Related pages

• Background
• Why a road improvement is proposed
• Choice of route
• Junction options
• Consultation arrangements
• Responses
• Analysis of the responses
• Partnering approach
• The views of the Highways Agency
• The decision of the secretary of state
• What happens next?
• Further information
• Map

A303 Stonehenge (incorporating the Winterbourne Stoke Bypass) Preferred Route Announcement June 1999

What happens next?

The route shown on the plan is now designated the preferred route and is protected from development.

Further work, including more detailed environmental assessment, is required before the precise location and detailed design of junctions and the carriageways can be finalised. Following this, draft Orders will be published under the Highways Act 1980 and an Environmental Statement will be issued.

At that stage there will be wide publicity and a further opportunity for people to comment or object. A public inquiry is likely to follow if any objections are left unresolved. If a public inquiry is held the Inspector will report and a formal decision to proceed, or otherwise, will be confirmed by the Secretary of State and the findings will be published. Land would then be acquired and construction would start.

All elements of the scheme will be kept under review as the proposals are developed in more detail but specific consideration will be given to:

• Minimising the environmental effects by careful attention to design and mitigation.
  
  
• The location and detailed design of junctions.