Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

Introduction

The post-2004 Public Inquiry review of the A303 Stonehenge Improvement was carried out in two stages. Stage 1 was completed in January 2006 with publication of the A303 Stonehenge Improvement, Scheme Review - Stage 1 Report. Stage 2 involved further assessments of the options for improvement and included a public consultation, culminating in the A303 Stonehenge Improvement, Scheme Review - Stage 2 Report.

The review included options for 'Partial Solutions' on the A303 in the vicinity of Stonehenge. In order to understand more fully the effects of the Partial Solutions on the operation of the A303 and the local road network, it was clear that a more detailed analysis based on up-to-date traffic information was needed. Fresh traffic surveys were carried out in the autumn of 2006 and a new traffic model has been produced, to provide the basis for further and more robust analytical work.

The first step was to model today's (2006) traffic flows and then to apply growth factors to assess the future traffic consequences of leaving the existing road network largely as it is (the Do-Minimum situation). Following this, the consequences of closing the A303/A344 junction were analysed as the starting point for a Partial Solution. That work was completed in September 2007, and was described in the A303 Stonehenge Improvement Scheme Review - Partial Solutions - A303/A344 Junction Closure report.

In that report, it was concluded that implementation of the A303 / A344 junction closure would aggravate the congestion problems that will arise along this section of the A303 (including at Longbarrow Crossroads) as traffic continues to grow in the future. This report presents the further analysis of options that may alleviate these problems, making use of the latest traffic data and modelling.

The work described herein has been limited to traffic and economic analyses. In the event that any of the options described in this report are considered worthy of further development, then it would also be necessary to undertake environmental assessment. However, environmental assessment would not detract from the results of the traffic and economic analyses which capture the degree of any operational benefit which may be derived from the various options.

The analyses in this report are made on the same basis as those in the preceding A303 Stonehenge Improvement Scheme Review - Partial Solutions - A303/A344 Junction Closure report (September 2007). In particular:

• The analyses rely wholly on the new traffic model developed using the autumn 2006 traffic data.
• A Scheme Opening Year of 2012 and a Design Year of 2027 (fifteen years after opening) have been adopted, instead of the equivalent years previously adopted for the Stonehenge Improvement Review (2008 and 2023) which are now unachievable.
• The methodologies underlying the SATURN and VISSIM models are as described in Section 2 of the preceding September 2007 report.
• The Stonehenge Visitor Centre is assumed to remain at its present location.

You can download a full copy of the report in pdf format below. Due to their large file size, some of the figures associated with this report are available to download as separate pdfs.

• A303 Stonehenge Improvement Scheme Review - Partial Solutions - Options Analysis February 2008 (438KB PDF)

Figures

• Figure 2-1 (301KB PDF)
• Figures 3.1 - 3.3 are not available online. You can request hard copies by contacting the team at: stonehenge@highways.gsi.gov.uk 
• Figure 4-1 (306KB PDF)
• Figure 5-1 (303KB PDF)
• Figure 6-1 (299KB PDF)