Motoring Oddities EP3 - How Long Is The UK's 3rd Longest Tunnel - Hindhead Surrey

[@iankemp1131]

It wasn't just the people of Hindhead who benefited from the tunnel. There were huge benefits for the half-million plus in Portsmouth and its hinterland and the Hampshire/Sussex border. The delays through Hindhead were often half an hour or more before the tunnel. It wasn't just the single-carriageway road round the Devils Punchbowl; the traffic lights at the crossroads with the busy A287 in Hindhead itself were the main culprit. It's ironic that the A3 went almost over the top of the hills rather than lower-level routes along valleys; that dated all the way back to the coach road from horse days.

[@andrewnbrown]

It should be noted that the MP for South West Surrey at the time was Virginia Bottomley who was married to Transport Minister Sir Peter Bottomley. Probably helped with planning.

[@jonathan.robbins]

It should also be noted that Virginia Bottomley’s name is an anagram of “I’m an evil Tory bigot”

[@StevenVacher]

Having lived in Portsmouth all my life and for the past 22 years worked for a company in Kingston upon Thames, I have travelled the A3 for more miles than I wish to think about. The 5 years of roadworks before the tunnel opened were a NIGHTMARE. It might not be the longest tunnel in the UK but it is the best 😍

[@bugattieb110ss]

F*cking hey! :)

[@stevesmith7530]

I remember the jams approaching Hindhead when heading south. I had a trick to avoid them. Just after the dual carriageway ended, it was possible to turn off the main road and use unmade byways to sneak to near the head of the queue and come back onto the main road just opposite the carpark and tea shop :) Achievable with care on a dry day in a family car, any time and any weather in my 4x4

[@Graham_Langley]

Back in '95 I was commuting from Leatherhead to work in Portmouth so I saw the queues going the other way. It was rare to wait more than two phases of the traffic lights in either direction.

[@kipsome45]

I used to do that!

[@coolstorybrooooo7643]

My dad used to do this!

[@robholland6460]

Ditto. In my Clio 👍

[@DrRusty5]

I recall being in a car and the driver doing this, we weren't in a 4x4 😂😂 but made it!

[@jcrigg]

I worked for Balfour Beatty on this project as a QS in the tunnel excavation team. Really cool project!

[@S1m0nV6]

you kept me awake with your digging 🙂

[@ambitiousautos1064]

I do taxiing round the area, for 21 years now, and believe me, what a godsend that tunnel is, those lights at Hindhead used to be horrendous, tis a nice area though tbh 👍

[@Seansaighdeoir]

Coming back from Portsmouth in 2010 used to be a nightmare when you got Hindhead with the delays but the route around the punchbowl was outstanding.

[@taiterobinson793]

My uncle lives right near the Hindhead Tunnel! (In Haslemere) He moved there around the same time the tunnel was nearing completion! I visited him a few weeks ago from Scotland, and we cycled up to the Devils Punchbowl, and saw the old A3 curving round it! It was great!

[@jonwatson6918]

Nothing to do with Karens in Hindhead. There were two possible routes. The yellow route ran over National Trust land and they had, and used, their veto. The red route ran through Thursley and they have money and lawyers. But yes, it's been a real success.

[@greyguy.960]

It seems lesser places with green belt land or private land get no say so. How many tunnels have you heard of costing that amount are built in poorer places? They just go straight through the middle normally or just on the outskirts. Which is the norm. Might have something to do with multiple retired Lords and MPs plus high-status individuals living area?

[@jonwatson6918]

@@greyguy.960 Retired Lords, MPs and high status folk in Hindhead itself? Really?

[@greyguy.960]

@@jonwatson6918 In the surrounding area yes. You can't be approaching their villages or towns. Again would you accept this level of spending around anywhere like the norm or poorer place? Don't you think they have more say and standing than others?

[@jonwatson6918]

@@greyguy.960 Indeed, in Thursley, as I said. Not in Hindhead.

[@jonwatson6918]

@@greyguy.960 Not possible to widen the road through Hindhead. Only way would encroach on NT land. And they have a veto. Not often used but . .

