Stonehenge, the enduring prehistoric monument in Britain, was first given authorized safety by Parliament in 1882. The Nineteenth-century regulation was the primary time within the nation that any construction was deemed traditionally vital sufficient to be protected. Now, the British authorities desires to assemble a street tunnel close to Stonehenge regardless of the hurt that the federal government’s personal consultants imagine the challenge will do to the UNESCO World Heritage Web site.

The A303, the street which runs by Stonehenge, has lengthy suffered visitors jams dozens of miles lengthy through the summer season vacation season. The proximity to the monument partly causes the congestion, however extra considerably, the A303 is a key route between London and the South West of England. The BBC studies that the UK’s Division for Transport has authorized a two-mile tunnel to maintain visitors out of sight of Stonehenge, cut back congestion and shorten journey instances.

The plan would possibly sound easy, however constructing something round a 5000-year-old archaeological web site is extremely damaging. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps initially authorized the plan in 2020 with out the advice of the federal government’s Planning Inspectorate. Based on the BBC, the company said the tunnel would trigger “everlasting, irreversible hurt” to the UNESCO World Heritage web site. Due to a crowd-funded native marketing campaign, a 2021 court docket ruling deemed Shappe’s resolution illegal and was in a position to freeze the challenge’s progress.

On this new approval, present Transport Secretary Mark Harper admitted, “There shall be hurt because of the event to cultural heritage and the historic surroundings.” The challenge appears absurd. Is including two extra lanes going to repair visitors? Most likely not. Is it price damaging probably the most traditionally vital websites on the planet? Positively not.