PEOPLE power could lead to one of the final bottlenecks on the A3 being removed.

That is the message from Highways England after a councillor in East Hampshire called on roads bosses to replace the Ham Barn roundabout with a flyover to make the busy junction safer.

After the infamous Hindhead traffic lights were replaced by the tunnel in July 2011, the roundabout at Liss became the only obstacle to free flowing traffic on the A3 between Portsmouth and the outskirts of London.

The Ham Barn junction often now has queues on its approaches and on some weekends this month traffic has backed up as far as the A325 junction for Bordon on the southbound carriageway.

County councillor for Bordon, Whitehill and Lindford and district councillor for Whitehill Walldown Adam Carew called for Highways England to take action after a lorry overturned on the roundabout – another regular problem at the junction due to the camber of the road – and caused delays for motorists in both directions.

He commented:?“The idea of putting a roundabout at Ham Barn rather than a flyover was ludicrous.

“Surely, having sorted out the Hindhead Tunnel it is now time for Highways England to go back to the drawing board and find a safer solution here for all concerned.”

A?second Road Improvement Strategy (RIS) is due to be drawn up by the Government and Highways England will provide guidance to ministers over which road projects should be included in the next plan.

A?spokesman for the agency said:?“If there is a road or junction the public thinks should be included in the next RIS, then they should let us know about it.

“The RIS?includes ongoing maintenance to roads and any areas where there are safety concerns.

“We supply the information which helps to form Government policy. Now is the time to let us know about any problem areas so we can feed this into the process.”

The second RIS?will cover works planned for after 2020. The A3 through Guildford was included in the first RIS?and a plan to alleviate traffic problems around the city is due to be drawn up.

Latest traffic figures show around 21,000 vehicles use the A3 every day in each direction at Hindhead.