Stonehenge road tunnel gets go-ahead after 30 years
Ministers approve dual carriageway near World Heritage Site

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
A controversial road tunnel near Stonehenge has finally been given the green light - but with changes to the original planned route following protests by druids, archaeologists and conservationists.
The 1.8-mile dual-carriageway tunnel will largely follow the existing A303 route in Wiltshire, the Department of Transport said today.
However, following complaints that the tunnel would “pass too close to precious barrows and ruin the view of the sun setting at the winter solstice, a crucial date in the pagan calendar”, the western entrance is to be moved a further 50 metres away from the prehistoric monument, reports The Guardian.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Construction is expected to start in 2020, with a target completion date of 2029.
Proposals for a tunnel at the site were originally suggested in 1989 and have been hotly debated ever since. Critics argue it will be damaging to Stonehenge and threaten its status as a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Time Team presenter Sir Tony Robinson called the plan “the most brutal intrusion into the Stone Age landscape ever”, according to the BBC.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the £1.6bn road upgrade would result in quicker journey times, reduced congestion and cleaner air for residents, while supporting 120,000 additional jobs and 100,000 new homes across the region.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
-
Bribery indictment
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
The daily gossip: Hollywood writers and studios reach tentative agreement to end strike, Taylor Swift attends Chiefs game amid Travis Kelce dating rumors, and more
The daily gossip: September 25, 2023
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
Disaster averted
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Reader favourites
Speed Read A selection of short but sweet features from across The Week magazine
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
George W Bush performs ‘history’s greatest Freudian slip’
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Exhibition to explore Stonehenge’s parallels with Japanese stone circles
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden Published
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drug
Speed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
By The Week Staff Published
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policy
Speed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
By The Week Staff Published
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?
Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UK
Speed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
By The Week Staff Published
-
Mystery of Stonehenge finally ‘solved’
feature And other stories from the stranger side of life
By The Week Staff Published