Stonehenge

The UK Government is considering the plan to construct a tunnel under Stonehenge, with an aim to reduce congestion on the A303.

BBC News reported that English Heritage and the National Trust, which owns the land in the area, said in a joint statement: "We will work with the UK Department for Transport to identify a solution that both improves the World Heritage Site and is achievable, including a tunnel option."

Chancellor George Osborne is expected to approve the project in his Autumn Statement.

National Trust operations assistant director Ian Wilson said: "We believe building a tunnel under the landscape is the best way of improving the quality of this special place whilst at the same time significantly improving a major transport link for the south-west.

"We recognise that any plan needs to be both affordable and deliverable if we are to finally solve this long-running challenge."

"We would like to see the longest possible tunnel but we recognise that any plan needs to be both affordable and deliverable if we are to finally solve this long-running challenge."

One of the options put by the government was to build a 2.5km to 2.9km tunnel under Stonehenge.

However, the Stonehenge Alliance noted that the tunnel should be more than 4.5km long to protect the site.

Department for transport spokesperson said: "We are discussing a range of potential options for improving the A303/A30/A358 corridor with interested parties to understand their views, including consideration of the section of the A303 that passes Stonehenge.

"As part of this process we have worked closely with key organisations, including English Heritage and the National Trust, to assess the impacts of potential options on the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.

"No investment decisions have been made as this is work in progress and, when completed the study outcomes will inform the government’s 2014 Autumn Statement."

The proposal to build the 1.3 mile tunnel was scrapped in 2007 by the then-Labour government due to cost reasons, which reached £540m.

Image: The A303 road passing by Stonehenge area. Photo: courtesy of Pam Brophy.