27/07/2011 South Today

30 years in the planning, four years in the building and tonight

traffic is using the Hindhead Tunnel for the first time. Hello,

I'm Sally Taylor, welcome to South Today, live on location as the

largest road scheme in the region opens for business. In tonight's

programme... We'll be assessing the economic

impact on the region and how there was originally a plan to make

drivers pay for the road and how the tunnel's hi-tech safety

features have already been tested Could the people on their bicycles

please exit the tunnel? We will also have the rest of the

day's news from across the region - including how two Afghan illegal

immigrants were found working for the MoD on Salisbury Plain acting

as Taliban fighters to help train soldiers. And Roger Johnson's in

Weymouth. With exactly one year to goal until

the Olympics, we will be live at the home of the sailing events in

Dorset, as the road to London 2012 Opened early, under budget, and

welcomed by almost everyone. When was the last time you could say

that about a new road? The Hindhead tunnel has many firsts, but in this

age of austerity it is the last road scheme of its size we will see

for perhaps decades. It removes a notorious bottleneck on A3 trunk

road between London and Portsmouth - at peak times, tailbacks could

stretch ten miles. Here are a few quick facts for you. There are four

miles of new road - the tunnel is just over a mile long. It has cost

�371 million. That is about �142,000 per yard, making it the

second most expensive road, yard for yard, in the country. And we

can reveal that, because of the cost, there was a debate about

whether it should be built as a toll road. More on that later.

There's a the northbound carriageway, and they expect to

open this on Friday. -- this is the northbound

carriageway. The new road will carry 36,000

vehicles a day, including cars that used to rat run to avoid the

infamous Hindhead traffic lights. In the first of our reports, Roisin

Gauson looks back on a big day for drivers.

Traffic queues and Hindhead go hand in hand, but today traffic was

building up for a different reason. Each wanted to be one of the first

to travel through the new tunnel. Nine years in the planning, four-

and-a-half years in the building and Britain's newest Tunnel is

finally open. It is just over one mile long, which might not seem

long, but it will cut commuting time by up to 40 minutes. We are

beeping to all of the workers, it is fantastic. I have even set up a

try pad -- tripod on the camera in the car and we will have a little

like in a minute. We have been waiting for it to go

through so I had to be here this morning to be one of the first

through. This trickle will eventually become

36,000 vehicles per day. Already the tunnel is having a huge effect

on the amount of traffic through Hindhead. We are going northbound

and it is still a nightmare, and southbound there has hardly any

traffic. That will change over the weekend when both directions open.

It has been a sad day for local traffic news reporters, but it has

It has been a 30 year long wait for the tunnel to be built. Uniquely

among big roads projects, this was a scheme that everyone wanted. But

time and again it was postponed + because of the high cost. Our

Transport Correspondent, Paul Clifton, reports.

For decades, the traffic lights at Hindhead have been the biggest

bottleneck on the main road between Portsmouth and London. The need for

a bypass was agreed by the government 33 years ago, in 1978.

For the lorry drivers who travel through here every day, the tunnel

will transform the journey. You could have been sat in traffic

for 25 minutes. At most places be delivered to you have a booking

time. Four years ago ground clearance finally started. This

valley was seen for the last time. It was to be filled in with the

spoil from the tunnel. It was like digging through a giant sandpit.

Each time the machines scraped away a couple of metres of soft

sandstone, steel rods were forced through and the walls were sprayed

with quick setting concrete to hold them up. The diggers worked from

both ends of the tunnel at once. Eventually, they met in the middle.

We were within about 35 mm, an inch and a half, so very close, bang on.

The tunnel itself was largely complete a year ago, under budget.

Since then, the roads on either side have been built and the tunnel

While the Hindhead tunnel will bring relief for commuters on the

A3, other bottlenecks in the south remain. Among the roads in need of

improvement are the A27. It regularly gets jammed at Chichester,

Arundel and Worthing. Various bypass schemes have all been

shelved. The A303 at Stonehenge is another notorious bottleneck - but

plans to build a tunnel there were scrapped in 2007. And the A32 at

Gosport is often congested - a rapid bus scheme is being built,

but it may not solve the problems. There are no firm plans for any of

these roads because they all come with a huge price tag. As you saw,

the ribbon cutting here was done by the Transport Secretary, Phillip

Hammond. He confirmed there is a shift away from big road building

projects. I would not collude make-do-and-

mend, but there is a definite shift. Difficult times, we must use the

resources we already have and the infrastructure we already have paid

for to its absolute maximum to make journeys more predictable.

