The Motorway That Never Was: Looking Back at the A31
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If you are travelling into the New Forest by car, your journey may well take you along the A31. Running across the northern part of the Forest, it is the primary route for many visitors and day-trippers arriving in the area. However, as recent coverage in the Daily Echo and Bournemouth Echo highlights, this familiar road has a surprisingly dramatic past.
Over the years, construction along the A31 has had to accommodate both vehicle traffic and the unique needs of the Forest environment. This included the building of concrete underpasses along the route, designed to keep traffic flowing while managing the movement of the area’s free-roaming animals.
Perhaps the most notable chapter in the road’s history came in 2007, when a proposal was put forward to extend the M27 motorway straight through the New Forest. The scheme to turn the route into a major mega-motorway corridor ultimately failed, keeping the surrounding woodland and heathland protected from high-speed motorway expansion.
For visitors today, the A31 remains the main artery into the area. As you travel along it or pass near its concrete underpasses, it is a interesting reminder of how close the Forest came to having a full motorway cutting through its countryside.
