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Wednesday 24 June 2015

Ah fink they got it wrong again...Dad.....

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/resurfacing-repairs-on-a303-near-amesbury

Resurfacing repairs on A303 near Amesbury



Highways England is taking swift action to carry out important remedial works on the A303 near Amesbury.

Following investigations, resurfacing work carried out on the A303 between Countess Roundabout and Cholderton last winter, will need replacing because the stone used in the original scheme was contaminated with low quality materials. .
Highways England project manager, Paul Vosper said:
We sincerely apologise to our customers for the disruption these additional works will cause, but it’s vitally important the surfacing on this busy main route is replaced quickly to ensure safe and reliable journeys for many years to come.
Leaving the surface in place for any longer than necessary could possibly lead to further unplanned problems in the future and further disruption. That is why we have acted quickly to rectify the situation and well ahead of the school summer holidays when traffic flows increase significantly.
We have consulted with Wiltshire Council to ensure the work is completed with the minimum of disruption.
Our suppliers recognise the issues and are working at their own expense to ensure the road is repaired and will provide trouble free use for many years to come.
The scheme, between Countess Roundabout and Cholderton, will affect the east and westbound carriageway of the A303 for a total of five miles and will be carried out overnight between 8.00pm and 6.00am.
Work starts on Tuesday, 30 June and continues until Thursday, 18 July. During the first week, work will last from Tuesday to Friday, with the remaining two weeks taking place Monday to Thursday.
To ensure the safety of both the travelling public and our workforce, it will be necessary to fully close sections of the A303 to through traffic, fully signed diversion routes will be in place.
Westbound traffic will be diverted via the A338, Portway and the A345. The eastbound route will take traffic via the A345 Salisbury Road, the A3028, Marlborough Road, Tidworth Road, Bulford Road and the A338 Salisbury Road.
In addition, diversion routes for local traffic travelling west will be via Solstice Park Avenue, London Road and the A345. Eastbound local traffic will be diverted via the A345, London Road and Porton Road. Through traffic will be diverted via Salisbury Road, the A3028 and the A345 Countess Road.
Additional diversion routes for all through traffic will be in place between Andover and Wylye via the A343, A30 and A36 and also via the A338.

General enquiries Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Thursday 11 June 2015

Summer Solstice 2015 stuff you need to know......

This is what they say are the "Conditions of Entry for Summer Solstice:
www.english-heritage.org.uk
                       
 
English Heritage is pleased to be providing Managed Open Access to Stonehenge for the Summer Solstice on 20-21 June 2015. 
Please help us to create a peaceful occasion by taking personal responsibility and following the Conditions of Entry and guidelines set out on these pages.
We have a duty of care to ensure public safety and are responsible for protecting Stonehenge and its surrounding Monuments. If we are to ensure that future access is sustainable, it is essential that everyone observes and abides by these Conditions of Entry.
 

These Conditions of Entry are written to ensure enjoyment and public safety for everyone.  Contravention of any of these conditions may result in entry being refused or your removal from Stonehenge.  English Heritage reserves the right to refuse entry. 
Stonehenge is seen by many as a sacred site – please respect it and please respect each other.
Stonehenge is a world renowned historic Monument and it is seen by many who attend the access as a sacred site.  Amplified Music is inappropriate and will not be permitted.
  • Drunken, disorderly, and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated; ejection, by Security staff and/or Police, without return, will be the outcome.
  • Illegal drugs are still illegal at Stonehenge as they are anywhere else.  The police will be on site during the access period and will take immediate action against anyone breaking the law.  Summer Solstice is not a good time to experiment with drugs - the crowd, the noise and the sheer size of the place are likely to make any bad reaction much, much worse.  As much of the access is at night, if you had a bad reaction it may be difficult to locate you to administer treatment.
  • Glass is not allowed at the Monument as many people walk barefoot and, in addition, livestock and wildlife also graze in the area.  If you bring any glass items with you, they will be confiscated.  
  • Only small amounts of alcohol for personal use will be permitted on to site.  Alcohol is limited to no more than the equivalent of four 500ml cans of beer/cider or 75cl of wine.  No further alcohol will be permitted on subsequent re-entry. Be warned, drug/alcohol cocktails can be lethal, so please be fully of aware of what you are doing.
  • Do not climb or stand on any of the stones – this includes the stones that have fallen.  This is in the interest of personal safety, the protection of this special site and respect for those attending.  As well as putting the stones themselves at risk, climbing on them can damage the delicate lichens.
  • In order to ensure personal safety, random searching may be undertaken, but we hope that self-policing and personal responsibility will prevail.  Any items that might be used in an illegal or offensive manner will be confiscated.
  • Camping, fires, Chinese lanterns, fireworks, candles, tea-lights or BBQs are NOT permitted at Stonehenge, in the Solstice Car Park, or anywhere in the surrounding National Trust land.
  • In the interests of safety, sleeping bags or duvets will not be allowed on site.  Sleeping on the ground can create a trip hazard especially as much of the access is during the hours of darkness.  Also, people asleep on the ground could interfere with the work of the emergency services and hinder their ability to attend an incident.  Small ground sheets and blankets will be permitted for people to sit on.  Please do not bring chairs etc (unless used as a recognised disability aid). Shooting-sticks are not permitted. If you do want to sleep during the access period, it is strongly recommended that you either return to your vehicle in the Solstice Car Park or go to one of the public gathering areas outside the Monument.
  • Drones or any type of remote-controlled flying devices are not permitted at Stonehenge or in any of the Solstice Car Parks.

