Letter: There Are Other, More Cost-effective Solutions Than a Tunnel

Published on: 17 Jul, 2021
Updated on: 17 Jul, 2021

From: Barry Williams

In response to: Guildford’s MP Asks PM for an A3 Tunnel – Boris Agrees to Look Into It

Traffic movement within, around and through Guildford has been discussed for many years. Proposals come and go, an A3 tunnel is not a new idea.

The A3 Hindhead tunnel has a length of 1.1 miles and itself is part of a four-mile dual carriageway that took 4.5 years to build. The Guildford tunnel would at minimum be of the same length and probably longer.

The Hindhead tunnel cost was £371 million, a Guildford tunnel would probably cost north of £2 billion at today’s costs. Such an amount might be better spent on other traffic management improvements in and around our town.

Within the town centre and its immediate outer ring we need to: offer new Park & Ride facilities south of Guildford on the A281; have cross-town bus services that do not rely on changes of service through the existing hub and spoke system via the bus station; and encourage more active travel, cycling, walking and enhance the Sustainable Movement Corridor (SMC) offerings.

It is disappointing that the SMC upgrade at Tesco roundabout has failed to get the go-ahead at the last minute.

Looking further south, we shall see more housing at Dunsfold Airfield village for which traffic projections indicate that Guildford would see more through traffic flow from the south A281. How do we deal with that?

The Cranleigh and Dunsfold communities could be served by a tram/train service making use of the old Cranleigh rail bed adjoining mainline services out of Guildford. There are lots of other ideas out there.