The HA will kerb across the A344 jct, all other works will be carried out by English Heritage contract.

Looks good. Did anyone notice how long the video on the EH website was? 3.44! Coincidence? (Uncanny).

Of course without doing something with the A303, the benefits of the scheme will be minimised. Best that could be done, short of removing it, (pigs might fly) is some form of screening or embankment between the stones and the road.

Reuniting the Avenue with the stones will be of untold benefit to our ancestors and we may be able to collectively remember something that has been lost over the centuries.

Oh come on, that's just a silly rose tinted view. It's far more important to keep the country's infastructure running, and that means keeping principal trunk routes flowing well. There are plenty of important memories around the former Western Front in France and Belgium, but that didn't stop the A16, A25 and A26 being built over the top of bits of them.

Anyway, how are people going to get to Stonehenge in the first place? Walk?

I hope the A344 will remain at least a footpath.

I'm surpised the car park is being moved so far away. Good thing the A303 is there or it would be impossible for my family ever to see the stones again without paying a large admission fee (£29.70 at current prices)

I may object to any future A303 "bypass" on the grounds that it would make it impossible for my kids to see the most historic monument in the country without forking out thirty quid.

My other objection of course will be that the A303 is hundreds of thousands of years older than those stones and they were only put there because the location was adjacent to the A303 (Harroway) therefore diverting the A303 would destroy the stones proper environment and ruin the site

I've probably mentioned it before, but I can clearly recall stopping on a family roadtrip on the A344 by the side of the road c. 1979 / 80 as a small child, getting out, and running through and around Stonehenge for a bit of light exercise. No amenities, no visitor centre, nothing.

That is a much better way of remembering what things were really like for our ancestors here. They certainly didn't need a giftshop.

Agreed, I too have childhood memories of running round the stones before they were fenced off. I think it was free then too. Unfortunately we did not have a football in the car as they would have made excellent goalposts.

I vaguely recall visiting Stonehenge with my mum and dad in the early 1970s and the current visitor centre and tunnel being there, although having paid your admission you were allowed to walk amongst the stones. According to Wikipedia, the stones were roped off in 1977.

Well it's possible my memory dates from 1977 then, though I was only 3 at the time. I can clearly remember on the same journey that the A303 ended at a large roundabout-esque junction with the A30 near Micheldever Station (similar to the A30/ A325 junction further up) if that helps date it. (Yes, I've been a road enthusiast since birth!)

I remember that, it was a triangular "roundabout" and normal priorities did not apply, basically the A30-A303 route had priority and you therefore had to give way in the middle of the "roundabout" if going on or from a different route. Part of it still remains as the old A303 there is the westbound on slip to the new one and the old A30 remains. Was done about 1983. It was low pressure sodium lit but the streelighting is now long gone.

A322/A329 junction is a bit similar

Most of the rest of the rbt is still there, in the bushes. When I looked around about 5 years ago, it was empty but more recently, had some gypsies on site. A visit now may result in a friendly threat and an affectionate bite out of your leg by one of the dogs.

This is the spot you're talking about, yeah?

That's it.

The N17 now has a dual carriageway extension along the foot of the Vimy ridge, so there are still roads being routed across battlegrounds.

Stonehenge tunnel with old road turned into an access route for tourists would be nice at some stage in the next millennium....

How much work will there be in August and will it cause much disruption on the A360?

Works impacting on the A303 won't commence until after the ORN embargo which ends on September 9th. Works on Airmans Cross conversion to RAB start on July 9th. A further issue that will impact on the Area, Network Rail are closing Broken Cross bridge on the A338 for 3 months from the end of July, so the A360 will be busy with diverted traffic.


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How much work will there be in August and will it cause much disruption on the A360?[/quote]

There was an item on the BBC1 lunchtime news just now about work starting on the Stonehenge visitor centre and the A344 closure.

Not a word to suggest that there is another road near the site!