A360 in Salisbury closes for three months from today
It's for works ahead of the planned A303 upgrade
The A360 in Salisbury closes today for three months, owing to the installation of electricity supply for National Highways' planned upgrades to the A303.
We're being urged to plan ahead and allow extra time for our travels while the work is carried out.
Plans for the Stonehenge tunnel were approved in July 2023, before a judicial review of the plans were thrown out in February.
An electrical supply is being installed along a section of the A360, between the junction of The Avenue and Longbarrow junction on the A303, which will provide power during construction and in the long term.
The work's been planned to minimise disruption by allowing the work to be completed as quickly as possible, with a three-month closure chosen over a year of single lane closures and traffic signals.
Traffic will be diverted via the A345 and sections of the A303 and A36, as shown in the diagram below.
A major signage system, with diversion routes, has bene put in place to guide roads users around Salisbury and as far as Devizes and Shaftesbury to alternative ways to their destination.
Andrew Clark, National Highways’ Project Manager for the A303 Stonehenge scheme, said: “The road scheme will ultimately tackle the longstanding issue of rat running and provide a real benefit to local communities, and for this essential preliminary work, we are doing all we can to put in measures to lessen the impact for local communities and the travelling public.
“We need to carry out the work now to maintain our programme, we appreciate that roadworks and road closures can be frustrating and we’d like to thank motorists, local residents and businesses in advance for their patience.
“Without the full closure, the work would take a lot longer to complete, and working with Wiltshire Council, we’re making every effort to ensure that the impact on drivers and local communities is kept to an absolute minimum.”
The electric supply is installed by SSEN (Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks) on behalf of National Highways.
They're putting high voltage and fibre optic cabling along the route, south of the A303, in place, with the road being full closed for safety due to the narrowness of the road and lack of space on roadside verges.
All businesses and organisations affected by the diversion have been notified, and will be kept up to date by SSEN throughout the work, and people will also be able to find out more information, together with scheme updates, at a series of public information events in the coming weeks.
We can find out more details on the A360 work on the SSEN website and up-to-date information on the A303 Stonehenge upgrade can be found on the schemes website.