National Highways Proposes £25m Upgrade Package for Busy Salisbury Route

National Highways has outlined plans for a £25 million improvement scheme aimed at easing congestion and improving journey reliability on a key section of the A36 in Salisbury.

The proposals focus on the Southampton Road corridor, a route that carries a mix of long-distance strategic traffic and significant local vehicle movements. The plans were presented during a Salisbury City Council meeting on 26 May as part of ongoing efforts to improve traffic flow through the city.

According to National Highways, the scheme is intended to increase capacity at some of the route's busiest junctions, helping to reduce delays and improve reliability for motorists using both the A36 and surrounding local roads.

Chris Hildrup, National Highways Route Manager, said opportunities to construct entirely new transport infrastructure are increasingly limited, making upgrades to existing roads an important part of future network improvements.

Central to the project are proposed changes at College Roundabout and Bourne Way Roundabout. The plans include widening works, additional traffic lanes and the introduction of new signal-controlled layouts designed to increase the number of vehicles able to pass through the junctions during peak periods.

WSP, which is supporting the project as delivery partner, has developed designs that would see College Roundabout enlarged and reconfigured. The scheme includes signalisation of the junction, new entry and exit lanes and the reinstatement of existing left-turn lanes, all aimed at improving traffic throughput and reducing congestion.

Delivering the improvements will require additional land around the junction. Approximately 2,500 square metres of land would be needed from Churchill Gardens, resulting in the loss of around 25 trees. Further land would also be required from areas owned by Wiltshire Council and Salisbury City Council.

National Highways has acknowledged the environmental impact of the project and said replacement tree planting would be undertaken elsewhere as part of mitigation measures.

The organisation has identified ecological considerations as one of the principal risks facing the project, alongside the challenge of delivering the scheme within a tight timescale. Current plans require the improvements to be completed and operational by 2031.

While National Highways believes the £25 million budget represents good value for a project of this scale, some councillors expressed concerns about both the cost and the anticipated delivery programme.

Questions were also raised regarding the potential impact on local green spaces, watercourses and mature trees, as well as the need for additional traffic signals at the junctions.

Despite these concerns, National Highways hopes to build on recent levels of public engagement seen during consultations on other local transport projects and is expected to undertake further community consultation as the A36 proposals develop.

If approved, the scheme would form part of wider efforts to improve the resilience and efficiency of the strategic road network in and around Salisbury while accommodating future traffic growth.