk of the £371 million spent on the whole 4km project.  However, the "Big Dig" project in Boston (US) cost in excess of £12.5 billion for a tunnel twice the length of the one proposed for Stonehenge.

So, we welcome the news - but with a healthy scepticism.  After all, we'vee been here before.  Back in the late 1980s, Maggie Thatcher promised A303 widening as a package of road building measures that were claimed to be the biggest since Roman times - they failed to deliver.  More recently, the last Labour government promised to do the job, but killed the project on cost grounds.  So in some ways, here we go again.

However, there are a few differences this time.  Firstly, English Heritage and the National Trust appear to be singing from the same song-sheet and have agreed a plan that minimises impact on the World Heritage Site.  Pragmatism is being shown by many other parties too, recognising that the A303 is a strategic route and it has to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

Pragmatism will also be needed here in Winterbourne Stoke - clearly we will benefit from the removal of traffic from the centre of the village, but there are risks - noise from a dual carriageway situated to the north of the village being an obvious issue. So we will need to fight hard to ensure the environmental issues are addressed to our satisfaction and benefit.  I am sure there will be other issues.

The best news is the fact that they plan to tie the funding into the Infrastructure Bill that is currently going through parliament.  It's all tied into making the Highways Agency a company and ensuring funding certainty in 5-year tranches.  It doesn't mean that a future government couldn't stop things going ahead, but they would have to change legislation as well as changing their minds.

So - a healthy scepticism.  As I write, Rebecca Rooney is reporting a similar healthy scepticism from Larkhill and other villagers

Up at Stonehenge, lots of positive vibes about the plan. STAGs Janice Hassett seemed to be more in demand from interviewers than did Nick Clegg - but then she is a bit of a straight-talking, fire-brand who calls a spade, a spade.

It was a good opportunity to buttonhole people like the regional head of the Highways Agency to ask about what happens in the meantime about the A303 nightmare.  Specifically, we raised the issue of the dangers of Longbarrow Roundabout - as did other STAG members.  We'll see if this has any effect.

So - lets see what happens when all the fuss about today's news dies down and the economic realities hit home. 

English Heritage Mess Up on the A344 - Yet Again

Last month we heard from Wiltshire Council, definitively they claim, that the A344 is still the A344 and a highway.  As "A" roads have a legal definition in the UK and that involves joining population centres, carrying motorised traffic, etc, it is patently absurd to continue to list the A344 as an "A" road.  Consequently, this is being taken up with the Secretary of State for resolution.

Meanwhile, on the A344, English Heritage continue to mess up.  As a planning condition for the new visitor's centre, they were obliged to install Kent Carriage Gaps to allow all non-motorised traffic, not banned by the permanent Traffic Regulation Order, to use the A344, unhindered, 24/7.  Like many of the planning conditions imposed on English heritage (around 23 of them) many were supposed to be put in place before the visitor's centre was opened to the public,; the management plan seems to suggest sometinme between October and December 2013.  Yet again, this was a major fail by English Heritage.  Wiltshire Council Planning Department seem to have done little to police these consents, which makes you wonder what they spend their time doing!

Now for those of you who don't know, a Kent Carriage Gap is one of the ways of enforcing a TRO of the sort imposed on the A344.  This is how they should be designed:

Two sizes of post to allow carriages of different sizes to pass along the carriageway.  The separation of the posts and their height is also defined.

The point of these gaps is to allow unhindered access along the carriageway - the operative word here being along.  This is how they should be constructed.

Have English Heritage achieved this?  No, of course not.  Almost 9 months late, this is all they have been able to manage.

Between the new roundabout at Airman's Cross and the entrance to the visitor's centre carpark you have this attempt, photographed by Wiltshire Councillor and Chairman of Winterbourne Stoke Parish Council Ian West and friends,  it certainly doesn't seem fit for purpose, doesn't meet the design of Kent Carriage Gap for which planning consent was given, and wouldn't appear to be able to be used as intended by all the types of carriage it is meant to permit. 

Further along, we come to an even more egregious mess which we photographed last week in the run-up to the presidential visit!

Well, on the plus side, EH have lowered the kerb.  But that is the only positive thing that can be said about it.  The Gap is again to one side of the A344, not across it and there is no clear exit from it back onto the A344.  It's worse than that, bearing in mind that the path running from left to right comes down from the coach park and is the main access for visitors being brought in from that direction.  Now, given these pedestrians are about to cross an open highway, the A344, in very large numbers, you'd think English Heritage would have had the common sense to do a number of things.  First, leading pedestrians onto and across a highway, without warning them they are crossing one is a fairly stupid thing to do; particularly given that many of them are foreign visitors. 

Second, not warning those using the highway that there may be pedestrians about is also pretty lame, so you'd think there might be proper signage on the path and the road, "Look both ways" signs on the footpath, etc, etc, but no such luck.  All in all, when we have our first visitor mown down by a horse rider, horse and carriage or even a cyclist, the negligence on English Heritage's part will be clear.

In writing this, we realise we never actually measured the height and separation of the posts that are there, so we might have to pop up and measure them to be sure.

