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Inside the tunnels that will transform London commuting

July 28, 2010

Hindhead tunnel on target for Summer 2011 opening

Roads minister Mike Penning visits the A3 tunnel project at Hindhead

From the approach it initially looks nothing special.

Just a heap of mud, dirt and heavy machinery on a construction site which, it's hard to believe, once used to be a valley.

But as you pull up in front of the imposing tunnels, you finally see why this is such a massive project.

With each dual carriageway 24ft wide and the furthest point underground being at 65m, it is the longest road tunnel running under land in the UK.

Our vehicle is dwarfed as we enter the mammoth black hole that is the entrance to the northbound carriageway running under the Devil's Punchbowl.

Inside, parts of the tunnel are still a work in progress, although painting has started and two strips of bright white lights are dotted along the ceiling of the tunnel.

We are guided through at a snail's pace as the area is still a construction site.

As we reach the exit, the whole trip took up to 10 minutes.

But for motorists who will start using the tunnels next year, it will take barely a minute as they whizz through at up to 70mph.

Next month the project reaches a major milestone when a 1.5 mile section of the southern approach road opens to traffic.

Construction works are set to reach completion at the end of the year.

Then experts will spend up to six months testing everything from emergency evacuation procedures in case of fire to mechanics, water supplies, speed cameras and electrics.

Balfour Beatty is confident the project will finish on time and on budget - and could open up to seven weeks ahead of the August 2011 finish date.

Roads minister Mike Penning is all too familiar with the notorious traffic bottleneck as his daughter has recently graduated from the University of Portsmouth.

He was there yesterday to see the scheme's progress.

'Traffic has been a problem in the area for as long as anybody can remember, not just as someone travelling down to the coast but for residents of the Hindhead area,' he said.

'The problems will be relieved by this fantastic £371m project - on budget and on time - which I have had the honour of being one of the first people to drive through. It will change the lives of commuters in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas.

'It is an amazing project through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

I'm looking forward to next summer and freeing up a much speedier trip to Portsmouth.'

Highways Agency senior project manager Paul Arnold has worked on the scheme for 24 years.

He says: 'It's win-win for everybody - from the motorists driving down the A3 who will no longer have to stop-start and for local people for whom it will make life so much easier.'

Source: The News

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