[@lewis72]

Hello !! Thanks for another upload. I drove along the old road just a few weeks before the tunnel was opened. I made sure to savour the journey and enjoy the traffic lights.

[@AutoShenanigans]

I've also driven it but a fair while ago in the dark and rain, it wasn't pleasant.

[@modeltrainsandtracks]

But if you drove the old A3 at a nice quiet time (yes, there were some) in a 4-litre V6 Camaro, I can assure you that the curves really flowed and sometimes were just plain simple fun with rear-wheel drive on darker winter days...

[@TCHorwood-xq7mw]

It was fun in a 1.2 litre Chevette too, but much slower.

[@TheCaptain7190]

Love your channel and enjoy all your videos. If you're still looking for motoring oddities, have you driven along Electric Brae in Ayrshire? it's the weirdest road which gives you the impression you're driving uphill when you're actually going downhill. Point your car uphill. take the handbrake off and you start rolling forward. Bizarre! Google it for exact locatiion.

[@williamross2579]

Ahhh thundering through Hindhead at 2am after gigging in Southampton or Portsmouth on a weekend night, also dealing with the bottleneck at 6:30-7pm getting to said gig, never fun, but the single carridgeway was nice to chuck the car into going northbounds... I left the area just as the first hedges and such were being cut in 05, markings out on the ground... it kinda looks strange now.

[@laguna3fase4]

I used to work near Hindhead in 1978 and vaguely remember using the old A3 to get there.

[@DB34IPS]

Loved the outtakes at the end. Keep up the good work mate.

[@davidfalconer8913]

The walk through on May 14th 2011 took about 15 - 20 minutes and was very interesting , loads of folk took this once only , never to be repeated offer ( the local bus company did good business ! ! ) .... a great day out ! ! ..........

[@MrGreatplum]

The difference that the tunnel made on the A3 in terms of speed is amazing. I don’t think there was ever a time that I didn’t have to queue through hindhead prior to the tunnel being built.

[@danielmasek8171]

The ~50 meter elevation difference being called a "rather difficult terrain" was kinda hilarious. :D

[@jonc4403]

Having just driven I-75 through Kentucky last weekend, I agree. And that's not even got any tunnels.

[@Bob-rn5ho]

Great commentary and interesting details, thanks Bob

[@BristolPeterUK]

Loved your "little work gathering"

[@ccgoth1271]

I lived near by to Hindhead just over the border in Hampshire and my school bus had to go up the A3 towards Hindhead everyday and what should of taken 20 mins would take an hour and a half to get back home. on the north side as you are heading towards the tunnel on the left you will see an old turn off and large open land, that is where the workers lived during the construction of the tunnel in caravans

[@Ston874]

Thanks for the video - I am looking forward to the TV series. Really good. Love the sarcasm.

[@iansteel5569]

I did wonder where that road around the Devil's Punchbowl had gone as I remember seeing it when I went to Portsmouth years ago, it was quite a road, now only a distant memory.

[@philiproszak1678]

This is brilliant. It's not long at all compared to some other places though. I liked the end credits song btw.

[@alexanderguesthistorical7842]

The interesting thing about the Hindhead tunnel is that there were plans to fix the Hindhead bottleneck for about 40 years previous to the tunnel opening. But nothing was ever done about it because of cost. They finally got their arses in gear and got it finished in 2011. Just one year before..........THE 2012 OLYMPICS. Strange coincidence that.

[@andrewjones-productions]

We have tunnels here, there and everywhere here in Japan. I live on the Boso peninsula (Chiba Prefecture) and have an apartment in Tokyo. To get there, I have to use the Tokyo Aqualine. This is a half bridge-half tunnel over and under the busy Tokyo Bay. The bridge section is on the Chiba Prefectural side starting at Kisarazu and then descends beneath the sea at a manmade island come motorway services called 'Umihotaru'. From there we have an 8km (5mile) tunnel coming out at Kawasaki City, Ukishima-junction to go straight back into another tunnel that goes under a river, to come out to then go under two more tunnels at Haneda Airport (one actually goes underneath the runway) before finally having a respite. If I were to carry on towards northern Tokyo and beyond, I would very quickly enter the second longest road tunnel in the world that is the Yamate Tunnel (18.2km/11.3miles) and interweaves between several underground railway lines. When you use these long tunnels regularly, damn they get boring...seriously.

