As major infrastructural projects, large tunnels built with the help of TBMs and conveyor rollers can provoke intense debate, particularly if the proposed location of said tunnel happens to be under one of the world’s most famous heritage sites.
The proposed upgrade to the A303 that connects Honiton and Basingstoke has been proposed for over three decades, with the capacity and traffic issues the proposal intended to fix only intensifying over the decades.
The proposed end product, a tunnel that is much further away from the historic site than the current A303, with less noise and traffic covered by canopies of grass is appealing to several conservationists and people involved in heritage preservation.
However, it is the method of construction that has led to decades of protests, debates and issues with bringing the project forward.
The primary objection is the method of construction, which rather than using tunnel boring machinery would instead operate using a more traditional cut-and-cover system.
With potentially half a million historical artefacts buried underneath the road, the more the topsoil is disturbed, the greater the risk of these artefacts being destroyed, eliminating ancient sites, damage archaeological remains whilst not providing any improvement to the landscape if the tunnel is not long enough.
The plans were withdrawn in 2005 and cancelled outright in 2007, although by 2012 proposals had been considered for a similar upgrade to the road, one that was finally given a go-ahead by the government in 2017 and a completely different government in 2020.
Both developments led to a legal challenge and condemnation from UNESCO and other groups such as Friends of the Earth and the Stonehenge Alliance, with the former even suggesting that UK sites could lose their World Heritage status.
This legal challenge culminated with the decision by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps being ruled unlawful, and as of 2022 investigations are still taking place regarding potential alternate routes.
