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 / Updated By Alastair Jamieson 
 
 LONDON – A controversial four-lane highway will be constructed under Stonehenge, planners announced Thursday in an effort to solve a decades-old traffic problem at the ancient British monument. 
 
 A new 1.8 mile tunnel would remove the sight and sound of traffic for visitors to the prehistoric landmark, England’s Department for Transport said. 
 
 The World Heritage Site is among Britain’s top tourist attractions and pulls in in more than 1.3 million visitor annually. 
 
 The busy A303 trunk road in Wiltshire, England runs right past Stonehenge. Matt Cardy / Getty Images 
 
 However, it sits yards from the busy A303 — a historic road linking London with southwest England that has grown increasingly traffic-choked. The stretch of highway nearest Stonehenge is single-lane, creating a notorious bottleneck and prompting many drivers to slow down to get a look. 
 
 Plans for a tunnel at the Wiltshire site were first made almost 30 years ago but have been repeatedly shelved amid concerns about the environmental impact. 
 
 Campaign group Stonehenge Alliance says the latest scheme, which would carry two lanes in each direction, would do "irreparable damage to the landscape" and it wants a much longer tunnel that would minimize the road’s impact. 
 
 Supporters of the government plan include heritage charity, National Trust. Helen Ghosh, director general, said in a statement: “I know there will be some sadness that people will no longer be able to see the stones from the road, but visitors will once again be able to hear the sounds of skylarks singing rather than the constant noise of traffic.” 
 
 She added: “After many false starts and challenges, this does for the first time feel like a real opportunity to tackle the blight of the road that dominates the landscape of Stonehenge.” 
 
 The Department for Transport said the Stonehenge tunnel was part of a $2.45 billion program of investment in the region and would cut traffic congestion. A public consultation on the scheme will run until March 5. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The plan involves building a tunnel for the A303, which runs past the ancient monument 
 
 A controversial plan for a road tunnel past Stonehenge has been finalised by the government. 
 
 Campaigners claim the 1.8-mile (2.9 km) dual-carriageway tunnel will cause "irreparable damage" to the landscape. 
 
 However, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the plan will "transform" the A303, "cutting congestion and improving journey times". 
 
 A public consultation to get the views of drivers and residents will run until 5 March. 
 
 The busy A303 currently passes within a few hundred metres of the ancient monument. 
 
 The tunnel forms part of a £2bn government scheme to upgrade all remaining sections of the road between the M3 and M5. 
 
 'Time bomb' 
 
 However, campaign group Stonehenge Alliance believes any tunnel shorter than 2.7-miles (4.3 km) would do "irreparable damage to the landscape". 
 
 Chairman of Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust, Andy Rhind-Tutt, described the tunnel plan as a "self-destructing time bomb" which would "do nothing" for traffic problems in the area. 
 
 In 2015, a Stonehenge Alliance petition calling for a longer tunnel gained 17,500 signatures. 
 
 In a statement, the group said: "The Alliance does not advocate new road building at Stonehenge, but accepts the need to improve the tranquillity and appearance of the World Heritage Site and its setting. 
 
 "If the government insists on widening the A303 by means of a tunnel, it must be sufficiently long to avoid any further damage to [Stonehenge] and its setting." 
 
 Image caption Thousands of people have backed a campaign calling for a longer tunnel to protect the landscape 
 
 English Heritage and the National Trust have also given their support to the option of "the longest tunnel possible". 
 
 Highways England's Jim O'Sullivan said: "Our plans for the A303 recognise the national importance of the route and these improvements will bring real benefit to the region and local communities. 
 
 "The public exhibitions will provide an excellent opportunity to explain further our plans and to hear feedback from stakeholders." 
 
 However, a report by UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites has recognised the benefits of the project. 
 
 Tunnel history 
 
 Plans for a tunnel past the Stonehenge site have had a long and chequered history. 
 
 Proposals for a bored tunnel were first mooted in 1995 but the government insisted on a "cut and covered" tunnel, which was unveiled in 1999. 
 
 The plans for the 2.5-mile (4 km) tunnel was criticised by the National Trust and other groups who were concerned about possible damage to the site. 
 
 In 2002, revised plans for a bored tunnel of 1.3 miles (2.1 km) were proposed as part of a wider scheme to upgrade the A303 to dual carriageway status 
 
 Following a public inquiry, the tunnel scheme was withdrawn in 2005 by the Labour government, partly due to rising costs of construction, which had doubled to £470m. It was shelved for good in 2007. 
 
 The idea resurfaced in 2014 when the Conservative MP for Salisbury, John Glen, said any attempt to make the A303 in to a dual carriageway must include protection for the World Heritage site. 
 
 In December of that year the coalition government gave its support to the plan for a 1.8-mile tunnel near the monument. 
 
 Congestion on the A303 £1.4bn Proposed cost of Stonehenge tunnel 1.8 miles is the length of the proposed tunnel (2.9km) 
 
 9.6 sq m around Stonehenge is a World Heritage site (25 sq km) 
 
 33% of the route is single carriageway 
 
 84 years since the A-road opened PA 
 
 Stonehenge is one of the Europe's most recognisable prehistoric monuments. 
 
 The history of the Wiltshire site dates back 4,500 years and it is the only surviving lintelled stone circle in the world. ||||| Plans for 1.8-mile road tunnel are still very divisive and estimated cost of project has risen to £1.6bn 
 
 The government has changed the preferred route of a road tunnel designed to restore peace and tranquillity to Stonehenge after protests by druids, archaeologists and conservation experts. 
 
