£7 million scheme to improve M27 and M3 revealed (From Daily Echo)

Motorways get Government cash to ease gridlock

5:10am Monday 8th October 2012 in News By Tom Moseley, Parliamentary Correspondent

MILLIONS of pounds are to be spent improving bottleneck junctions of the M27, the government will announce today.

The Highways Agency work, focusing on junctions three and five, will be completed by 2015.

Ministers said they would help bring more than 12,000 new jobs and 7,000 new homes to the area.

They are among 57 projects worth £170 million to be announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

Council bosses hailed the announcement as the "critical next stage" of improvement work on the troublesome junction five, which would tackle the problem of traffic queuing back to Eastleigh and the airport.

The Highways Agency said £4.9 million would be spent widening approach roads and slip roads.

A segregated left turn lane will be created onto the eastbound carriageway. The work will start in 2014 and finish the following year.

Meanwhile, at junction three, the westbound exit slip road will be widened to reduce congestion, meaning there are four lanes on all sections of the carriageway. For the first time, traffic lights will be added for traffic joining the roundabout from the M271, meaning there are signals on every arm of the junction.

Caroline Nokes, Tory MP for Romsey and Southampton North, said the improvements would discourage drivers from using nearby Lee Lane as a cut-through.

She said there were currently “very long queues” at the roundabout at busy times.

She added: “A dedicated left turn lane should alleviate that hugely. This is very significant for people travelling from Romsey to Southampton.”

Ministers said the £2 million project, starting in 2014 and ending in 2015, would support the Adanac Park Development, enterprise zone at HMS Daedalus, and Southampton Port.

Improvements costing £400,000 will also be made next year to junction 9 of the M3 at Winchester, with better signage and lane markings promised.

Mr McLoughlin said: "Keeping traffic moving is vital to securing prosperity. By removing bottlenecks and improving access to local enterprise zones, key international trading ports and communities, these road schemes will help get people to and from work and power the economy.

“They also have the potential to help deliver more than 300,000 new jobs and 150,000 new homes."

For reaction and more detail of the work to be done click here