It is the longest under land tunnel in the country and is packed with

hi-tech safety features. The emergency services need to be

prepared for the worst. Only yesterday there was a serious fire

in a tunnel in South Wales. I stretch of the M4 mortar we

closed for hours after a lorry caught fire in the tunnel. -- M4

motorway. The war worst-case scenario is a large heavy goods

vehicle or or oil tanker being ignited for some reason.

Then you are talking about intense fires for a couple of hours or more.

Drivers can also escape to the other tunnel using special doors of

the 100 metres. The tunnel is monitored are round-the-clock by a

control room, where staff are watching more than 100 CCTV cameras.

There are radar units which spot slow or stop vehicles, even

bicycles which are banned, as these riders found out when they had a

sneaky short cut ahead of the opening.

Could the cyclists please exit of the tunnel, European recorded.

Those safety announcements are automatically relayed over at the

car radio. RADIO: there is congestion ahead,

please remain in your vehicle and switch off the engine.

The tunnel was chosen because of the environmental benefits. A

tunnel was chosen because of the environmental benefits. The old A3

runs across the Devil's Punchbowl, a beautiful landmark and protected

habitat. The old road will now be covered up, re-joining the

Punchbowl and Hindhead Common into one giant wildlife wonderland - but

as Jo Kent reports, it was the environmental lobby which pushed

those concerns to the forefront. The tunnel is what many would have

liked to have seen here, on the M3 at Twyford. It was ruled out for

being too costly. Environmental campaigners fought hard to protect

the countryside but that the scheme was completed in 1995.

The protests at Twyford paved the way for the third Battle of Newbury

as thousands protested over the destruction of more than 100 acres

of woodland to build the Newbury bypass. The cost of policing and

protecting the workers meant it run �10 million over budget. The tunnel

at Hindhead became the preferred option after a successful campaign

against a road-widening scheme. In 1997 with a new Labour Government,

money in the banks and the memory of those protests fresh in the

politician's' minds, it was given the go-ahead. The landscape has

been restored after decades divided by the Athree dual-carriageway.

It will allow things like snakes, lizards, butterflies, small

insights to move from one part to another with larger blocks of heath.

There is more chance they will survive. Already, new walking and

cycle routes are being created in preparation for up visitors looking

to enjoy renewed tranquil it -- renewed tranquillity ".

Major was at the forefront of the project, something which owes a

debt to the environmental protests We are live at the Hindhead tunnel.

It may just be one and a quarter miles long, but it impact stretches

far and wind. -- far and wide. And also how the tunnel has

inspired local musicians. All that is still to come. Now let's go to

An MP is calling for tighter vetting procedures after it was

discovered that two men working with soldiers on Salisbury Plain

are illegal immigrants. They have been playing the part of Taliban

fighters during army exercises. Border Agency officials found the

Afghan men at an Army camp. Steve Humphrey reports.

Foreign nationals are being employed during army exercises on

Salisbury Plain to play the part of Afghan villagers and Taliban

fighters. Yesterday morning, officials carrying out checks here

at the camp discovered two men from Afghanistan where in the country

illegally. They were employed by an unnamed contractor. Today, people

living nearby give their reaction to the news.

They should not be there and should have been checked first.

It is a bit shocking. That is a very bad, isn't it?

Security has gone out the window. The Salisbury MP who sits on the

defence select committee says vetting procedures must be

tightened. We need to get it right, we need

competence in a very sensitive job. We need competence in Government

and in agencies. This is a mistake the MoD needs to put right.

The MoD says it will be looking at at vetting procedures following an

investigation. One of the men from Afghanistan, who was detained here

at the camp, had unexpired these are. The other was a failed asylum

The Opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games is exactly a year

away today. In the South there will be rowing at Dorney Lake in

Buckinghamshire, and sailing at Weymouth and Portland. Today plans

to create a special paid-for ticketed area at the normally

public Nothe Gardens in Weymouth were approved by councillors. Roger

Johnson joins us from there now. Here at Nothe Gardens you will

probably get one of the best views of the Olympic sailing events as

they say lobby from Port with National Sailing Academy where the

regatta will be based. -- Portsmouth National Sailing Academy.

