The A46 north of Bath through the Cotswolds AONB to Tormarton was part of the Department of Transport  (DOT)  project to build a fast dual-carriageway between the M4 and the M27 near Southampton. This section of the road faced difficult engineering as well as landscape obstacles and was withdrawn by the government for environmental reasons in 1994. 

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Trans-European Road Network (TERN) proposal approved by European Parliament, October 1993

Map by Wilts and Dorset County Councils showing the TERN route via ferry from Cherbourg to Poole