Ian West and friends also looked at the state of the permissive byway at the other end of the old A344, beyond Byway 12 and towards Stonehenge Bottom.  English Heritage, keen to foster the World Heritage Site's policy of encouraging visits by cyclists have signposted the route:

You've got to admire the lengths they have gone to over the last 9 months to do this!  Of course, if you take the trouble to go down that way,  avoiding the inevitable traffic jam at byway 12...

...you can get a really good view of Stonehenge, without having to pay the extortionate entry charge.  Follow this up with a visit to the museums in Amesbury, Salisbury or Devizes and you will see the best of Wiltshire's archaeology - you don't even need a local resident's pass.

All we can say is that it is a good job President Obama didn't arrive by bike and that Raffles family of Amesbury decided to walk up to Stonehenge from the east, rather than go by car, or else the six of them would never have met and English Heritage couldn't have benefited, however undeservedly, from the global human interest story that broke following the president's visit. 

So Nearly a Tragedy

Early yesterday afternoon we so nearly had a tragedy here in the heart of Winterbourne Stoke on the A303.  I heard the sirens heading along the Berwick road, and more coming up the Devizes road, as I walked on the ridge above the village and it was clear that there had been yet another accident.  The only question was, how bad?

While we are often afflicted with traffic jams, we also suffer from speeding when the road is a little clearer.  Frequently, the culprits are HGV's, racing down the hills on each side of the village, westbound and eastbound though eastbound is worst, to keep up their momentum to let them climb the hill back out of the village.  I don't mean a few miles per hour over the 40 mph speed limit, these HGV's are often travelling at well over 60 and even 70mph, if the Highways Agency's roadside speed monitors are to be believed.

In between times, if the traffic isn't stationary or trying to break the land-speed record, it is merely fast and inconsiderate.  So in every traffic state, trying to turn right onto the A303, out of the one and only access road to the village, can be fraught with danger, or simply incredibly frustrating and time consuming.  When the traffic is stationary, or very slow moving, drivers block the entrance to the village and refuse to let villagers out.  When the traffic is travelling very fast, you can pull out onto a clear road only to have an HGV screaming into view in your rear-view mirror; brakes smoking and horn blaring.  In between these two extremes you get a bit of both.  You can wait for a long, long time for a gap to appear in both lanes of traffic and west-bound drivers, even though they will have had clear site of you waiting patiently for over half a mile, still refuse to let you pull out.  This state of the traffic can be the worst of all and passengers have been known to get out of the car, run down to the crossing in an attempt to create a gap in the traffic.

Then sometimes, just sometimes, you get a nice person who tries to be helpful and let you out of the village onto the A303.  That's what happened yesterday and as a result, an act of kindness so nearly ended in tragedy.

Basically, what happened was this.  A young nanny was trying to leave the village, with two of her young charges in the car.  There was virtually no westbound traffic but a constant stream eastbound.  After waiting some while, a kind eastbound driver in a blue car stopped and beckoned her to pull out.  She made one last check of the road, especially the westbound A303 and when she looked back in preparation to pull out, there was a loud bang and the blue car seemed to have tuned into a silver one and then a big, white HGV, spewing red liquid..  Confused, she hesitated.  Had she pulled out without first checking, things could have ended so differently.  Fortunately, her car was untouched and she was able to reverse back, safely, into the village.

What seems to have happened is this.  The blue car came to a stop and beckoned our driver out of the village.  Further back down the road, and I will make no comment as to the hows and whys of what happened next here,  a large articulated tanker from the Netherlands failed to stop and hit a silver car in the rear.  It was this car that shot forward and into our nanny's field of vision replacing the blue car after hitting it in the rear and, in-turn, being replaced by the HGV.  This is the scene after the emergency services arrived:

The HGV was pretty well beaten up:

The front of the silver car wasn't very pretty either:

However, it was the rear that took the full force of the HGV:

Now, it doesn't seem to have been a very high speed collision,  but whatever combination of speed and distance from the car in front pertained, the lorry driver was unable to stop in time.  The HGV is only three years old, so a relatively new vehicle - unlike many of those that hurtle through.  It doesn't take take much imagination to picture what might have been had one of the leading cars, or the HGV, hit the side of the nanny's car; T-boning it.  Less imagination still to picture the scene if the HGV had been racing into the village as many do - 10mph, 20mph or even 30mph + over the speed limit.

Half-a-dozen people were very lucky yesterday; fortunately with no-one suffering serious injuries.  Yet again, another accident in Winterbourne Stoke shows the unsuitability of the A303 for its purpose as a major strategic route to the West Country and the dangers that the current road poses for the villages that lie alongside the single-carriageway sections of the entire A303/A30/A358 corridor.

This is just one of the reasons why WiSBAng and STAG are campaigning to ensure that the this important road corridor is dualled along its entire length, and as soon as possible.

The Department for Transport Set The Scene

So, what's been happening with the A303/A30/A358 Feasibility Study since January 2014?  There was a meeting on 20th May 2014 in Taunton and the Department for Transport provided some useful background information.   Clearly, not everyone can attend these meetings, but there are an awful lot of people who have an interest in the process that is now underway and in the final outcome.  It seems only sensible to allow people to see the information for themselves and give them the opportunity to question and comment.