 There was an outcry that the 1.8-mile tunnel would pass too close to precious barrows and ruin the view of the sun setting at the winter solstice, a crucial date in the pagan calendar. 
 
 On Monday the government said it was now planning to shift the tunnel an extra 50 metres away from the prehistoric monument to try to ease the concerns of the scheme’s critics. 
 
 Opportunity or threat? Stonehenge tunnel plan revives long-running debate Read more 
 
 But the proposals, announced as part of plans for a £1.6bn upgrade to the route in and out of the south-west of England, are still very divisive, with sceptics arguing that precious ancient features will be destroyed and the site’s world heritage status could be at risk. 
 
 There is also concern that the cost seems to be rising. In January it was widely reported that the cost would be £1.4bn. The Department for Transport said the estimated cost had been revised upwards, to £1.6bn. 
 
 Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, said the investment in road improvements, including eight miles of dual carriageway as well as the tunnel, would be a huge boost to the region. 
 
 “Quicker journey times, reduced congestion and cleaner air will benefit people locally and unlock growth in the tourism industry,” he said. The planning process for the scheme will begin next, and construction could start in 2021 and take five years. 
 
 The culture secretary, Karen Bradley, said: “This investment will help make the visitor experience much more enjoyable. With over 1 million visitors a year, Stonehenge is one of the jewels in the UK’s crown and it is important that we preserve it for generations to come.” 
 
 The government said the tunnel would be at least 1.8 miles long and would follow the existing route of the A303 but a further 50 metres from the site than was proposed earlier this year. It said the modification meant the tunnel would avoid important archaeological sites and would not intrude on the view of the setting sun from Stonehenge during the winter solstice. 
 
 Building either shorter or longer tunnels has been considered. A shorter one would succeed in making Stonehenge more tranquil but the siting of the portals – the entrances and exits – would damage other important monuments within the world heritage site. A longer one is seen as prohibitively expensive. 
 
 A tunnel of 1.8 miles is being presented by the government as a good balance, delivering benefits to the site but still affordable. 
 
 One of the main benefits would be that at the eastern end the road dives underground before a feature called the Avenue, believed to be a ceremonial approach to Stonehenge from the river Avon. This would allow visitors and pilgrims, for the first time in decades, to safely follow the route their forebears took. 
 
 Organisations including the site’s custodians, English Heritage, and the landowner, the National Trust, were concerned that under plans released earlier this year the western portal was too close to a neolithic and early bronze age feature called the Normanton Down barrow group. 
 
 The two bodies, plus Historic England, backed the government’s new tweak. They said: “We believe the amended route can, if designed and located with the utmost care, deliver a lasting legacy for the world heritage site and restore peace and tranquillity to the Stonehenge landscape. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reunite this ancient landscape which is currently severed by a huge volume of road traffic. 
 
 “The route announced will ensure the winter solstice alignment will be unspoilt by lights and traffic from the road. We also want to see the globally important archaeology protected, the settings of the ancient burial sites respected and the views between those sites restored. It is now critical to ensure that the benefits of this new route can be realised through careful design and mitigation of archaeological risks, particularly at the western portal of the tunnel and the approach road.” 
 
 The AA welcomed the announcement. The motoring organisation’s president, Edmund King, said: “Stonehenge’s ancient circle, created by the can-do attitude of prehistoric builders, has become a monument to modern-age indecision where plans and consultations to ease traffic congestion have gone round and round. 
 
 “This improvement is long overdue, not only for the millions of holidaymakers heading west but also for the essential businesses that use this strategic route. Reducing congestion near Stonehenge will greatly benefit the environment and the economy.” 
 
 The Stonehenge Alliance expressed anger, especially in light of concern from the heritage body Unesco over the plans for a tunnel. The alliance’s honorary secretary, Kate Fielden, said: “We are shocked at the indifference to Unesco’s advice. The project needs a complete rethink, not a minor tweak which still threatens major harm to this iconic landscape.” 
 
 Fielden said the damage to the site would be huge. “There will be deep cuttings, a four-way highway, faster traffic, signage. The potential risk of loss of Stonehenge’s world heritage status casts shame upon our country and those responsible for caring for our heritage.” 
 
 The proposals will now be subject to what is likely to be a lengthy planning process.
– It could finally be tunnel time at Stonehenge. NBC News reports that the 1.3 million annual visitors to the famous landmark have been dealing with increasing traffic on a nearby highway for years. Officials first proposed a tunnel to cut down on noisy and unsightly traffic yards away on the A303 nearly 30 years ago, but it never materialized. Now the British government has finalized plans to build that tunnel, according to the BBC. The 1.8-mile tunnel would include four lanes and cost an estimated $1.7 billion. The secretary of England's Department of Transport says the tunnel will reduce traffic and travel times near Stonehenge. But the tunnel remains controversial, with Stonehenge fans weighing in on both sides. One supporter says tourists will "once again be able to hear the sounds of skylarks" instead of traffic. And UNESCO, which lists Stonehenge as a World Heritage Site, is in favor of the tunnel. But the Council for British Archaeology is against it, the Guardian reports. The council's president says the area around Stonehenge is the "world's most significant and best-preserved stone-age landscape." That's why the Stonehenge Alliance also opposes the current tunnel plan. The group wants the tunnel length increased to at least 2.7 miles to reduce disruption to the immediate area. Officials are accepting public comment on the tunnel through the beginning of March.