The proposed A303 Stonehenge tunnel project has been approved by the UK the Secretary State for Transport. The road will see a new section of dual carriageway added to the Wiltshire road between Amesbury and Winterbourne Stoke, including a two-mile (3.2km) tunnel underneath Stonehenge.
The tunnel will remove the sight and sound of traffic from the congested A303 route and will be further 50 metres away from the Stonehenge monument, avoiding important archaeological sites, and avoiding intrusion on the view of the setting sun from the stones during the winter solstice. But some archaeologists had warned the £2.4b scheme could mean losing half a million artefacts with campaigners in a standoff with Highways England, English Heritage and the National Trust.
Fieldwork is due to start in late spring next year, with the main five-year construction phase expected to start by 2023.