Rather than give you our impressions and opinions, here is what the Department of Transport presented.  It's the sort of thing that, given the level of public interest, the DfT really ought to be publishing on their own web-site. Please make your own minds up and let us know what you think.

140429 A303 Feasibility Study Reference Group Meeting Final 200514 v1 by Blonini1

Wooly Thinking on the A303 And Stonehenge From Tom Corbin

In a letter to the Salisbury Journal of 14th May 20214, Tom Corbin, Labour's parliamentary candidate for the Salisbury constituency demonstrates some particularly woolly thinking on the future of the A303 past Stonehenge. 

Tom Corbin

In fact, as woolliness goes, it outdoes many of the sheep that wander round the stones from time to time.

Sheep

 Having mentioned his support for HS2, oh, and the fact that he is a rail-worker who might just have a vested interest in railways, he begins his comments on the A303 with:

"The argument is about the importance of improving national infrastructure based on value for money and economic returns whilst competing for funding against other national roads projects".

We wouldn't disagree with that, providing of course that value for money was determined on a fair basis and one that didn't unduly favour urban projects more than rural ones because of the distorted way in which government data has been collected.  For instance, road usage data is collected on any days that aren't: weekends, public holidays, school holidays, etc, etc.  Just the times when the A303 traffic flow is minimal and that on urban roads is maximal.

Mr Corbin then shoots his value for money argument in the foot by writing:

"Taking in some of the arguments for a tunnel or cutting as part of A303 improvements, if passing traffic can no longer enjoy the views of Stonehenge then aside from a fall in drop in visitor numbers everyone will miss out on seeing the iconic stones in the varying daylight conditions year round, something we should be able to enjoy just as we do with other scenic views."

Poppycock Mr Corbin.   Strangely, I can't see Blackpool Tower from the A303.  It's clearly my unalienable right to look at Blackpool Tower, but if I can't see it from the A303, it's up to me to make the effort and get a bit closer.  The same goes for Stonehenge.   If it is shoved in a tunnel, lowered in a cutting, or moved a few miles north or south of its present route, then people will need to make a bit of an effort to see it - like we do for any other scenic view.

"Only a few people would pay to see the stones several times a year". 

"This treasure should not be isolated from view, or it will slip from our consciousness."

Almost certainly true, but pretty disingenuous.  Even without seeing Stonehenge from the A303, no-one needs to pay to see Stonehenge at all.  Everyone, with or without their bikes, horses and carriages, are able to freely wander past the stones, along the course of the A344, Byway 12, or across the open-access National Trust land to the north. OK, English Heritage would be happier if you ransomed your granny and got a little bit closer to the stones, or even sacrificed your first-born for the privilege of a special visit within the stone circle itself, but for most people, if you can't touch actually touch the stones, then whether you are 50 metres away or 200 is somewhat academic. 

As we have demonstrated unequivocally in recent weeks,  passers-by slowing to look at Stonehenge are the root cause of many of the A303 traffic jams, not just the volume of traffic.  The best way to ensure this problem stops in the short and long term is by removing the ability to see the stones from the A303.

In the short term, sight-screens might help a little on the stretch of the A303 closest to Stonehenge.  In the long term, the solution will be to move the road, vertically or horizontally, a sufficient depth or distance such that the stones can no longer be seen from the road. Tom Corbin would have made a great deal more sense had he said something along the lines of:

"This treasure should be isolated from the view of motorists to ENSURE it will slip from their consciousness and not encourage them to slow unnecessarily; thereby hindering other road users, increasing travelling time to the south west of England, burning additional fuel, delaying workers, enraging locals and tourists alike, wasting money, increasing chemical and noise pollution." 

Stuck on the A303? - Win One of Two Bottles of Bubbly

 Win One of Two Bottles of Bubbly

It's been just over a year since adysayswakeupffs posted his marvellous video entitled "The A303 at 1000 mph" on You Tube.  We thought it was so brilliant that we ran a competition last year to see if anyone had experienced a worse journey, but by New Year's Day, no-one had - so our prizes went unclaimed.   We are so sure that someone is going to have a slower journey this summer that we are running the competition again, starting today, Easter Sunday.

The Rules

This year we have two bottles of bubbly on offer to the winner(s).   The rules are very simple.  All you have to do is either:

(a) Repeat the the journey along the whole 90 mile length of the A303 and record it on video.  
 or:
(b) Just record your journey between the Countess Roundabout in Amesbury and the A303 junction with the A36 at Deptford and record that on video.

Submit the video to YouTube and send us the link using the Contact Form at the foot of the page - or use the Contact Foem and we'll work out a way to get the video from you another way!

1.  The winning video will have the highest percentage of the overall journey time stuck in traffic between the Countess Roundabout at Amesbury and the A303 junction with the A36 at Wylye (Deptford).

2.  Journeys can be recorded West to East or East to West.

3.  We do not condone breaking any traffic laws in pursuit of the prize.

4.  Our decision as to the winner is final!

5.  The winner will be announced on 21st September (the Equinox) - or as soon afterwards as we can manage!

Extra Prizes!!!!!!!  f you know your attempt at glory has failed, but happen to record something of particular interest to our campaign, caused by the poor quality of the A303, then let us see it anyway, their may be additional spot prizes for interesting stuff.

