What would a Salisbury bypass look like?

How would it work and which route would it follow?

Recently the debate about whether or not the city needs a bypass has reignited, after John Glen MP said 'radical solutions' to Salisbury's traffic problems should be considered.

The city council may have voted against pushing for land to be set aside for a future bypass at a recent meeting but there remains strong support for the idea.

That said, there are also vocal opponents - who fear a new road causing permanent damage to some of Salisbury's best loved areas.

Even if a bypass is a solution to traffic jams on the A36 bringing Salisbury to a standstill, is it a realistic possibility?

Well, this is not the first time the idea has been given real consideration.

Documents from the Department of Transport show what a Salisbury bypass would have looked like, had one been built in the 1980s or 1990s.

Drawings and maps from the possibilities discussed and explored then hint at the sort of shape a future bypass could take - if it ever actually became a reality.

1982 - Salisbury bypass second most important priority

In 1982, Wiltshire County Council, as it was then, produced a "South Wiltshire Structure Plan".

It said: "The County Council still believes that the most urgent need in South Wiltshire is for bypasses of the villages on the A36 - Steeple Langford, Stapleford, Stoford and South Newton - and will continue to press the Government (which is responsible for trunk roads such as the A36_ to build them as soon as possible."

The county council then said the next priority is for a bypass of Salisbury passing south of Harnham and providing a new road connecting the A36 Southampton Road, the A338 Downton Road, the A354 Blandford Road and the A3094 east of Netherhampton.

1988 - Where could it go? Three bypass route options

Six years later, in 1988, Salisbury still didn't have a bypass.

But that year did see some serious work done exploring three different possible routes for a radical ring road round the city.

The three routes

The three routes

Documents reveal three different options were developed and put forward for public consultation in April 1988.

They were identified as the Blue Route (southern), Yellow Route (northern), and Red Route (combining parts of Blue and Yellow and passing to the south of Salisbury).

Plans from the time said the southern routes were most popular with the public.

The documents said: "Public consultation produced strong support for a southern route, and opposition to a northern route.

"In the choice between Red and Blue, a clear majority emerged in favour of the Red Route.

"Having considered all the comments received from the local authorities, representative organisations and the general public, the Secretary of State for Transport (Cecil Parkinson) announced in November 1989 his decision in favour of the Red Route."

So in 1989 a bypass seemed like it could actually happen.

Opponents of the Stonehenge tunnel plan, recently approved by 2021's transport secretary, Grant Shapps, might take heart from the fact that Cecil Parkinson's 1989 decision didn't bear fruit, however.

1991 - Route proposal published

A36 Salisbury

A36 Salisbury

Another three years passed.

Proposals published in 1991 were for an 18km (11 miles) bypass, starting just to the west of Serrington.

These proposals added meat to the routes discussed in the late 1980s.

Here are the key points of that route suggestion:

  • The route would have curved southwards to run just to the west of the A360 Devizes Road as far as The Avenue
  • It would then have descended towards Quidhampton, passing to the west of Westwood St. Thomas School (now Sarum Academy), cutting through part of a working chalk quarry, before crossing over the railway and the A36 Wilton Road.
  • Continuing southwards, the route would then cross the River Nadder, before reising to cross over the A3094 Netherhampton Road, ascending Harnham Hill before turning eastwards to pass under the A354 Blandford Road.
  • It would then continue "mainly in cutting" to pass under the local road to Odstock Hospital. From here it will descend in cutting, up to 10m, towards the Avon floodplain, crossing under the diverted A338 Downton Road.
  • The bypass would then have formed a junction with the existing A36 Southampton Road, before turning eastwards and running south of the existing road near Petersfinger, before joining the dual carriageway of the existing A36 Alderbury Bypass.
  • It was to have consisted of a dual, two-lane road, with junctions incorporating either flyovers or underpasses with the A36 Wilton Road at Quidhampton, Netherhampton Road, Blandford Road, Downton Road and Southampton Road at Petersfinger.
  • There would also have been a ground level roundabout junction with the A360 Devizes Road at The Avenue.

Bypass benefits

All the work into exploring bypass options meant there were clear ideas about what a massive road project for the city should achieve.

Those arguments remain relevant to the debate today.

An Environmental Statement describing the effects of the scheme was published around the same time as the route proposals.

It said: "The bypass will provide substantial relief for the towns and villages along the existing A36 trunk road, and will remove a significant volume of through traffic from the central area of Salisbury itself.

"For trunk road users, the new road will provide a safe, congestion free route around the city with fine views of the open countryside and of the cathedral."

It added: "The route has been very carefully located to minimise adverse impact on the landscape and has been designed to fit comfortably, wherever possible, into the local landform."

What happened to the 1990s plans for a bypass?

The arguments over a bypass plan were fierce then, just as they are now.

By 1996 the Department for Transport was backing plans for a Salisbury bypass, while the Department of Environment opposed them.

As is often the case with a national debate about Salisbury, the iconic views of the cathedral became key - just as they have again recently, with locals opposing plans for future development in Britford.

There was a lengthy and expensive inquiry into the bypass plans.

And then there was a Department for Transport report which showed almost 95 per cent of journeys at the time were local traffic - so was there a need for a bypass around Salisbury for through traffic after all?

Supporters of a bypass will argue things change all the time. Just look at the recent decision to make Southampton a free port, which could lead to greater use of the A36. Wiltshire Council even mentioned it in our recent story about the renewed bypass discussion.

Those who object to a bypass will argue some things never change - such as the fact that building more roads just leads to more traffic to fill them.

But the decision of John Glen MP to speak out on the issue - not the first Salisbury MP to back a bypass, as Robert Key also did in the 1990s - certainly ensures the conversation will once again be active.

If the past is anything to go by, though, even growing support for a bypass will take many years to develop into action.

And it's not MPs or councils, but Governments, who make such big road decisions.

When the 1990s bypass plans were put on hold in 1996 until after the 1997 election, Labour's landslide win under Tony Blair ensured Salisbury's bypass was put indefinitely on ice.

Even though in 2021 a 'levelling up', big spending, road building Conservative Government is in power, the sheer number of projects already in motion - from Stonehenge, to dualling of the A303 further south - might make further radical plans unlikely.

But if local support grows, who knows? Time will tell.

If serious moves towards a bypass do reignite, at least there will be a starting point based on the plans of the past.

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