[@TheThejpmshow]

I have only once driven through this tunnel, en route from Mitcham to Havant, and have to say I was very intrigued to look up the history of said Tunnel. Brought brilliantly to life as always by A/S

[@martinwood9014]

Wish they'd put a tunnel through the previously lovely down at Winchester M3, instead of a gash.

[@WayneTulip-zm9gw]

Some people think that the solid white line in the middle of the road in some tunnels doesn’t have any legal meaning because it’s not mentioned in the Highway Code but it has the same meaning as double white lines where the line closest to you is solid, you can only cross the line to pass a stationary vehicle blocking the lane or to overtake a cyclist, horse or road maintenance vehicle travelling at 10mph or less, some tunnels have a sign just before you enter saying keep in lane which is what I’d do.

[@Andrewjg_89]

I’ve been through that tunnel after it was built. Makes it lot easier to travel down from London to Portsmouth than it used to take ages with all the twists and turns. That the A3 used to be before the tunnel was built and there has been lots of accidents. Now it’s just straight forward. Wish that Highways England would sort out Ham Barn roundabout and to replace the roundabout. With a new junction and a roundabout built on top of the A3 with slip roads and the B3006 also to be improved.

[@bugattieb110ss]

We'd prefer Londeners to just stay in London - rather than ruin Hampshire.

[@markiliff]

"I’ve been through that tunnel after it was built." ↑ the ideal time to try it!

[@Andrewjg_89]

@@bugattieb110ssWell technically Hindhead Tunnel is in Surrey but is quite close to Hampshire.

[@MichaelBrown-ur3sw]

Love the videos joined last week keep them coming do wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[@alanmooney]

Well I used ti live in Petersfield until I was 21 , we (my friends and I) would often drive to hindhead, Guildford or London for a coffee and had to navigate the massive bend around "The Devils Punchbowl", just before Hindhead and although at night back in the day (early 1970's ) there was a lot less traffic, duing the day the hold-ups were terrible. What ever happened to the "Little Chef" road stops.!!!!

[@davidpriestley1650]

Technically the 4th longest road tunnel - as the Kingway/New/Wallasey Mersey tunnel is twin bore, so counts as separate tunnels. Queensway/Old/Birkenhead - was the longest in the world at the time of opening (1934) - a title it held for 14 years. This is the tunnel featured in Harry Potter when they're escaping on Hagreds flying bike, and in Fast & Furious 6.

[@Del_S]

Would have been quite a weird crossover if it was at the same time....

[@I_Don_t_want_a_handle]

Harry Potter was in Fast & Furious 6? Talk about crossovers!

[@davidpriestley1650]

@@I_Don_t_want_a_handle Well some of the car stunts are magic

[@andrewshore262]

A much needed upgrade it makes life bearable if you’re doing that commute, and those average speed cameras at the beginning / end of the tunnel doesn’t mean you have to drive at 50mph in the outside lane (unless stated) - it’s still 70mph!

[@r1273m]

Very interesting video again, I really enjoy these. So, why do they bore tunnels with bends in them? You would think they would mark the two ends on a map and then take a ruler and draw a straight line between them. A two-wheeler friend of mine once said it was to prevent him really winding up his bike and enjoying the cacophony reverberating from the tunnel walls. Surely there must be a better reason, after all a tunnel with bends is longer than a straight tunnel.......

[@acciid]

Various reasons. The most obvious one at Hindhead is if they did a straight line they would have cut across the Devil's Punchbowl and would have had to build a bridge across it. Which would have defeated the point. So they had to follow the curve of the hillside. Also, modern dual carriageways, and major roads in general have long sweeping bends to allow speeds to be kept up and to give drivers a decent line of sight. If the tunnel was a straight line the roads outside at each end would have to be extended to build in those bends. Which is more cost. Sometimes geology is a reason. Rock isn't constant and there may be something the engineers want to avoid. I doubt that was an issue at Hindhead though.

