Go back to decent rail infra (back meaning was there ever any?!) for freight and local distribution hubs. Like the bloke who would take his horse and cart to the canal to pick up goods to distribute to shop keepers and markets. More local jobs, less distance travelling, better life standards. Work local. But local. Love local.
I travel back and forward on the 303 at least once a month, yes, it slows up there but it's a great landmark and worth the wait. Please don't waste any more of our money on projects like this when you can't even maintain the existing infrastructure.
This I 100% agree with. In the meantime restrict HGV movement during the day. More people on bikes/scoots for small trips and having groceries etc delivered would keep cars off the road too.
certainly a good age detector on here, I remember seeing one in Staines (an AA box in service) but over 60 years ago.
It will be ten years of planning and arguing about who will pay for it and arguing with those whose land they need to buy. Ten years of politicians working out how they can make themselves and their mates millionaires out of it. Ten years of wondering why Brits no longer want to do these jobs and having to let those 'damn foreigners' in to do it. By which time cars will be a thing of the past.
We had to go near Stonehenge on Saturday, as we went to Somerset. Where we'd normally avoid the queues of traffic by turning off at Amesbury, and cutting the corner via Larkhill, it seems that every bugger now also does the same, so the traffic was gridlocked that way as well. I feel for anyone living in the area while this tunnel gets built, as it will be absolute chaos for years to come. Yes, it'll be great once it's done, but the disruption it'll cause in the meantime will be bloody awful. We don't go that way often, but in the future, I'll be researching alternative routes for trips to Somerset, or god forbid, the train if we're going to Devon or Cornwall, as I really can't be arsed with the headache any more.
i had to go to Glastonbury this year and Google satnav came up with an alternative just before "negotiating" above and so decided to trust the suggested route*. It was a pleasant and virtually traffic-free route and hardly took much longer. * Shrewton/Chitterne/B390 etc
The reality is we need to be reducing the number of vehicles on the road. Freight won’t go by train because we haven’t invested in it to make it viable.
to sum up: – "people" will always take the easiest, laziest route (NPI), something understood by "entrepreneurs" only too well who will always strive to take advantage of this wherever possible.
Yep, that’s the route we normally do, but it was gridlocked, so we turned around and headed towards Devizes. What should be a 90 minute journey was nearly 3 hours.
i'm guessing it must have been peak of holiday-makers/caravan owners heading West? as you would think Glastonbury weekend ought to be one of the worst.
The issue will be how its paid for. The Dartford tunnel/bridge for example was supposed to become "free" once paid for, then reduced the cost to pay for maintenance only but wont happen as it made too much money basically. Soon as the M6 toll was built and people pay it to avoid getting stuck in Birmingham its become acceptable that new roads can be tolled. So, it may well happen, but will be at a cost to us once its done.
Here is the proposed route from highways England. It gets ride of the Countess & Longbarrow roundabouts, replaces the existing road with a dual carriageway and bypasses Winterbourne Stoke. The tunnel works are well away from Stonehenge.
