Chancellor gives green light to landmark A303 Stonehenge tunnel scheme to end traffic nightmare
THE HATED A303 road will FINALLY be fixed after Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the government's spending blitz today.
The promise was made as part of a £27billion fund in today's budget to fix Britain's roads.
The traffic-plagued A303 will finally be improved after years of delay and moved into a 1.8 mile dual-carriageway tunnel called the Stonehenge Tunnel.
It is currently a single carriageway which runs between Basingtoke in Hampshire and Honiton in Devon past the iconic Stonehenge, connecting the M3 to the A30.
It is one of the main routes from London to South West England.
Plans to improve the road and lay down a two-mile long tunnel were earmarked all the way back in 2014 under David Cameron, and given the green-light three years ago as part of a £2billion project.
Mr Sunak has promised this will be the government that fixes it - giving it a special mention in his landmark budget.
He said: "There's one more road I want to mention. It's one of our most important regional arteries.
"It is one of those totemic projects symbolising delay and obstruction. Governments have been trying to fix it since the 1980s.
"Every year, millions of cars crawl along it in traffic. Ruining the backdrop to one of our most important historic landmarks... the A303 - this government’s going to get it done."
The plan is part of Mr Sunak's £27billion fund to fix more than 4000 miles of the UK's roads.
The budget also promised a £30billion fund to help people impacted by the spread of the deadly coronavirus - including those having to self isolate but not yet showing any symptoms.
Duties on spirits, wine and beer were all frozen for the second time running and the Chancellor kept the freeze on fuel duty.
A massive £640billion would be injected into infrastructure, rail and roads.
What's been revealed in today's Budget?
- Fuel duty to be frozen for 10th year in a row
- 2nd booze duty freeze in 20 years
- £5billion of help for flood-ravaged communities
- Millions more to get sick pay in case they need to self-isolate
- National Insurance thresholds raised for employers - and a tax cut for Brits confirmed
- Tampon tax ditched
- More measure to tackle crime and make community sentences longer
- Tax breaks for firms which hire armed forces veterans
- War on potholes with £2.5billion to fill them
- New laws to guarantee access to cash machines
- Parents of sick premature babies to get £160 a week extra help
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