THE long-running A3 tunnel saga may finally be drawing to a close after The Highways Agency revealed work could start next year - and be finished in time for the London Olympics in 2012. Plans for a route to bypass the busy Hindhead traffic lights and Devil's Punch Bowl have been in the pipeline since the 1980s. The tunnel scheme has attracted both supporters and protesters during the course of its turbulent history. With funding for the £370 million project secured, South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt set up a meeting with The Highways Agency's Paul Arnold - and it seems the issue may be coming to a conclusion. Since consultation this August, the Department for Transport is expected to give the green light to the scheme, allowing The Highways Agency to make draft orders to start the project. That will take three to four weeks and should start in October, and this will be followed by a six-week High Court challenge period on each order. Should the orders be given the thumbs-up, The Highways Agency will start buying the land needed for the tunnel in early January - much of which belongs to The National Trust. Clearing of the site should start soon after, and work on the tunnel itself should start in 2008. It is planned to take around four years until traffic is allowed in the tunnel, so if everything gets under way in 2007, the tunnel should be open for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Mr Hunt said he was pleased with the outcome of the meeting, and to finally have an idea of the timetable for the scheme. He said: "Lots of people have been wearily cynical about the tunnel, understandably saying 'I'll believe it when I see it'. "Having secured the funding for the tunnel, I am determined to ensure construction starts as soon as possible before any further delays push up the cost further and possibly jeopardise the scheme. "That means The Highways Agency need to get on with clearing the area where tunnelling will happen as soon as possible, in particular before next spring, when nesting birds make it impossible to move any trees." Should the plan run smoothly, it will spell the end of years of speculation. Plans stretch back to the 1980s. Suggestions put forward included two bypasses - known as the red and yellow routes - before the tunnel idea won acceptance, but a final decision has been postponed several times. Details of the scheme have changed, and the proposed cost has skyrocketed. In 2003 the tunnel was set to cost £150 million, a figure that has more than doubled to £370 million. Campaign group STOAT (Save the old A3) was set up in an attempt to keep the current A3 even when the tunnel is open. Members claim the traffic using the tunnel will slow down journey times for local people and will affect businesses. The campaign eventually boasted around 500 members and managed to collect 3,500 signatures in support of its desire to keep the old road open. Former STOAT chairman Peter Hatch said the group was never opposed to the tunnel, but simply felt removing the old road would force local people to have to drive further when travelling north. He added that it was cheaper not to rip up the old road, and added it would be needed if the tunnel was forced to close after an accident. The group said it felt the road should have been left for a few years to see if local people would still use that instead of the tunnel. But instead of being kept open, the old road will be handed to The National Trust to join up Hindhead Common and the Devil's Punch Bowl. Mr Hatch added: "There is a certain irony that the justification for ripping up the road is because it is good for the environment when it will actually force more cars to travel further. "They have taken environment to mean wildlife, when it can also mean cutting down on pollution." However, a National Trust statement said: "There can be no better news with which to celebrate the 100 years at Hindhead than the go-ahead for the A3 tunnel. "Removal of the old A3 to create a wilderness of some 1,000 acres presents once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for The National Trust and for Hindhead. "This huge landscape restoration project, for which planning is already starting, will not only bring outstanding benefits for our many visitors but also for the endangered species dependent on this precious habitat." The National Trust is holding three walks on Saturday, one of which will reveal the planned changes to the road . The A3 Project walk leaves the Devil's Punch Bowl cafe at 1 pm, and lasts about one-and-a-half hours.