[@qwertyTRiG]

A slight curve keeps drivers awake. This is even more important in tunnels, as the close walls and lack of view can be hypnotic. Some road tunnels in Norway actually have occasional big caverns along the route, just to give drivers some variety. They do curves too.

[@r1273m]

@@qwertyTRiG Interesting though not particularly surprising. I often wondered if it was also to discourage excessive speeding. In pre-motorway times we all knew of good straights where we could "wind it up"!

[@cyberleaderandy1]

Amazing how these things get built in the South near expensive places but in the North they just shove a duel carriage way through no matter what or leave the congestion as it is.

[@Beardchanics]

Nice one, information without any judgements ;) :D

[@AutoShenanigans]

Thanks for watching ;)

[@venda.havelka]

I don't get why they abandoned the old road. It could have been a nice backup for case of accidents or other tunel closures, mainly serving for emergency response teams...

[@MrEdrftgyuji]

Environ-*mentalists*

[@vincentharriman3283]

It was closed in the Devils Punchbowl for environmental reasons although the old A3 as far as Hindhead remains open as the A333.

[@nickbarber2080]

The old A3 was a lovely nadgery road for a motorcycle....as long as you didn't get stuck behind a caravan or a million cars stuck at the lights...ie late at night and early morning....

[@coolstorybrooooo7643]

I remember going through hindhead as a young-un. This upgrade was sorely needed.

[@tdcattech]

A video dripping with sarcasm (more than usual). Excellent.

[@vincentharriman3283]

Could have mentioned that the area the old route passed through is the Devils Punchbowl.

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Another great video, got to marvel at the engineering and ways round to stop Hindhead being a bottleneck.

[@AutoShenanigans]

Shame I couldn't get too close to the tunnel itself for a closer look! Thanks for watching as always mate

[@chrislewis8706]

To be fair was a much needed upgrade. I'm quite sure there was a level crossing in Hindhead where it bottle necked. Could be wrong. But yeah this route was a nightmare.

[@Mustang00007]

30k subs keep the great vids mate here in scotland at thr moment.

[@BossySwan]

Surrey seems to be the hardest word

[@Realpoweronearth]

Surrey is strange!!!

[@markjlewis]

Brilliant, sarcasm setting to 11!

[@TheEulerID]

That's the third longest road tunnel in the UK, not the third longest tunnel as the title claims. Even just in the transport sector, there are many dozens, and probably more than 100 longer railway and canal tunnels.

[@huwprice881]

As an amusing aside, having got their tunnel, the locals were all up in arms when hoards of performance car owners and loudly exhausted boy racers descended from all over the south east to blast back and forth making a hell of a racket, the tunnel being the perfect shape and length to massively amplify the noise of their brmm-brmmms 😂💥

[@JohnWalshLegend]

Hindhead is the Longest Land Tunnel in the UK. The Mersey Tunnels are Longer and Classed as Cross River.

[@grim-upnorth]

Came here to comment about the Queensway Tunnel, but then read the description. Hi there 🙂

[@AutoShenanigans]

Yeah major errors made on my part in this video.

[@grim-upnorth]

@@AutoShenanigans looking forward to the video on the Mersey Tunnels, Queensway and Kingsway 👍🏻

[@oliverharvey3792]

I'm a snaaaaaake, imma sneeeeeeaky snake

[@tradingcardboss]

Great vid 😎👍 You could do a video on the Winchester rd to nowhere. It was the junction of Hockley the only place in the country that the motorway had traffic lights 🚦

[@acciid]

That wasn't the motorway. It was the old A33.

[@daveglasspool6606]

Spent hours waiting at those lights. Especially in the summer 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿.

[@looneytoons2878]

Yeah what a crock of shit that was

[@robg521]

As regular traveler of this road for about 35 years this tunnel was a god send. *With 1 exception* They decided the block off the original road and allow it to return to nature in the middle of the wildlife reserve. This sound great until you get a problem with the tunnel, and on the several occasions when they have had to close the tunnel due to an emergency you are left with no way of getting past. The only possible route is via the tiny country lanes and these instantly become gridlocked. Leaving you screwed. A great removal of a bottle neck yes, but they have put all the eggs in one basket.

