IF YOU were living in Petersfield or Liphook on July 9, 1992, it’s likely you will remember that wet but significant Thursday.

For, two months ahead of schedule, the £37m A3 bypass around to the west of the communities officially was opened.

Nearly 60 years after the idea of removing through traffic away from homes was first suggested, the Roads and Traffic Minister, Kenneth Carlisle, cut a ribbon in front of a group of dignitaries at Berelands Interchange.

During the ceremony, held where the A272 Winchester to Midhurst road crossed the new A3, Mr Carlisle said: “The completion of the bypass will be welcomed not only by road users but by many local residents who will enjoy all the benefits of reduced traffic congestion, noise and pollution in the centres of Liphook and Petersfield.”

And enjoy it they did with parties organised in?Petersfield by residents of The Causeway and The Grenehurst Way Residents Association.

People in Liphook held an all-day event at Bohunt School to celebrate on July 18.

The new route was expected to cut around 20 minutes off the average journey time between Portsmouth and London.

Hampshire County Council chairman Dudley Keep said the opening was a significant step forward in the strategic road network.

Mr Carlisle, who was driven along the road in an open-top 1926 Morris Oxford, said measures to protect deer and badgers had been incorporated into the scheme and in the autumn more than 200,000 trees and shrubs would be planted to help the road blend into the surrounding countryside.

However, drivers on the opening day weren’t so impressed because the road was not open to traffic until the following evening at 10pm because not all the safety barriers along the 12-mile dual carriageway had been thoroughly checked.

Chief resident engineer of contractors Mott MacDonald James Young said putting back the opening was one of the most awful decisions he had had to make but safety was paramount.

Hampshire Police were also concerned about safety on the new road and warned motorists not to use the clear A3 as a racetrack. Unmarked police cars were patrolling to ensure drivers stuck to the 70mph limit.

There were three minor accidents in the first 48 hours after the bypass was open, in the most serious of which a car ran into the back of a slow-moving burger van being towed. and police said drivers should be aware of potential hazards at the Ham Barn roundabout and the staggered junction at Tankerdale Lane.

Tarmac Construction was the main company involved in building the road for which work started in 1990.

Some people living near the new road at Greatham were shocked by the noise created by passing vehicles, which had replaced the sound of birdsong. They were lobbying the area’s MP Michael Mates to press for soundproofing to be provided for their homes.

Residents held party to celebrate

ONE group of Petersfield residents particularly happy to see the removal of through traffic were these people living in The Village, as the homes in Grenehurst Way in the middle of the central one-way road system was known.

A party was held in the grounds of the United Reformed Church in College Street.

One unexpected guest at the official opening was a protestor who represented East Hampshire Green Party which dubbed the bypass ‘a Putney to Portsmouth racetrack’

Annette Martin, of Haslemere, was stopped by police from presenting Roads Minister Kenneth Carlisle with a document, Roads to the Future, but he was given it later.