Roadworks on show at beauty spot

The tunnel beneath the Devil's Punchbowl is due to open in 2011

A viewing platform has been built so that people visiting a beauty spot in Surrey can also see the progress of £371m roadworks there.

Major construction work is under way at the Devil's Punchbowl to dual the last single-carriageway section of the A3 and take it beneath the sandy hollow.

The Highways Agency said a site visitor centre at Thursley would keep people up-to-date with progress.

The platform is just off Footpath 95 near the northern tunnel entrance.

A second platform will be built at the southern end when clearance work has been completed there, project manager Paul Arnold added.

"People will be able to view the construction work in safety, study the plans of the project and see photographs of progress," he said.

Rare birds

The Devil's Punchbowl is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The government has said the twin-bore tunnel will remove 30,000 vehicles a day from the heathland site.

A better habitat has also been promised for wildlife, including rare and protected species such as the nightjar and wood lark, as a result of the work.

The Devil's Punchbowl is also part of an international special protection area designated under the EU Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.

The four-mile tunnel on the London to Portsmouth route is due to open to traffic in 2011.