The Hindhead Tunnel is a new 4 mile link between London and Portsmouth and should remove a major source of congestion, the contractors, Balfour Beatty also won the 2010 International Tunnelling Award last December.
The Hindhead Tunnel is Britain's most ambitious tunnel since the Channel Tunnel, going underneath one of southern England's prettiest beauty spots. The Highways Agency confirmed to The Mover that the tunnel would open in July so, by the time you read this it should be in full swing.
The project completed the dual carriageway link between London and Portsmouth and should remove a major source of congestion, particularly around the A3/A287 traffic signal controlled crossroads. The new road is four miles (6.5km) long and includes 1.2 miles (1.8km) of twin bored tunnels under the Devil's Punch Bowl, a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The A3 Hindhead project is one of the schemes in the government's programme of major schemes and will deliver quicker, more reliable journeys on a safer road and remove much of the present peak time rat-running traffic from unsuitable country roads around Hindhead. It includes the closure of the existing A3 around the Devil's Punch Bowl, bringing considerable environmental benefits to an internationally prized area. The centre of Hindhead will be freed from the daily gridlock that blights the area with the result that the project will bring benefits to road users, local residents, and the highly prized environment.
Work started in January 2007 and the main tunnelling works started in February 2008, with both tunnel bores braking through in February 2009. The section south of Hazel Grove opened in August 2010 and the tunnel was scheduled to open for traffic in July 2011. Alterations to the existing A3 are scheduled for July to December.
The international civil engineering profession has given it the tunnelling equivalent of an Oscar when Balfour Beatty (the contractors) picked up the 2010 International Tunnelling Award last December. For local residents it will be a life-changer as many of them have spent a large part of their adult lives sitting in traffic jams at one of England’s most tiresome bottlenecks. The tunnel could shave up to half an hour off the time it takes to get from London to Portsmouth and the South Coast. Over time, it is expected to save the economy £1billion.
When the tunnel opened it will have brought to an end the longest running bypass dispute in British transport history as civil servants were arguing about this problem as far back as 1936, the year that George V died.