UK tunnel officially opened

UK transport secretary Philip Hammond yesterday cut the ribbon at the Hindhead twin bore tunnel in Surrey, signifying the end of a US$605 million, 1.8 km-long bypass of Hindhead village on the A3 between London and Portsmouth. The new tunnels will be used by 30,000 vehicles/day.
April 20, 2012 Read time: 1 min
UK transport secretary Philip Hammond yesterday cut the ribbon at the Hindhead twin bore tunnel in Surrey, signifying the end of a US$605 million, 1.8 km-long bypass of Hindhead village on the A3 between London and Portsmouth. The new tunnels will be used by 30,000 vehicles/day.

‘This new road will transform journeys on the A3 – improving journey times by around 20 minutes or more at busy periods – and will deliver a threefold return on investment for the economy,” Hammond said. “This cutting-edge road scheme has surpassed expectation in almost every way, and sets a new standard for how vital infrastructure improvements can be delivered,” he added.

Hammond pointed out that the tunnel contains state-of-the-art safety features, including the UK’s first radar-based incident detection system and 100% CCTV coverage.

Another safety feature was the inclusion of Astucia hardwired bi-directional LED road studs to guide motorists safely through the tunnel. A total of 868 of the studs emit a full 180 degrees of illumination when switched from uni-directional to bi-directional delineation should one of the tunnels be switched to contra flow mode.
Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Illuminated road studs aid roundabout safety
    July 15, 2014
    In a bid to improve safety at the Sheriffhall roundabout near Edinburgh, Scotland, Clearview Traffic has been working with BEAR Scotland on an innovative accident reduction project at the complex six-arm gyratory roundabout which is used by over 42,000 vehicles per day. The project, which Clearview says is the first of its kind in the UK, uses the company’s IRS2 intelligent hardwired road stud to increase driver awareness and improve lane discipline on and off the roundabout. Improvements and efficien
    Read More
  • Success of Kuala Lumpur's dual purpose tunnel
    September 12, 2012
    Malaysia’s capital boasts a unique piece of infrastructure; a combined stormwater and motorway tunnel, the longest multi-purpose tunnel in the world. Kuala Lumpur’s Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (Smart) was conceived as a project under the Malaysian Federal Government to alleviate the flooding problem in the city centre. Although a booming city and the nerve centre for Malaysia’s economy, KL was built along the flood plains of the Klang River and, since its earliest days has been subjected to floodi
    Read More
  • Radar reinforces detection efficiency
    March 16, 2016
    Radar can have distinct advantages in some transport-related situations as Colin Sowman found out during a visit to Navtech Radar. Despite tremendous advances in machine vision techniques, the accuracy and reliability of camera-based detection systems suffer during periods of poor visibility where other technologies may offer an alternative. Radar is one such technology. It too has seen significant development in recent years and according to Navtech Radar, the technology can often fulfil detection and moni
    Read More
  • 780 SolarLite road studs deployed on UK motorway accident black spot
    July 11, 2012
    An unlit stretch of the M42 motorway in the UK, identified as an accident black spot area due to the lack of street lighting linked to increased accident rates, has seen the installation of 780 Astucia SolarLite road studs. The studs, along the carriageway of the M42 from junctions 1 to 3a, give drivers up to 900 metres visibility of the road layout ahead, which is up to ten times greater than would be possible from traditional retro-reflective ‘cats eye’ road studs. In addition, the existing two metre whi
    Read More

Highlighted Content