RESIDENTS and road users will have the chance to see the proposed A3 Hindhead tunnel scheme at a public exhibition this month.

Staged by the Highways Agency, the exhibition at the Devil's Punchbowl Hotel in Hindhead, will include details of the 1.7 km toll-free twin-bored tunnel beneath Hindhead Common

The go-ahead for the long-awaited and controversial £107 million road and tunnel scheme was announced last March to cure the notorious bottleneck at the only set of traffic lights between Portsmouth and London.

Construction work on the tunnel is due to start in 2005 and 2006 with completion expected in 2009.

Project team leader for the Highways Agency Paul Arnold said the exhibition "would help identify areas of concern where we need to do more work to reduce its impact".

"Our objective is to develop a tunnel scheme that most people feel able to support and so minimise objections to the legal orders and length of any subsequent public inquiry."

Mr Arnold added that the agency had recently published its first newsletter giving more information about the way forward and inviting people to the exhibition.

The display will show local people how the scheme has developed since the "preferred route" was announced in 1993.

Special emphasis has been placed on changes to the local access arrangements to reduce rat-running.

The next step following the exhibition, said Mr Arnold, would be to "refine the design in the light of what we find out from talking to people and organisations with an interest in the project".

"We then intend to appoint a contractor to take the scheme forward through the legal procedures and then on to construction.

"Involving a contractor earlier than usual will help ensure we get a good, value-for-money, buildable design, while addressing the environmental issues surrounding the construction at an early stage."

The exhibition takes place on Friday, September 7 from 2 pm to 9 pm and Saturday, September 8 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Paul Arnold will be addressing a public meeting the night before with Denvil Coombe, a traffic planning consultant, which is organised by the Waverley branch of The Council for the Protection of Rural England.

That takes place at the Haslemere Museum on Thursday, September 6 at 8 pm. All are welcome to attend.