Stonehenge Plagued by Gridlock, but Britain Has a $2.4 B Solution

Stonehenge Plagued by Gridlock, but Britain Has a $2.4 B Solution
Traffic passes along the busy A303 that runs besides the ancient neolithic monument of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, on Oct. 13, 2015. The U.K. Government is planning to build a $2.4 billion tunnel under the UNESCO-listed ancient monument, but opponents say it risks unsettling ancient burial sites.Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Simon Veazey
Simon Veazey
Freelance Reporter
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BIRMINGHAM, England—The word “Stonehenge” might hum with prehistoric mystery and magic—but for locals it is a byword for gridlock.

A two-lane highway narrows to one lane as it ploughs through the World Heritage site, with trucks and cars crawling within 200 yards of the stones, seeding bumper-to-bumper traffic that blights local towns and villages.

After 30 years, a radical solution has finally been given the green light: a two-mile tunnel with a 2 billion pound ($2.44 billion) price tag.

Tunneling under the site may bring peace to the stones and calm the local traffic, but archaeologists say it will wreck the broader heritage.

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Simon Veazey
Simon Veazey
Freelance Reporter
Simon Veazey is a UK-based journalist who has reported for The Epoch Times since 2006 on various beats, from in-depth coverage of British and European politics to web-based writing on breaking news.
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