[@AdeReeves]

Not sure I fully understood the size comments...But great video anyway 😀

[@AutoShenanigans]

No me neither, I head someone say such things once. Thanks for watching!

[@cannonball2207]

Myself, my wife and daughter did the walk of the Northbound tunnel before it opened to traffic

[@tube-life]

I live in Hindhead and confirm, it is indeed a tunnel

[@mw...]

small work gathering

[@northseawolf]

The A303 could do with a couple of tunnels, the one everyone knows about at stonehenge, but another, far more impressive one under the black downs from Ilminster to Honiton would be cool, it would be 12 miles long, so not as long as that Norwegian one. Never understood our aversion to tunnels tbh.

[@robholland6460]

Byways around there are lovely in a Landie

[@DavidCowie2022]

Auto Focus Shenanigans.

[@TCHorwood-xq7mw]

I miss the Devil's Punchbowl road. Apparently the National Trust don't count roads as heritage.

[@infidelcastro5129]

I feel compelled to acknowledge your ‘Nambian Dollars’ comment 😋

[@harrypearceobjectshowandtr6494]

What about Dartford crossing that's a long tunnel to

[@koolstup]

Funny how they could find the money to put a tunnel here (with the excuse it was for better transport links for the Olympics), but they couldn’t do it for Twyford Down at Winchester - a massive mistake

[@iankemp1131]

More that thinking had moved on in the intervening 30 years, partly due to the furore over Twyford Down, which indeed would have been better done as a tunnel.

[@andrewmasters5020]

Not so much Karen, more Margot Leadbeater in this area. There are a lot of snobs in this area. However a cutting would've probably destroyed these hills even more than the Twyford Down M3 one (which has a memorial to what was the hill near the footbridge). I like your videos: short and to-the-point (it's almost as if you plan them!)

[@Stealth360stealth]

Yer the funny thing is when they built the M40 cutting near Stokenchurch in the 60s there was no planning consultation. Thats why there were such massive protests about the M3. Still glad that both got built however

[@iankemp1131]

The other advantage of the tunnel is that it eases the gradient significantly. A cutting would not only have been very deep but would entail a steeper climb. This has always been a problem at Twyford Down where there is bunching on the inclines. So a tunnel would have been much better there, despite the cost.

[@mikeywest2007]

So will the same thing happen at stonehenge

[@juleswombat5309]

Not now that Rachel Reeves has cancelled it. 😢

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

Who's the gormless looking twonk 1:31?

[@ap9970]

The tunnel took 40 minutes of my (then) commute to work

[@andrewthomson7462]

Surely "off"

[@acciid]

That's autocorrect for you.

[@zarrow50]

Weird it goes straight under peoples houses

[@DanielAdamBell1977]

What the hell are those horrible yellow bushes that seemed to be the in thing to plant at the side of new roadworks in the noughties?

[@andrewthomson7462]

Gorse

[@acciid]

Hindhead Common is full of them. They're wild.

[@chinnyvision]

@@acciid This. Gorse is common all around that area.

[@MrGreatplum]

It’s gorse - it grows on sandy soil such as that on Hindheath

[@taliesinbourne7484]

You're telling me they called the tunnel Hindhead and not Mindhead

[@vincentharriman3283]

Hindhead is the village/town through which the A3 used to pass.

[@greyguy.960]

Yeah, I know the area well. I've worked there a few times. It's where all the left-leaning women live that are over-friendly towards me a mixed raced man but wouldn't live 50 miles from an area with my type around lol. It's a strange place while working as electricians in their homes and business they always bring up diversity " sigh " but looking at their friends, work colleagues, neighbours etc it's hardly that. Reminds me of that film ' get out '. No wonder they have a long tunnel to separate them from us

[@tasty_fish]

It grates me that many places in the south east get a tunnel (Hindhead, Brighton, Folkestone, even blooming Baldock, and so on). I live at the foot of the Cotswolds escarpment and National Highways are proposing to gouge a deep cutting through the escarpment to re-route the A417 when even a short cut/cover tunnel near the top would massively help preserve the stunning scenery of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a centuries-old pub and also help wildlife. One rule for them, another for the rest of us out in the regions. Not enough Karens round here.

