U.K. Government Abandons Stonehenge Tunnel Project

The U.K. government canceled a grand plan to build a two-mile highway tunnel near Stonehenge in July. The polarizing project was expected to cost at least £2 billion ($2.5 billion). The operation’s goal was to reduce traffic and help the local economy, but faced heavy criticism from campaign groups. 

While groups such as English Heritage advocated for the tunnel, believing it would bring more attention to the historical site, other campaign groups such as the Stonehenge Alliance Campaign Group were staunchly against the project. According to Tom Holland, the president of the Stonehenge Alliance Campaign Group, “This entire monstrous project, a proposal to drive a gash of concrete and tarmac through our most prehistoric landscape, should never have got off the drawing board.”

The government's decision to cancel the highway project highlights the apparent divisions between how to balance modernization with historical preservation.