If you want to get involved by sponsoring a competition, then we would love to hear from you!

No Plan Survives Contact With The Enemy...

...in this case, the "enemy" was the great British travelling public heading westbound for the West Country this Easter weekend.  Clearly, they weren't the type of enemy that Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke (usually referred to as Moltke the Elder) had in mind when he first came out with the phrase: "No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength" (more usually shortened to : "no plan survives contact with the enemy,") Von Molke, generally regarded as the best military strategist of the late 19th century, the "inventor" of the terminology of red and blue forces in military wargaming,  was also a master logistician who understood the issues involved in moving large numbers of men and machines around - hence his relevance to the A303.

Back on the 24th of March, at a meeting sponsored by Inspector Christian Lange of Wiltshire Police, most of the interested parties got round a table to try and sort out a few expedient measures to ease the anticipated traffic hell over the Easter weekend.  Lots of ideas were put forward and people went off to beaver away to put things in place as quickly as possible.

Perhaps the organisation with the most to do was English Heritage. To their credit, having taken on board what was needed, Kate Davies, the General Manager at Stonehenge, got a lot done in a very short space of time.  Here is what the folks at Stonehenge had implemented in time for the anticipated rush the is weekend and a few of the the things they have planned for the the longer term.  The hope was that by improving the traffic situation on the A360 between the Stonehenge Visitors Centre entrance at Airman's Cross and the Longbarrow Roundabout on the A303, their would be less of an impact on both the local traffic on the A360 and the holidaymakers on the A303. In Kate Davies' own words, these are the measures they put in place and plan:

"Our overflow car par is now open and we have purchased tracking to cover main areas of wear in overflow car park (i.e. entrance and exit) to ensure use in all weathers. 
 
We have car park attendants directing all cars on arrival, ensuring every space is utilised.
 
A £5 car parking charge will be in operation to non-ticket holders to deter people using the car park as a service station during busy times.
 
A large scale marketing campaign commenced in March to promote ‘pre-book essential’ message.  
This marketing included national campaign and regional London and South-West campaign in a variety of different formats (film, poster, digital etc).  Digital adverts include placements on AA Routeplanner (these are activated when any journey passes the Stonehenge area).
 
We also have a social media campaign to push pre-booking.  As more people become aware of our timed-ticketing system, we’ll have less visitor bottlenecks.  We have seen a month-on-month increase in the number of people booking in advance. 
       
We have contact numbers for AA Road-watch, National and local radio traffic bulletins, FRIXO etc. ready to send out messages when we are approaching capacity.

We have also commissioned a feasibility study for variable message sign on the A303 via Highways Agency.  Whilst we await this we have temporary AA yellow signs to alert people if the car park is full to place near to the visitor centre".

That takes us back to Moltke the Elder.  Despite every traffic expert predicting that the volume of traffic on the A303 would be horrendous and there would be huge traffic jams, the volume of traffic has been much, much less than expected.  The "enemy", the travelling public has done the unexpected.  They didn't all head westwards on Thursday, nor on Friday.  Here in Winterbourne Stoke, there were never more than 25-30 vehicles per minute and the traffic was really only stationary when someone used the pedestrian crossing.  Here's a still from a video taken on Good Friday at a time we would normally expect stationary traffic nose-to-tail through the village.

Of course, those of you who were using the A303 on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday probably got stuck for long periods on the approach to Countess Roundabout in Amesbury and onwards, past Stonehenge, until you got tp the Longbarrow Roundabout.  Here's a shot taken by the Highways Agency traffic camera at Solstice Park in Amesbury, a few minutes before the video above was shot:

 Clearly, standing traffic down to the Countess Roundabout.  Whatever is causing THIS jam has nothing to do with the volume of traffic, as this Easter weekend has been significantly quieter than your average Thursday of Friday. 

It has everything to do with the behaviour of some motorists as they pass Stonehenge.  In our previous post, we proposed an explanation for what is going on, how it affects the traffic and how it might be prevented. 

However, it is achieved, the traffic past Stonehenge has to be prevented from stopping to get a better view of the stones, to take a snap...

or even, as in the case of one of Norbert Dentressangle's finest, slowing to a stop to pull off the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom to have a nap (there are proper lay-bys only a km or so east or west of this point)!

So, the grand plans to cope with large volumes of traffic didn't survive contact with the "enemy", because by and large, the "enemy" chose not to come to Wiltshire this Easter.  However, what we have learned this weekend is that none of the measures that have been instituted, so far, survived contact with even the few westbound 'enemy" that did put in an appearance.  That isn't good news and doesn't bode well for high summer.

 Perhaps simply blocking the view of Stonehenge from the A303 - however incomplete and imperfect that would have to be, as a short-term, temporary, and expedient measure - might be the only realistic option.