[@fraggit]

You need more Karen's of Surrey, there's enough of them to go around, believe me, I know, being born and bred in SW19 and later living in Surrey. Same old story of all the money is spent on the South East, It's where all the nimby's live, so no wonder. I never realised this until I moved away in 2002.

[@darreng745]

@@fraggit Nothing to do with Karen's which is a rather nasty term that is derogatory in the extreme. The land around the Punchbowl is a triple SI and also NT owned which meant that the DfT had absolutely no hope of ever getting permission to upgrade the road through that area. The old approach up from Thursley was a f'ing nightmare in that you crawled up the hill into a single carriageway that ran around the elbow bend and up past the Hotel to the lights. On the other side the Bramshott Chase ended in a long climb up past the BP after Greyshott road to the lights and it was a nightmare. What the producer did not know is that the proposals for the Hindhead Bypass to eliminate the traffic lights and the intersection with Haslemere Road/Farnham Road were originally proposed way back in the 1930's, it only took 70 years for it to be finalised.

[@grassytramtracks]

​@@fraggitthey couldn't widen the existing road because the Devil's punchbowl is a National Trust area and it's of special scientific interest, and something needed to be done to deal with the bottleneck

[@johnrubber1144]

@tasty_fish I will miss The Air Balloon pub, a regular haunt of mine when doing archaeology on nearby Crickley Hill in the early 1970s. The traffic wasn't too bad then. I have used it on cross country journeys ever since and the roads around it are now very much busier. I agree that more money should have been spent on an environmentally better solution that also saved the pub.

[@javimad]

Why not hard shoulders inside such new tunnels?

[@TestGearJunkie.]

Aberdeen certainly used to be the most expensive place in the UK outside of London, don't know if it still is or not. It ain't cheap, I can tell you that 🤬

[@nigelkthomas9501]

They should’ve done this with the M62 instead of going over the Pennines!

[@mikecawood]

There are railway tunnels in Britain much longer.

[@AutoShenanigans]

"Longest Toll Free Not Under Water Road Tunnel" It's a working title.

[@davidpriestley1650]

@@AutoShenanigans a few years ago you'd be hard puished to describe the contents of the Mersey as "water", but Hindhead hadn't been dug at that point.

[@michaelwilliams3861]

I think sandbanks is dearer

[@Froobish]

Hindhead managed to get what Banwell in Somerset has fought for for decades all because of money. There's a B road that goes through Banwell with single file traffic between cottages that's usually congested with lorries, all because they won't put in a bypass. Oh how money talks.

[@JP_TaVeryMuch]

The volume of traffic on the A3 is arguably a tad greater thanthe A270 through benighted otherwise lovely Banwell.

[@cannedham8630]

Karen most certainly can afford a better solisiter than me!

[@billgaytes6845]

So two more episodes to come then, UK's 2nd longest tunnel and UK's 1st longest tunnel ?

[@CasperUK31]

Could easy do them on the same day since they are about 1 mile away from each other :)

[@minibus9]

cool

[@allsearpw3829]

The Best thing they ever did , but a problem if closed and the route around is murder .🤔👍

[@xowaspxowasp5772]

What's with the split second flash of a guy wearing a green t-shirt & what looks like a silly snake hat!!

[@acevuk]

He made a comment about the road snaking through, and the flash was of this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipqXpKR9bZp5i5Y

[@Stipperstone]

The presenter really does not need to swear.

[@ZeldaFitz]

Shame they don’t do the same thing with the M25.

[@BillyKirbyUK]

Excuse me Jon, the contractors did not elect to build a tunnel - the road planners did! Please give them some credit? Thank you and I'll shut up now

[@daveyorkvh]

Mersey tunnels are longer

[@Roaming50]

Spent Manu a year waiting at the Devil's Punchbowl to get around that section of road. Surprised you missed the name of that one. A comment on the video, you need to fix the focus on your camera. The focus hunting is really annoying and distracts from the video.

