3:34pm Friday 16th May 2008
IT has become a waking nightmare on a daily basis.
Long tailbacks and lengthy delays have become a regular part of the journey to and from work for Hampshire commuters using the M27 and the queues of cars have become a hotspot for accidents which only aggravate the problem.
Watch the misery faced by thousands of motorists each morning.
Now angry motorists are urging highway bosses to speed up the roadworks between junctions 3 and 4, the major route linking Southampton to the M3.
Fed-up drivers have demanded that the Highways Agency finish the 15-month project as early as possible before they are projected to end in May 2009.
The widening scheme is being carried out while £18m climbing lanes for slow vehicles are being installed further along the M27 at junctions 11 near Fareham and 12 at Portsmouth.
Problems escalating on surrounding routes, including the M271 which joins the M27 at junction three for Nursling, have also been reported as causing delays of more than an hour for traffic heading out of the city during the morning commute to work.
Denis Hilditch, of drivers' charity Southampton Advanced Motorists, described rush-hour conditions on the motorway as horrendous.
He said: "I really hope that the Highways Agency are pulling out all the stops to get the work done as soon as possible to end this misery. For the sake of the motorists I hope that the work doesn't last as long as proposed.
"One of the things that gets people really annoyed is when we have to face these delays and there are clearly no workmen doing anything.
"It's not the fault of the workmen there but more the disorganisation of the whole thing. Why can't they carry out more work at night and more people working to get it done faster."
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Businesses in Southampton are also suffering from unpredictable delays brought on by the roadworks which the Highways Agency warn drivers to expect hold-ups of 15 to 20 minutes while the work continues.
Nick Farthing, chairman of the Southampton and Fareham Chamber of Commerce's planning and transport committee said: "Unfortunately it only takes one small incident to cause significant traffic problems in both directions and so the sooner the work is completed the better."
A spokesman for Nurslingbased haulage company Meachers Transport added: "The roadworks on the M27 are a real problem. They are causing more and more traffic backing up along the M271. We are lucky because our lorries are sent out from early in the morning until late at night, but the roadworks have still affected us quite a lot."
Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne agrees. He said: "I would urge the Highways Agency to reexamine the programme for this work so that it doesn't cause such a massive inconvenience for people trying to get to and from work."
He added that many businesses were having extra costs imposed on them because workers were being held up in the unpredictable traffic conditions.
"If the Highways Agency can pay a bit more to get the job done quickly and at times when it is not causing more problems then I think it would be money well spent," he said.
The Highways Agency defended the 15-month project which is on schedule and within the £36m budget.
A spokesman urged drivers to be patient during the work which is being carried out to ease congestion on the route.
He said: "There is some work that we are doing at night now.
However, much work is noisy and not helpful to nearby residents if done at night.
"Work of this kind is completed more safely if carried out during the day."
"On this scheme we typically work from 7am to 7pm during the week and from 7am to 12pm on Saturday. The contractor will be making more on the extended daylight hours during the summer period."
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