The Stonehenge Effect - Why Not All Traffic Jams Are Equal - A Soliton For the Masses

This weekend was set to be the first sunny weekend of 2014 - and only a week away from Easter.  We were expecting problems with the volume of traffic and jams westbound on Friday and Saturday morning and we anticipate more heading eastbound this evening.  However, the jams have been a little odd, to say the least.  On Friday afternoon,  we had the anticipated westbound tailbacks at the Countess roundabout in Amesbury, but traffic through Winterbourne Stoke was steady and not excessively heavy.  Strangely, the Highways Agency camera that is located near to the Solstice Park in Amesbury was out of action.  Strange that; it seems to happen an awful lot when the A303 is busy.  "Conspiracy " you cry!  Well, you might be right, the Highways Agency can't always be allowed to get away with the excuse of coincidental equipment failure or incompetence.  Perhaps they really are switching off cameras that might cause them embarrassment?

Expecting heavy westbound traffic, SWMBO left Winterbourne Stoke at 4:00pm on Friday - often a peak jam time - and drove to Barnstaple in North Devon.  She later reported that the drive was easy and traffic was very light.  Odd, given the massive tailbacks east of here

Eastbound traffic wasn't playing ball either.  From late morning to late afternoon, the eastbound traffic was virtually at a standstill; tailing back as far as the A36 interchange at Deptford.

Eastbound traffic at Winterbourne Stoke

Spire FM, our local radio station was expressing a degree of surprise as no-one appeared to know what was causing the jam.  Curiouser and curiouser.

On Saturday morning, we held a STAG meeting to discuss activities in the run-up to Easter; a period we expect to be hellish as it is going to be the first potentially warm and sunny Bank Holiday since the new Stonehenge Visitor's Centre opened and the half-baked changes to the Longbarrow Roundabout completed.  We agreed to take a look at the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom and in Winterbourne Stoke and leaflet the standing traffic if the opportunity arose.

When we got back to Winterbourne Stoke from Shrewton, we were staggered to see that there was so little traffic to be seen on the A303.  We really though there had been an accident and we checked all our usual sources of information.  No, nothing.  Puzzled, we fired a text message to Stagman and Watch Bustard to tell them that traffic was light.

Saturday Afternoon in Winterbourne Stoke - Where's the traffic?

Seconds later, we got a somewhat incredulous reply from Stagman who was by the side of the westbound A303 opposite Stonhenge Cottages - just to the east of Stonehenge Bottom.   Stagman pointed out that he was, as we exchanged text messages, wandering between two lanes of standing traffic distributing STAG leaflets.   Good to see that he was purposeful in this activity as otherwise he might have been accused of ganderflanking - we can't be having any of that can we?

Compare what was going on at Winterbourne Stoke above to the situation at Stonehenge Bottom at exactly the same time:

Westbound A303 - Stonehenge Hoves Into View

 The view back towards Amesbury looked like this:

Westbound Traffic and the Stagmobile

Don't worry, Stagman's sign is double-sided, so the westbound travellers could see it and passengers could snap the QR code on their mobile phones and get linked to the STAG petition.

We were so STAGgered by the contrast that we recorded 30 minutes of westbound A303 traffic as a video.  We've either speeded it up a wee bit or most of the traffic was travelling at over 400mph.  Either way, the clip only last about 18 seconds!

Clearly, something odd has been happening.  Despite it being a fine and sunny weekend, it seems the level of traffic on the A303 has been surprisingly light; certainly much less than we had anticipated.  We expect that we are going to see that sort of traffic density from mid-Maundy Thursday into next weekend.   So this odd phenomenon over the weekend seems to be the first confirmed case of the "Stonehenge Effect".

So what is the Stonehenge Effect?  Well, it seems that the closure of the A344 and the "visit Stonehenge by timed appointment (preferred) policy" has driven the majority of those who used to stop on the A344 for a few minutes, or those who might pop in for a 30 minute look-see, to do something else.

Those of you who regularly use the A303 know exactly what they do.  They get parallel with the stones, just west of Stonehenge Bottom, they slow, or even come to a complete stop, then a passenger or even the driver will whip out a smart-phone or camera and take a snap - or even a selfie!   "It's only a second or ten," they would plead if stopped by Wiltshire Police's finest.  "What harm can it possibly do?

Well, dear traveller.  It seems that you have been the victim of something called a soliton - a self-reinforcing solitary wave.  It's a well recognised phenomenon on roads and motorways that is also called a traffic wave, a stop wave, or a traffic shock.  It's usually created when some muppet brakes hard in traffic for no apparent reason, or changes lane without indicating, forcing traffic behind to brake as well.  Now cars can join a queue of standing traffic faster than they can leave the queue, so normally the soliton travels back down the road in the opposite direction to the normal traffic flow as shown in the diagram below.  The blue bulge represents the volume of traffic on a "normal" road.  Here the traffic is trying to go from right to left.  The big red arrow shows that when the soliton forms, it moves against the traffic - once the event that caused. it in the first place has ended.

However, at Stonehenge Bottom, we have a nightmare situation.  Lots of similar soliton-generating events are happening at exactly the same point on the A303 - by Stonehenge.  In this case, once the soliton has formed, the start point stays exactly where it was and the end keeps on travelling back against the traffic flow.   It should be fairly obvious that a major jam is going to form even with relatively light traffic and that is why we have been having problems all winter.

Soliton's also form when sheer volume of traffic blocks the A303 at choke points or turnings - such as the ends of each dual-carriageway section of the road where traffic is compressed back into a single carriageway.  When the westbound traffic is really busy on the A303, a second soliton is often formed west of Winterbourne Stoke near Deptford and the rear of the soliton moves back east towards Winterbourne Stoke and collides with the leading edge of the Stonehenge soliton.  The result is a massive and persistent jam - such as the ones that will begin next weekend.