[@huwprice881]

The tunnel was the only viable option, it had nothing to do with favour or 'Karens'. The road dissected a SSSI and an area of outstanding beauty, duelling it wouldn't have been viable. Hindhead village is still a dump btw! I live up the road, and I'm in no way wealthy or privileged. It's hard living in an area where there is so much wealth and prices are high.

[@pacificostudios]

I'm amazed that "Karen" -- which originated with African-Americans in the U.S. -- has now floated all the way to Great Britain.

[@stephenhookings1985]

It was the only way to shut Karen up!

[@johnmehaffey9953]

The road was there long before all those Karen’s moved in, so when they complain about congestion and save the long eared beetle I personally would build the road as close as possible to their houses

[@acciid]

50 years ago there was a lot less traffic though. I don't have a problem with people complaining about things like this. You say nothing and nothing happens. By-passes are a good thing on the whole. Drivers don't have to deal with bottlenecks. Pollution goes down. Locals don't have to put up with traffic any more. Downsides are the impact on local businesses which can go both ways - in Hindhead the shops along that road are now pleasant and busy, although the nearby National Trust site helps with drumming up customers. Then there's the destruction of our countryside - it's ours and we should care as much as the protestors annoy us. Hindhead was a good if expensive solution. In most cases the right route, green bridges, cut and cover and so on can help. A bit of compromise is usually the right way.

[@iankemp1131]

It wasn't done for the Karens. It was done for the half million people living south of the tunnel who for decades endured queues of half an hour or more at Hindhead. It also meant that lots of people diverted onto other roads and made them more congested too. The tunnel has solved all that and as a bonus everyone can enjoy the Devils Punchbowl again in peace.

[@mw...]

We need less roads Less cars. And less people

[@alphamailplus]

What is a Nambian Dollar ? if you want to be smart, learn what you're talking about, it's NAMIBIAN from Namibia, that's in Africa and why do you wear a woolly hat on sunny days ?

[@alexdaley7616]

It's a shame you had to include swearing in your video. That limits the use.

[@UKAlanR]

You state that the route was the result of what the developers decided, making it sound like they turn up with bulldozers and decide where to dig. This is ridiculous - the tunnel would have been dug to match agreed plans, as per all the other comments about the controversy over the route, and your juvenile comments about 'Karens'. Please try to stay a bit more credible.

[@neilburns8869]

I have no real reason to visit Surrey, so it's not really a part of the UK that I have any wish to go to. Bland and boring.

[@stateofflux7453]

How would you have this "knowledge" about Surrey if you haven’t been there? Also traffic using the tunnel itself is going to places outside of the county.

[@juleswombat5309]

Great we don't want you here. We are happy with it being the largest concentration of ancient woodland in the UK

[@michaelwilliams3861]

What a load of crap

[@davidmullineux7371]

"At 1.4 miles long its the longest tunnel we've got in Blighty" - Sorry to be THAT guy. But the 2 Mersey tunnels claim to be longer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensway_tunnel

[@AutoShenanigans]

Oh dear, it appears our research has let us down. It didn't even come up in my searches. Well.. I'll be remaking this video then as it's all a bunch of lies.

[@AutoShenanigans]

@@kirkhamandy Longest Toll free and built under land (not a river) tunnel. I'll change the title. We will eventually film the real "Longest Tunnel"

[@lars7935]

@@AutoShenanigans Wouldn't the longest tunnel in the UK be the channel tunnel? The half in UK territory would be quite long and it is - technically - accessible to motor vehicles.

[@AutoShenanigans]

@@lars7935 One things for sure, this isnt the longest tunnel and we'll be re filming this. The channel tunnel I suppose would be but for us the key is something we can access as a "normal" person.

[@lars7935]

@@AutoShenanigans I mean if you want to be really pedantic you just need a train ticket and nowadays a valid passport - or as an EU citizen another accepted form of official ID - fulfilling the proper EU entey requirements. A requirement that is pretty easy to fulfill and certainly cheaper than owning a drivers license and owning or renting a car. Though that all is mostly me being pedantic.