What's next for the A303 after Stonehenge tunnel scrapped?

Highway bosses and politicians have spent billions of pounds discussing and drawing up plans for a now-scrapped two-mile (3.2km) tunnel near Stonehenge. But residents who live near the ancient monument say they still desperately need a new road layout to ease congestion near their homes, so what is being proposed now?

One former councillor in Wiltshire has campaigned for years for the A303 to be transformed into a dual carriageway, while others are calling for traffic to be diverted via a bypass around Salisbury.

Wiltshire Council said it is working with National Highways on options, such as lower speed limits in one nearby village impacted by congestion.

Meanwhile, National Highways chiefs have said they are "exploring best value for money solutions", with "smaller scale improvement projects" being investigated.

Wiltshire Council said it wants to try and protect communities "affected by displaced traffic".

David Bullock, director of highways, said this includes "proposals such as a new 20mph speed limit through Shrewton and other measures to improve safety and reduce the impact on local residents".

Vehicles are often diverted to Shrewton village when there are problems on the A303.

National Highways said, on average, 26,000 vehicles use this stretch of the A303 every day, increasing to more than 30,000 in August.

The authority - which spent £180m planning the tunnel - is conducting a new study of the A303 "to understand the issues".

Highways bosses said they were investigating "best value for money solutions" which would be smaller improvement projects addressing "safety and congestion challenges".

However, it cannot yet confirm any projects.

English Heritage, which owns the Stonehenge site, said "difficult decisions have to be made regarding public spending".

"While the current policy is clear, we remain ready to engage constructively should future opportunities arise," a spokesperson added.

There are fears of more fatalities without a solution and residents are calling for an alternative to the tunnel to be found.

According to Wiltshire Police, between 2015 and 2025 there were 105 road traffic collisions on the A303 near Stonehenge which resulted in injury. Of those, 22 were serious or fatal.

The A303 reduces to a single lane past the famous stone circle and campaigner Paul Jaycock previously told the BBC some drivers slow to look, and even take photos.

Dr Monica Devendran is a councillor in Amesbury, the town next to the A303 and nearest to Stonehenge.

She said concerned residents are contacting her about the issue and she is pushing the government and National Highways to find a solution.

"They want a mitigation for this problem. So clearly I just want a transparent solution. I want National Highways and the central government to work together to give us a transparent plan and a funding to mitigate this problem," said Devendran.

She has also asked for the issue of Sat Navs diverting traffic through local villages when there are problems on the A303 to be addressed.

There are a number of opinions on the table.

Andy Rhind-Tutt, part of the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce, has long pushed for proposals to build a bypass around Salisbury.

He said this would reduce traffic getting on the Stonehenge section of the A303 and also help out Salisbury with its traffic issues.

He explained a lot of HGVs have to travel along the road.

"If you could solve that problem you would take a massive amount of pressure off the road.

"You'd still have some tailbacks but you wouldn't have lorries going through villages and you wouldn't have that big pressure around Stonehenge at certain times of the day," Rhind-Tutt added.

Meanwhile, Ian West, a former councillor in Winterbourne Stoke, has been campaigning for the A303 to be dualled without a tunnel for a long time.

This would come with the risk of Stonehenge losing World Heritage status due to the work it would require to the landscape, something he feels is worth the risk.

"We've got to try and protect the people, the living people, and give them a high standard of living [which is] not what they're having now," he said.

The £2bn project was scrapped by Labour in July 2024, shortly after they took power.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We inherited a challenging financial picture and had to make difficult decisions about road projects that were unfunded or unaffordable.

"National Highways is exploring ways to address safety and other concerns on the A303, at much lower-cost."

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