What can be done about it and how can we stop the soliton's forming before the A303 is dualled?  Fairly simply, maybe.  Traffic management, pure and simple.  The best way to achieve this is probably counter-intuitive, but it would simply to be to turn the A303 back into a single carriageway road, on all the dualled sections, from Thursday lunchtime to Monday lunchtime.  That would get rid of all the 2-into-1 soliton's.  The Stonehenge soliton can be prevented if the traffic is kept moving continuously through the World Heritage site.  The best way to do this would be to prevent cars from seeing the stones.  If this can't be done, because it conflicts with World Heritage Site aspirations, etc., then the section of road must be policed effectively with the full economic costs of doing this falling to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

So, we now have another meaning for our SH2 symbol - in addition to parasitising HS2 with its meaning of "Stonehenge Dual-carriageway" it now can also mean "Soliton Here As Well!"

Close, But No Cigar!

Those of you who frequently travel the A303, west-bound through Winterbourne Stoke, may have noticed a new feature that has appeared on a lamp standard on the northern side of the carriageway between the Bell Inn - purveyors of fine breakfasts and other comestibles and the Stonehenge Filling Station - vendors of Murco fuels and more besides.

It's a bit hard to spot and perhaps we should add a large fluorescent arrow in real life to draw attention to its presence.  We have a speed board - just to emphasise that Winterbourne Stoke is a 40 mph limit.

Some of these boards are powered by mains - usually from the lamp standard on which they are mounted.  Others are solar, or wind powered.  The rest are battery powered - and I would guess that this is one of those.  Battery life is limited by the number of vehicles passing the sign and causing it to light up and flash.  Needless to say, there is quite a bit of traffic on the A303, so the sign has been busy.  When I went down to the A303 at lunchtime today, the sign was dead.  More deceased than the deadest Norwegian Blue parrot.  Pity that.  It is unlikely to be working in time to flash at the travelling public as they head to the South West on the Highway to Hell this weekend.  So, whoever erected the sign came close to doing something useful, but on this occasion, gets no cigar.  I think a mains-powered variant may be called for.

However, even over the last couple of days, the sign has managed to shock one villager.  He's worked alongside the A303 for several years and should be pretty unshockable when it comes to the idiotic behaviour of some drivers.  We encounter them every day - the HGV drivers who are travelling so fast they set fire to their brakes when they try, and frequently fail, to stop in time for the pedestrian crossing; the BMW driver who overtakes on the double white lines, or white-van man who insists on blocking the access to the one road into the village.

So why was our friend so shocked?  He spotted the sign registering 72mph.

And people wonder why we want a bypass!

LHVs and What They Might Mean for the A303 and the West of England

LHVs - Longer, Heavier Vehicles - have been back in the news again this week, with an interesting story in the Western Gazette of Friday 21st February 2014 with the suitably emotive title of "A303 DUAL IT: New Laws Could See Monster Trucks Wreak Havoc on the A303".

The article begins: "...Mega trucks measuring up to 82ft in length could be allowed into Britain under new EU laws. Draft legislation being considered by the European Parliament would permit lorries longer than two double decker buses, and weighing up to 60 tonnes, to cross international borders for the first time..."

We thought we'd better take a look, and then take a position on this story.  Clearly, the A303 as it stands, is already unsuitable for the types of HGV loads already being carried - especially on the single-carriageway sections which despite Highways Agency bleatings, are too narrow to accommodate the current generation of HGVs.  Roundabouts on the A303 regularly have HGVs overturning on them because they fail to negotiate them at speed.

So, what is the truth about these Mega trucks?  We all know the danger of relying on newspapers of accurate information - on just about anything - so we went back to try and find the origins of this story from some more reputable sources.  We found two interesting reports.  The first "Longer and/or Longer and Heavier Goods Vehicles (LHVs) – a Study of the Likely Effects if Permitted in the UK: Final Report" written by the UK's Transport Research Labs in 2008:

This makes clear that this whole story is nothing new.  In fact, two UK companies pressed to be allowed to trial LFVs in the UK as long ago as 2005, but were refused.  As interest in LFVs was growing in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, the DfT commissioned TRL and Herriott-Watt University.  It's a very long report, but if you are interested, it is well worth reading the Executive Summary and the précis of the findings.  As might be expected, the findings are bit of a curates egg, but overall, it seems to come out in favour - but there were problems anticipated by both the length and the weight of these vehicles.

One interesting finding is reproduced here:

"...If LHVs were to be permitted then European legislation would be very likely to substantially constrain the UKs ability to permit only those specific types of LHV with characteristics considered desirable to protect the UK infrastructure. The current European legislation would also be likely to make it difficult to require the fitting of specific additional safety equipment that could mitigate any increased accident risks. Suitable amendments to the European legislation would be required to be certain of the outcome. The UK regulations on speed limits for multi-trailer combinations would also be likely to require amendment, even if such vehicles were to be permitted by Special Order, because their speed would otherwise be limited to 40 mile/h on motorways and 20 mile/h on all other roads..."

