Essential work will start next week to supply electricity for National Highways’ planned A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down upgrade past Stonehenge.
To facilitate the power supply for future construction and the tunnel in the long term, a section of the A360, between the junction of The Avenue and Longbarrow junction on the A303, will be closed from Tuesday, 2 April – after the Easter Bank Holiday – for three months.
On behalf of National Highways, SSEN (Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks) will be installing high voltage and fibre optic cabling along the route, south of the A303, which requires a full closure for safety reasons due to the narrow width of the road and minimal space along the verges.
To enable the underground cabling to be completed before the school summer holidays and ahead of increased traffic volumes, the work will be carried out seven days a week, with some overnight working.
The work has been planned to ensure the installation is completed as quickly as possible – close to three months as opposed to more than a year employing single lane closures and traffic signals.
During the temporary closure, which comes into effect in the early hours of Tuesday, traffic will be diverted via the A345 and sections of the A303 and A36, as per the diagram below.
A comprehensive signage system, including diversion routes, is in place to inform road users around Salisbury and as far away as Devizes and Shaftesbury to point traffic to alternate routes.
In the meantime, National Highways is advising drivers to plan and allow a little extra time for their journeys during the programme of work.
Andrew Clark, National Highways’ Project Manager for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, said: “The road scheme will ultimately tackle the longstanding issue of rat running and provide a real benefit to local communities, and for this essential preliminary work, we are doing all we can to put in measures to lessen the impact for local communities and the travelling public.
“We need to carry out the work now to maintain our programme, we appreciate that roadworks and road closures can be frustrating and we’d like to thank motorists, local residents and businesses in advance for their patience.
“Without the full closure, the work would take a lot longer to complete, and working with Wiltshire Council, we’re making every effort to ensure that the impact on drivers and local communities is kept to an absolute minimum.”
All businesses and organisations affected by the diversion have been notified, and will be kept up to date by SSEN throughout the work, and people will also be able to find out more information, together with scheme updates, at a series of public information events in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, further information on the A360 work is available at the SSEN website. Up-to-date details on the A303 Stonehenge upgrade are available on the scheme website, and for any further queries, people are advised to email info@a303stonehenge.co.uk