Without doubt, many of the world's best sailors will be here, and many

are already here, members of the New Zealand team are based here. An

Olympic Test event will begin at the weekend. At Nothe Gardens there

is a little -- little disappointment that locals will not

be able to get in. There will be fences pick around it today. There

is a little disappointment from the people we have been talking to,

they cannot really get under the skin of the Olympic Games.

I believe it is good for the economy, but I don't think people

are paying attention to the local residents.

They could have managed the spectators by using all of

Weymouth's green spaces. They'd been but have cut of the most

beautiful of them. You will not see anything.

Of the late getting a good view of the rowing events will not be a

problem. Today, as they counted down the one year mark there, they

lodged an appeal to find another 500 volunteers to help with the

rowing, because rowing is a sport in which Britain has traditionally

excelled at the Olympics. I live very close to the lake, so

am very excited about the Olympic Games will stop the atmosphere will

be fantastic. Or we are a small village, not used to huge events

like this, so what will be something else to remember. -- so

that will be something else. 500 volunteers are needed, and

Dorney just like here, apropos -- Social workers in Southampton will

go on strike next Wednesday. Their action is the latest in a series of

strikes over pay cuts. 450 staff are involved, including some

working directly with vulnerable adults and children. The council

has offered to offset cuts in pay for childrens social workers. It

says the strike is unacceptable. Hampshire County Council has agreed

to cut bus subsidies by �2 million. It is part of an attempt to meet a

�55 million funding gap for the coming year. The cuts will come

into force in October, and will affect rural areas and weekend and

evening services. There were extensive delays to

trains on the Brighton to Portsmouth line in West Sussex this

afternoon after a 39-year-old Worthing man climbed onto a

carriage roof near Durrington Station. It is believed he managed

to scramble up while the train - which was travelling to

Littlehampton - was waiting for signals. British Transport Police

managed to get him down unharmed after the power on the line had

been turned off. The wedding dress is a crucial part

of every bride's day, but the unexpected closing of one

Southampton bridal shop has left one bride unhappy and out of pocket.

Katy is shopping for a wedding dress. She thought she had already

chosen her ideal outfit, but the shop which was having it made has

suddenly gone out of business. She had already paid most of the �1,800

the dress was costing. I was heartbroken, of course,

because when you are getting married the biggest part of it is

your address, you want to feel beautiful and I felt beatable in

that dress. Hugely disappointed. So, Katy is on the search again.

Another stone is offering a discount for her and any other

bride to have been let down. Unfortunately we have seen this all

before and we are going to see it in the future, so we are trying to

get their giggles in, find him address they love as much or, if

not, even better. It is so important, that this is the main

thing. Weddings are always stressful, and

for a Katy's mother it became just too much today. We tried to contact

the closed shop, but no one was available for comment.

The feature race at Glorious Goodwood was, as predicted very

much a two horse race this afternoon. Frankel, trained by Sir

Henry Cecil stormed to victory, outpacing big rival Canford Cliffs.

Tom Queally steered Frankel to his eighth successive win on the flat.

Defending champion Canford Cliffs who won the race last year was five

lengths behind. The big story of the day is of

course the long awaited opening of the Hindhead tunnel. We should do

remind everyone it is the south bound carriageway that is opened,

the northbound is expected to open on Friday.

There are massive queues going north because they are still going

through the town of Hindhead, that notorious bottleneck just over

their about half-a-mile. The traffic weights there are still

problem for many going north, but bear that in mind. Many of the

businesses in that town are thinking of pulling out. Our

correspondent is assessing the impact on the town of Hindhead.

Excavation work shook their home to its foundations. The temporary

divergence cent traffic thundering past, yet for this couple were

promise of a new lease of life for Hindhead far outweighs the recent

hassle. The house shook and vibrated quite

wildly on occasions, but it was a relatively short lived.

Property prices are not expected to soar, but quicker journeys will

have an impact. It will shave off 20 minutes, and

for a lot of people who want to be within an hour of London, that

means they may contemplate moving tent or 20 minutes south of

Hindhead. But could they as end up leaving Hindhead and dead-end town?

