Do your research before going to print - Journalists!

This story appeared in today's Financial Times:

Treasury pushes for £2bn Stonehenge tunnel to be axed

https://www.ft.com/content/dc5dd91a-3943-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4
I've printed it here just in case you can't open the link without having to pay FT a subscription......
I do wish these journalists would do more thorough research before going to print....THE TUNNEL IS NOT GOING UNDER STONEHENGE.....read this blog to find out more!

 "A £2bn tunnel under Stonehenge, one of Britain’s most expensive and controversial road projects, is the subject of a fierce Whitehall struggle, as the Treasury increases pressure for the scheme to be axed. Grant Shapps, transport secretary, is committed to the project, which aims to remove a notorious bottleneck on the A303, a key arterial route from London to the south-west, but is facing strong Treasury resistance. Senior figures in the Treasury say the project is not value-for-money, especially as motorists heading for the west country — including tourists who regularly get stuck in jams at the World Heritage site — could use the M4 and M5 motorways instead. One minister admitted the Treasury was sceptical towards the scheme: “They aren’t very keen. It’s genuinely hard to say how this is going to go.” A government review of strategic roads is currently under way. Sajid Javid, chancellor, declined to comment on “rumours” and told the Financial Times last week: “Wait until my national infrastructure strategy, which will be published alongside the Budget.” Mr Shapps is hoping that Boris Johnson will take his side; the prime minister has publicly committed to upgrading the A303, which provides the most direct link between London and the Tory heartlands of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. “We will do extraordinary things with infrastructure — the A303, you name it — to improve road and rail transport to Cornwall,” Mr Johnson told the House of Commons this week. The Stonehenge tunnel is one of a series of dual carriageway schemes proposed for the route. Recommended Visual Arts Snapshot: ‘Your Stonehenge: 150 Years of Personal Photos’ Stonehenge has long been the venue for Britain’s most scenic traffic jam, as a westbound dual carriageway narrows to a single lane and motorists slow down to take in the view of the prehistoric monument. Mr Johnson has committed to improving transport links and Sajid Javid, chancellor, has yet to allocate £80bn in infrastructure investment spread over five years. Parts of the south-west remain relatively poor and suffer from poor transport connections. But the cost of the two-mile tunnel — the equivalent of the £2bn allocated to Northern Ireland to underpin the political process in the region last week — has caused anxiety in the Treasury. The project was originally going to be funded via the private finance initiative and was not included in Highways England’s draft £25bn Road Investment Strategy 2 spending programme. However Philip Hammond, the former chancellor, halted the PFI funding in his 2018 Budget. The project has been forced to wait, with several recommended deadlines missed, as to how it will be funded. The department for transport would not comment on the plans, saying only that Mr Shapps had until the beginning of April to respond to a six month examination of a Highways England planning application for the project.


In response to the story, our local friend Mr Andy Rhind Tutt has had his say again about his beloved "Southern Bypass" route..... which will tramp over wetland, villages, SSSI's (Site of Special Scientific Interest) AONB's (Areas of outstanding natural beauty) Ministry of Defense land and would add 32 miles to any journey to the West Country eventually causing traffic to revert to their original route along the A303 because he doesn't say what would happen to the A303 using his scheme Route G here:
https://twitter.com/AndyRT/status/1218804581381165056

Andy Rhind Tutt says.....
"A Southern bypass is needed, giving North South connectivity from the second largest dock in the UK - Southampton, providing a route around Salisbury, an alternative route for freight eliminating the need for a tunnel. The savings will fund the rest of the A303 improvements needed"
This from Highways England consultation booklet - January 2017
"All schemes were investigated and this route was rejected at phase 2 "Route corridor G:
Any route to the south of Salisbury would be a long diversion for A303 traffic, resulting in extensive adverse impacts on both the environment and communities.   Although it would offer improved access to Salisbury, the option would fail to reduce journey times for users of the A303 and would not deliver the economic and transport objectives sought for the scheme."