Reading between the lines, we think this is really an admission of it being a case of when it happens and not if it happens.

Another concern was that introducing LFVs might precipitate a shift of freight traffic from rail to road.  Given the loss of the main rail link to the West Country in recent weeks, the pressure to provide a credible alternative can only grow.

The second paper, written for the European Commission in 2009, "Longer and Heavier Vehicles for Freight Transport" is also of interest to us as it begins:

"The European Commission is considering the implications of allowing the use of Longer and Heavier Vehicles a for road freight transport (abbreviated as LHVs in this study), measuring up to 25.25 m and weighing up to 60 tons, for the whole of the European Union transport system. Such trucks are already in circulation in Finland and Sweden, while several Member States are considering their introduction".

So, as we suspected, the Western Gazette is hyping this aspect of their story a wee bit; this is far from a new plan and the EU have been considering it for at least 5 years.  As far as the plan to use them, eventually, in the UK as a whole, it really shouldn't be a surprise.

However, where we would agree with the Western Gazette is in the likely impact on the A303/A358/A30 corridor.  It would be an unmitigated disaster with, we suspect, some dire consequences in terms of lives lost and blighted by accident - all the evidence suggests more accidents per km travelled than for existing HGVs.  They would be horrendous on any of the single carriageway sections of the A303 such as that past Stonehenge and through Winterbourne Stoke, but imagine them trying to negotiate the bends and steep climbs of the Blackdown Hills.

Lest anyone believe that no-one would even consider putting these things on West Country roads as they stand, then this diagram from the report should shatter that illusion:

See the little red dots in Cornwall!  Enough said.

So what is our position on LHVs?  Well, in the short term, even with the rail problems that the West Country now faces and is likely to face in the foreseeable future, we should be robust in keeping them off the A303, the A358 and the A30.  The risk to life and limb is simply too great.

In the longer term. the government has to look at an integrated traffic infrastructure plan for the west of England - providing a sustainable rail link to the tip of Cornwall as well as dualling the A303.  If this can be done, then there may be less of a need for LHV's - though we fear the economic and environmental case for doing so may be hard to overturn. 

English Heritage Getting It Right At Stonehenge

After months of berating English Heritage for the closure of the A344,  the subsequent traffic misery in surrounding villages and on the A303 and much else besides, it is a real pleasure to be able to say something positive about them, and twice in one day.

Upon hearing that some modifications had been made to the entrance to the A344 subsequent to our meeting with English Heritage, STAG's trusty staff photographer, Snapper Dave, was dispatched to Stonehenge post-haste to collect the evidence.  So here we have it, a cut round the gate to allow pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders to continue along the A344 without let or hindrance.

OK, it isn't exactly pretty, it's actually a bit of a mess, but the inclement weather hasn't exactly helped and it was done at very short notice - and it is certainly no worse than any of the other byways in the area at the moment.  Of course, it is also something of a temporary "fix" as the Kent Carriage Gap - to allow carriages pulled by horses through - hasn't yet been installed.  But it is a real start and as such,  much appreciated by all potential users.

So a big and heartfelt thank you to English Heritage and specifically, to Kate Davies, Stonehenge's General Manager.  A positive step on the path to building confidence.

English Heritage - Some Hope For The Future?

On Thursday evening (06/02/2014) , STAG met with representatives of English Heritage in Shrewton.  The purpose of the meeting was twofold and in line with an earlier meeting we had held with the National Trust.  Firstly, we wanted to speak to English Heritage about the forthcoming A303 feasibility study and our desire, if possible, to cooperate with them, in an effort to achieve a result that benefited all.

Second, we pointed out that the closure of the A344, English Heritage's somewhat disingenuous attempts to blame Wiltshire Council for the closure, the subsequent traffic chaos on the A303, the A360 and a raft of other local roads, their failure to comply with specific conditions of the planning permission granted for the construction of the new visitor's centre (including their failure to allow unfettered access to the A344, 24/7 , for everything other than motorized vehicles) and some other minor niggles meant there was a feeling of distrust of English Heritage in the local community.  We also pointed out that this built on issues that had arisen from previous dealings with English Heritage on the A303 over a number of decades.

So, whilst we were being genuine in our desire to work with English Heritage in the future, there were some legacy issues that would need to be addressed before the local community could buy in to this engagement wholeheartedly.

Clearly, this was something of a mixed message and it would have been very easy for the meeting to have become overly acrimonious on our part, or for the English Heritage reps to simply walk away and refuse to engage. 

Neither of those things happened - which was a measure of success in itself.  We also got the feeling that English Heritage perhaps hadn't fully appreciated some of the issues that had so annoyed the local community.   We suggested some short term measures that might be considered as ways of alleviating the traffic problems in the area, on the A303 and on the local roads around Stonehenge, and English Heritage also suggested other ideas.  Collectively, all would be worth raising with other stakeholders like Wiltshire Council,  the Highways Agency and Parish Councils.

All in all, from the STAG perspective, a helpful first meeting.  I say first, because we hope it will not be the last - more meetings will be needed if much of the talk is to be translated into action. 