Admission to Stonehenge
  • Admission to Summer Solstice at Stonehenge is free of charge
  • Children under 16 must be accompanied by a responsible adult
  • Please remember that you will not be allowed access to the Monument with the following items:
 - Large quantities of alcohol  
-  Drugs
 - Large bags or rucksacks (or similar items)
 - Sleeping bags or duvets
 - Flaming torches, Chinese lanterns, Fireworks or candles etc.
 - Dogs (with the exception of registered assistance dogs), pets or other creatures
 - Camping equipment, including foldaway chairs, garden furniture, shooting-sticks.
 - BBQs or gas cylinders
 - Glass/bottles or other glass objects
 - Trolleys, wheel barrows or any other form of porterage
 - Pushchairs or buggies that are not exclusively used for a child
 - Large “golf-style” umbrellas, gazebos
 - Drones or any kind of remote control aircraft
For full details see our page on what to bring (and what not to bring) to Summer Solstice at Stonehenge.
And from this blog:
Here is some useful "other information" bus time tables etc:

By-way 12 - the track that runs along side the monument, will close to all traffic and persons:
from 0800 on the 18th till 0800 on the 22nd June.   one could of course still use National Trust land to walk there!!!
Alcohol allowed is reckoned to be about 4 cans or a bottle of wine per person.
Alcohol will not be allowed in glass bottle form and should be transferred into a plastic bottle before going onto site.  Should you forget this rule, the bottle will be confiscated and kept in the left luggage area by www.Wiltshire.Police.uk and can be claimed "after the party"!  Contact number: 101
It's well documented that the roads around Stonehenge are busy at normal times of the year and this weekend will be nose to tail..... especially the A303.....rather than sit in a queue for 2 hours......why not take the bus:
Adults: £10.00 return
Child:   £   5.00 return
 I've provided a time table for Salisbury Reds where buses will leave from Salisbury and Amesbury at regular intervals..... or you can down load it at: www.salisburyreds.co.uk/summersolstice 

Saturday 20th June
Salisbury New Canal (U) 1830 Then at frequent intervals until 2300 Then every 15 mins until 0100
Salisbury Rail Station 1840 2310 0115
Amesbury (The Centre/A345) 1855 2325 0130
Stonehenge (Vis.Centre) 1910 2345 0145


Sunday 21th June
Stonehenge (Vis. Centre) 0400 Then at frequent intervals until 0800 0830 0845 0900 0930 0945 1000
A360 Cross Roads 0415 0815 0845 0900 0915 0945 1000 1015
Salisbury (New Canal) 0427 0827 0857 0912 0927 0957 1012 1027
Salisbury Rail Station 0435 0835 0905 0920 0935 1005 1020 R
I hope this blog is helpful, finding the detail all in one place can be easier.....have a great time and it looks like we may have another brilliant sun rise at: 04.52
Enjoy!!

 

Wednesday 3 June 2015

A303 Road Rage holds up traffic for almost an hour......

Well really! is this what it's coming to and we have at least another 5 years before work even commences -  to improve the A303!!!

Our thanks to Tristan Cork for this story in Tuesday's Western Daily Press:

Huge road rage 'affray' incident brings A303 to standstill in Wiltshire

By TristanCork  |  Posted: June 01, 2015


Read more: http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Mass-affray-road-rage-incident-brings-A303/story-26612970-detail/story.html#ixzz3bzg2WBNq
Follow us: @WesternDaily on Twitter | WesternDaily on Facebook
Police are appealing for witnesses after a mass road rage scuffle erupted among motorists driving on one of the busiest stretches of main road in the West on Saturday afternoon. 
 
Detectives said two men were arrested but many more were involved in the incident, which happened on the A303 heading east in Wiltshire.
Police said it appeared there was an altercation between the occupants of a large white motor home and three other cars, all with 'multiple occupants'. It is understood it happened on the eastbound side of the A303, the main holiday route into and out of the West, just at the point where the dual carriageway ends and a single-lane road begins between Yarnbury and Winterbourne Stoke as the road crosses Salisbury Plain.
Traffic was brought to a standstill between 4pm and 4.45pm on Saturday as the four vehicles involved pulled up in the road, got out and began arguing.
Read more: http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Mass-affray-road-rage-incident-brings-A303/story-26612970-detail/story.html#ixzz3bzfnvAWp
Follow us: @WesternDaily on Twitter | WesternDaily on Facebook


We here at STAG are very fortunate that representatives from the National Trust are engaging with us to keep us up to speed with the process to improve the A303 be it a tunnel and or dual carriageway and whatever we get, there must be a compromise by all Stakeholders!
There's a lot of work to be covered before anything can commence around the Stonehenge section of the A303 - in fact, it may well be the case, that nothing can start till 2021!!
We've said before on this blog that the dangerous section of the A303 around Stonehenge could result in a death - and unfortunately, so it did last year - see previous posting: "It is with regret".  
In waiting for the improvements to the A303 what we didn't envisage was.....a punch up!    Where on earth has chivalry gone????   But then it was our experience when handing out campaign flyers last year, that tempers are frayed on the east bound leg, so we stopped doing it and continued with the "in holiday mood" west bound queue!  
It's a great pity that mankind cannot be civil with one another, because we have the "back to work" syndrome on us!!!   So I say.....
Although not installed..... it may be something for
to consider at both the Berwick Down and West Amesbury interchanges!  Yes! I know they changed the name to Highways England.....

Or just use commonsense and......

DO IT!