Traffic count to compare with 2011

The term "RAT RUNNING" could be considered mildly insulting to some.   It's what drivers do to avoid the queues on the A303 past Stonehenge and is obvious to us who live in villages around Stonehenge, that drivers are either "rat running" by habit because they do it even when the A303 is flowing well, or they follow the warning of "queue ahead" on the sat nav and end up in our villages of Larkhill, Bulford, Shrewton then Chittern, before re joining the A303 further on......and, dare I say, once they've clocked this cut through.....it becomes the norm for regular comuters using the A303 and who can blame them!!    This can be east or west bound on most days but is worse during the weekend, and of course much worse at holiday times.   In our village of Shrewton on Salisbury Plain, the increased traffic makes our narrow High Street dangerous for local people to go about their daily lives since there are little or no pavements.   We have mothers with children, cyclists, walkers, riders and the elderly who are all now worried about using the main link road through the village.
We at STAG thought it was time to actually find out what difference to traffic numbers, closing the A344 before dualling the A303 has made and the type of traffic using our High Street now.    In May 2011, a local resident arranged and paid for a professional traffic count to be carried out in our High Street for one week, prior the the closure of the A344.  We decided to spend an hour on each of 3 days over the weekend - that same week in 2014 and the results were rather surprising.  While carrying out the traffic count, we were aware that the A303 was flowing well, if a little congested at Longbarrow, which is normal.  Taking into account this was normal weekend traffic, i.e. not a holiday, or summer, traffic north bound along the High Street has not increased by much since 2011, but one can see a significant increase in south bound traffic through the village from these numbers,  i.e. that headed west bound on the A303 but coming off on the "rat run" has, in some cases, increased by a massive 62%!!!  
 


Rat Running also changes the type of traffic using our High Street and bearing in mind it carries a 2 Ton weight limit and the basic tare weight of a Range Rover is 2.2 tons unladen....if you've come through with wife, kids, bikes and luggage rack.....do you even know the weight of your vehicle when loaded because it's far and beyond that weight!
Here are just a fraction of the vehicles who used our High Street during one hour last Friday evening...

           

I began this posting by using "the term
"RAT RUNNING" and saying it was mildly insulting".....surely this is insulting to the villagers of Shrewton when the drivers have ignored the signs at Bustard Cross Roads advising them to turn left onto the A360 instead of just proceeding straight on through our lovely village endangering one and all!!!

And all this, in just one hour between 1600 and 1700 on Friday May 9th!
The safetly issue alone here is good reason to improve the A303 past Stonehenge....please sign our petition at: www.sh2.co.uk