Perhaps actions speak louder than words?   We have heard just heard indirectly that changes have been made to the access to the A344 from the A360 and it now possible for pedestrians and cyclists to have unfettered access 24/7.  That might sound trivial, but it's a good start.  It is encouraging for the future and something on which we can build.

The Fragile Routes to the West of England - Wessex Sub Aqueanus

Over the last month, we have seen the fragility of the transport infrastructure through Wessex.  First we had the closure of the A303 in Somerset A303 between the Podimore and Cartgate Roundabouts on Christmas Eve when the River Yeo burst its banks.

Then we had a second closure of the A303, at the Deptford Junction with the A36, caused by rising groundwater levels on the western edge of Salisbury Plain.  Even after the initial flood subsided a wee bit, we still had a contraflow working for some time as it took some time for all carriageways and the slip roads to clear.  Even this week, the A303 westbound has been closed at night to allow the damage caused by the flooding to be repaired.

The rain has continued at a lower intensity for the last couple of weeks, and the A303 seems to be safe for the moment.  That said, groundwater levels haven't dropped at all on Salisbury Plain, even though the levels in the River Till, through Winterbourne Stoke have dropped around 5-10 cm.  Today, the Tilshead borehole levels look like this:

Of course, yesterday, we had yet more rain and storm surges throughout the Wessex region.  We had 14.7mm here in Winterbourne Stoke, but that was trivial compared to levels further West.  The Somerset Levels,  already suffering for over a month from the floods, exacerbated by the abject failure of the Environment Agency to effectively dredge blocked water channels, has water levels rising yet again.  King Canute couldn't hold back the water and sadly, it seems, neither can Prince Charles - but at least he took the time to go, showed REAL understanding of the issues and concerned for those he met.

The rain and the spring tides and high winds wrought damage further west in Dawlish, tearing out the ballast under the main line from Exeter to Penzance, ripping out the adjacent road and threatening houses and businesses.

This morning on  TV,  a Network Rail spokesman was suggesting that it might take 6 weeks and tens of millions of pounds, if not one to two hundred million pounds,  to put right the damage caused in an hour of nature at its most furious.  And still more rain and high winds are predicted in the coming days - with rain levels on high ground predicted to be up to 20-40mm per day - higher than anything we have seen this winter by a good margin.

This all raises a number of very important questions for the Wessex transport infrastucture.  We have lost the major rail line for a number of weeks - assuming there is no further damage.  Passengers and freight are going to have to transfer to the roads - the A303 and the M4/M5 further north.  With the additional predicted rain, there seems to be a possibility that further flooding of the A303 might occur this weekend or early next week - pushing all that traffic on to the northern route.  

Engineers talk of a "single point of failure" (SPOF!), which is the part of a system, that if it fails, will cause the rest of the system to fail.  With multiple means of transport through Wessex, there was no SPOF, but it is possible that within hours or days, there will only be one point in the transport infrastructure left and only one to fail - the M4/M5 corridor.  A single minor incident on the motorway could stop traffic in any numbers getting through Wiltshire/Avon and in to Devon and Cornwall. Diversionary routes south through the Somerset levels are simply not viable.

I hope politicians locally and nationally are looking at this and thinking of the consequences.  In our campaign to improve the A303 west from the Hampshire border, we are often told that it will be the economic case that decides whether the A303 is improved,  rather than providing yet more roads/extra carriageways  in urban areas.  Somerset Council are pretty much on the ball and have made an excellent financial case for improving the A303/A358/A30 corridor.  Wiltshire Council seem to be riding very much on their coat tails - or worse.  Their level of engagement and activity has been described to me in very graphic terms:  "Thumbs up bums - brains in neutral!"  Certainly, trying to get a response from those with a transport brief on the Council is nigh on impossible - Wiltshire Council - where people mutter.

Perhaps Mother Nature has done us a major service by pointing out the real economic issues involved here.  From Stonehenge westwards along the whole of the A303/A358/A30 corridor, tourism is the major industry - and to take advantage of tourism, there is one over-riding priority - to get the tourists to the places they want to visit.  No means of the tourist getting there, no tourism.  No tourism, no jobs.  No jobs - no economy.

To support the tourism, goods need to be shipped in.  No rail and no road, no goods shipped in.  No goods, no tourists, no employment, no economy.  And, of course, everything that goes in has to get out again - along the same. limited routes.

For the Wessex region, it really is that simple - the transport infrastructure is its life blood - and with so few alternatives, it really is a unique situation that must be addressed as such.  Perhaps even Wiltshire Council can be encouraged to de-digitate and get on with it!

Highways Agency Lose the A303 !

We held another STAG War Council this morning, over at Stagman Towers in Shrewton.

 A very lively meeting with lots of ground covered and an abundance of ideas and enthusiasm for taking things forward. Most importantly, a lot of pragmatic ideas for engagement with the broader stakeholder community and for improving the local situation in the short, medium and longer term.

Some interesting things planned over the forthcoming months and at least one "event" that should gain some Press coverage - and if we play our cards right - coverage from some interesting quarters.  

Imagine our surprise to discover that the Highways Agency have, seemingly, lost the A303 at Amesbury.  Not forgotten about it, or even just mislaid it.  They appear to have lost it entirely:

Lost the A303, that is.