The most annoying part of the A303? It's not Stone Henge....

[Johnnytheboy]

21TonyK said:

Pfftt... you mean ramble barefoot sustaining yourself on foraged fruit and nuts which have fallen naturally from the tree whilst drinking your own pee.

I already drink my own pee!

[IroningMan]

The 303 is not much fun at the moment - every Friday is like a Bank Holiday weekend and Waze etc. mean that the lanes and villages surrounding pinch-points like Sparkford/Hazelgrove are a complete 'mare.

[Johnnytheboy]

Give it a couple of weeks and it will be st all week!

[IroningMan]

Johnnytheboy said:

Give it a couple of weeks and it will be st all week!

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it - frustrated holiday drivers blindly following sat-nav round single-track country lanes.

It's getting as bad as when I lived at Lulworth thirty years ago - and I had a tank then.

[Johnnytheboy]

IroningMan said:

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it - frustrated holiday drivers blindly following sat-nav round single-track country lanes.

It's getting as bad as when I lived at Lulworth thirty years ago - and I had a tank then.

Thankfully I only use the A303 rarely.

But I do work just where the A31 goes single carriageway at Ferndown, so there's always that.

[Jazzy Jag]

LordHaveMurci said:

Jazzy Jag said:

Anywhere between Mere and Countess Roundabout is pants as is the Illminster bypass.

The A30 from Honiton to the Dual Carriageway to Exeter can be a drag if caught in traffic.

One long tunnel from Countess Roundabout to Mere and all sorted.
Motorists happy, greenies happy and local residents happy.

I'll get me shovel...

The A30 is DC all the way between Honiton & Exeter, has been for over 20yrs!

Yeah, got my towns mixed up.

Theres a bit before that which is just single carriageway and can be a PITA if you get caught up with the wrong queue.

[Johnnytheboy]

Ilminster to Honiton.

There's no plan to improve that bit, the idea is everyone goes up the simply fantastic A358 to Taunton, then down the M5 to Exeter.

[scorcher]

Johnnytheboy said:

Ilminster to Honiton.

There's no plan to improve that bit, the idea is everyone goes up the simply fantastic A358 to Taunton, then down the M5 to Exeter.

And then spend half an hour queuing to get to the new improved motorway junction roundabout .

[Deerfoot]

SydneyBridge said:

The people objecting to the tunnel, what exactly would they propose instead?

Listening to the folk around here (I live about 2 miles from Stonehenge) they just want the 303 turned into dual carriageway from Stonehenge to beyond Winterbourne Stoke. The rest of the money saved by not building the tunnel they’d like to see being used on a bypass for Salisbury..

Dream on.

[TimmyMallett]

kuro said:

Jezzerh said:

Mabbs9 said:

I hate where fences block the view approaching one of the roundabouts. I assume to force traffic to slow almost to a stop before entering. Totally removing the benefit of a roundabout.

God, this. road engineering dumbed down to the lowest ability level. Sad really.

They stuck one of these on the a30 Alphington junction in exeter. Whoever thought these were a good idea needs fking shooting!!

If you approach fast enough then you can execute a 'dead man's swoop' where you check traffic coming round to the point your vision is obscured and then enter at such a pace that you are unlikely to miss seeing any traffic coming round.

Probably not taught by IAM.

[Johnnytheboy]

Lucky Stonehenge isn't the most annoying bit, because the tunnel ain't happening....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-58...

[SydneyBridge]

The traffic is never going to reduce and surely a tunnel is the best way to reduce the impact of the 303

Its going to be a by pass miles away otherwise

[Johnnytheboy]

It's going to be nothing at all I expect.

We should all walk and cycle to the West Country.

[Saleen836]

Traffic was bad but it became worse when they changed the layout of the 1st roundabout after Stonehenge (heading west),sort that out along with building up the naturel bank to hide the stones and traffic should flow better and save a fortune from what it would cost to build a tunnel

[Deerfoot]

Traffic is bad this morning at Countess, it was backed up at 0730, plenty of people not understanding the use of box junctions as well…

[Panclan]

When I lived in Sandhurst, driving down to Cornwall to see my folks, I would Use the M3/A30 to Andover, then cross-country through Upavon - Westbury - Frome - Somerton - M5 at Taunton, or down to Podimore and back on the A303. It was a little slower if the 303 was clear, but so much less stressful.

[The Mad Monk]

Johnnytheboy said:

Lucky Stonehenge isn't the most annoying bit, because the tunnel ain't happening....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-58...

Well, I dunno.

Perhaps the Govt. will do the bits the judge chucked it out on and come back again.

The judge didn't say "this is a silly scheme, not what is needed". He said;-

"In his ruling the judge found Mr Shapps' decision was "unlawful" on two grounds.

He found there was a "material error of law" in the government's decision-making process as there was no evidence of the impact on each individual asset at the site.

And he said Mr Shapps had failed to consider alternative schemes, in accordance with the World Heritage Convention and common law".

So, the govt. can tidy up the bits of admin and come back again. One of the objectors on BBC Radio 4 this seemed a bit surprised when asked "Well, what would you do, then?" He eventually said "build a longer tunnel".