HIGHWAYS England’s preferred option - announced last week - for a major £175m upgrade of the A3/M25 roundabout, will spare 500 important trees at RHS Wisley but increase travel times to the gardens.

The RHS has appealed against the closure of the Wisley Lane junction with the A3 without suitable replacements, which will add seven miles to some visitors’ journeys and could put people off visiting the gardens.

More than 130,000 supporters signed the petition to save RHS Garden Wisley’s important trees, which was championed by Alan Titchmarsh.

An RHS spokesman said: “We are absolutely delighted Highways England’s preferred option to widen the A3 will not land grab 10,000 sq m of woodland, which would have destroyed more than 500 important trees from RHS Garden Wisley.

“However, we are concerned the proposed plans could still threaten the future of Wisley and we welcome the invitation to continue working with Highways England to find a solution to some of the proposed access routes to the garden.

“We are disappointed current proposals remove all connection from Wisley Lane to the A3 without suitable replacements we have been seeking, which would then result in an additional seven miles journey for some visitors.

“All visits to Wisley would be subject to increased travel time as a consequence of the preferred route, which would put some people off visiting and could harmfully impact the charitable income of the RHS.

“We have already provided a scheme that achieved their objectives relating to safety and congestion and also wouldn’t impact RHS Garden Wisley.

“While overall the current proposals will help to reduce general traffic delays, our proposals would add further benefits and reduce overall travel distances on the A3.

“We ask Highways England to seriously consider other viable options, which would provide much simpler access to Wisley, reduce travel distances and avoid diverting traffic through Ripley.”

Two options were put out to public consultation. The proposals were referred to as Option 14 during the consultation. The other proposal, known as Option Nine, was a four-level flyover with dedicated free-flow slip roads for traffic accessing the M25 from the A3 and was rejected due to strong concerns about the negative impact on the surrounding environment.

Under the plans announced, the interchange between the M25 and the A3 will be redesigned to create four dedicated link roads for all drivers making left turns at the junction while drivers turning right will use a new enlarged junction roundabout.

The A3 will also be widened from three lanes to four between Ockham and Painshill in both directions with two lanes remaining over the M25.

The plans also include improved routes for pedestrians and cyclists, a green bridge linking Wisley and Ockham Commons, and access to RHS Garden Wisley via a new bridge and link road to the east of the A3.

The proposals minimise the impact on trees within RHS Garden Wisley and ancient woodland near Ockham.

Highways England regional delivery director for the South East Chris Welby-Everard said: “This busy junction is used by more than 96,000 drivers daily, and the M25 and the A3 which run through it have a further 173,000 and 57,000 journeys respectively each day.

“The plans we are putting forward today will make a real difference to all those journeys while respecting the protected environments nearby. I would like to thank everyone who took part in our consultation and helped shape these proposals.

“We will continue to work with stakeholders and residents in working up the details of our design and there will be a further opportunity for people to have their say in another consultation next year.”

• More information about the scheme – including the consultation report and the different options – can be found at www.high ways.gov.uk/m25j10.