Recounts a has a vision for the town, but there will soon be no

passing trade. The petrol station closed last

month, and the salvage yard opposite is up for sale.

I do not see services working particularly well because I don't

think they will get throughput. The traffic has harmed Hindhead,

but it could be years before we know the real impact of taking it

away. Let's look at the wider economic effects now. I'm joined by

Maureen Frost from the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce.

Looking further down towards Portsmouth, is this tunnel going to

create business or jobs? Were a believe it will do. It is a

bit of a cliche, but time is money as far as business is concerned. It

is a key concern when people look to relocate, whether they can move

people and goods quickly from one place to another. We think it will

help recruitment, because the number of people who did not want

to take a job either side of the tunnel before it was open.

The tunnel down -- Portsmouth has said the Newport's Major's

significant factor was the opening of this tunnel.

And yes, it has definitely given new people choice.

And the ferries have been capitalising on the fact it is

quicker now to get from Portsmouth to London than it is from Dover.

Yes, it is getting that message across how quickly it can be

travelled. It was going to be opened as a pole

board, prided that brought happened?

Are it was all down to the cost- benefit ratio. It would have meant

having 12 lane carriageways, extra cost of land, extra cost of

construction, Manning, appalling platters, and the study found it

would have taken at an extra few years. -- told Lord births. -- told

The engineering and technological first of this project have been

lovingly charted on a website. Dave Wareham from Bordon has been

writing a blog on the tunnel for more than three years. It has had

more than 100,000 hits and was popular with many of the tunnel

workers. But hev has missed the big opening.

He is on holiday! Well, a blog records modern events,

but there is plenty of old history about this area. Duncan Mirylees is

from the Surrey History Centre. Depicted simply, this is one of the

most important roads in the history of England and the United Kingdom.

It connected London with the most important Naval Base, Portsmouth.

Anybody here is anybody in British naval history had to travel up and

down this road. Going back to Tudor times, Henry

VII, bringing it up to modern times and talking about D-Day, I

understand this road was full of military vehicles.

Yes, my dear aunt, who was a nurse during the Second World War are

remembers seeing this road lined with Canadian and American military

vehicles revving their engine at once and the noise and smoke was

indescribable. It stuck in her memory until the day she died. She

moved to Canada because she was very friendly with the Canadian

troops. Very swiftly, this was known as a

healthy area for writers. Yes, Arthur Conan Doyle built a

house here and moved in 1897. Alas, his wife died six years later of

the stock Lord Tennyson as well? To that is right, yes.

One of the things they did over the last four years was put in some

viewing platforms, and from up there we can now join our

there we can now join our correspondent with the weather.

Yes, the lovely view appeared is definitely worth a visit if you are

in the area. Despite the lovely view over head there is a good deal

of cloud cover, so that will stay with us. From earlier, at

increasing cloud cover moving in from the North Atlantic. One or two

clear spells through the early hours of the morning and

temperatures will stay mild with the cloud cover. That is the

outside chance of showers but most places will stay dry. Through the

morning, most places will dip to around 14 Celsius. Outside towns

and cities, perhaps lower. First thing in the morning, some sunshine

on offer, but mostly cloud. Temperatures up to around 15 or 16

Celsius. Winds will be light at first thing in the morning.

The sunshine will be in amongst some patchy cloud here and there in

the sunshine. Highs at tomorrow afternoon around 24 Celsius, doing

very well into the net to Lord twenties in temperature of the

stamp -- into the mid- twenties in temperature. On Friday, one or two

clear spells, very mild temperatures at night. Friday,

showers possible, at they will be light and drizzly in nature and few

and far between. There will be more cloud in this guide than today and

tomorrow. Some sunshine on offer tomorrow, more throughout the

afternoon, the risk of showers on Friday, and through the weekend

high pressure starts to building, and that means to because are on

the up, mid-twenties by Sandy and a decent amount of sunshine.

decent amount of sunshine. -- mid-twenties by Sunday.

The North Catt -- the northbound carriageway again is expected to

open on Friday. If you are a motorist, suddenly it is probably

going to be the last day of its kind you are going to enjoy a.

We will leave you tonight with a piece of music from the Haslemere

Town Band. The Devil's Punchbowl march was specially composed by one

of the band, 16-year-old Eric Foster to mark the opening of the