A number of plans have been proposed over the years to alleviate the congestion on the A36. The Salisbury Junction Improvement plan published by Wiltshire Council in 2021 had an expected cost of £15M. The revised plan that was proposed in 2023 included work on the Exeter St round about and the Harnham Gyratory. The plans included an additional lane on the southbound route and segregated pedestrian and cycle way (LTN 1/20 standards).
Current status May 2025: On 4 March 2025, Wiltshire Council confirmed that a total of £2.93m has been secured for the Salisbury Junction Improvements (SJI) project through a combination of £1.38m in Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and £1.55m in Section 106 contributions (from planning application 19/05824/OUT). Changes have included minor modifications to improve traffic flow and a review has identified value engineering to identify potential cost savings. Construction is expected to begin in early 2026 and is anticipated to take between 9 -12 months to complete. A public consultation will take place later in 2025.
Advantages: provision of additional lane south should alleviate congestion to the Downton Road. The segregated pedestrian and cycle way will improve active travel.
Disadvantages: The proposal does not include a bus lane to enable buses to preferentially enter the city on Newbridge road. The current plan will not provide solutions for the high volumes of traffic entering the city and induce demand will result in traffic density returning to current levels within a short period of time 15 Identified safer cycling routes to the hospital still need to be developed.
Recommendations: The current plan for the Harnham gyratory does include provision of segregated pedestrian and cycling facilities and it is recommended that these enhanced active travel routes are implemented.