New plans unveiled for major motorway junction improvements
Highways England wants to reduce congestion at junction 9 of the M3 at Winchester
New designs are being revealed for a £130m motorway project to improve journeys from the south coast to London and the Midlands.
Junction nine of the M3 where it meets the A34 at Winnal in Winchester is set for a major upgrade.
The plan to widen the M3 at the junction will include:
• New road and roundabout design to provide free-flow links between the M3 and A34 for those traveling between Newbury and Southampton
• Widening the M3 to create four traffic lanes in each direction
• Rearranging the main junction 9 roundabout with a new elongated design
• Building three new bridges and a number of other structures, including an improved bridge over the River Itchen, and new underpasses
• Revising walking and cycling routes
• Improving the motorway slip-roads
Highways England senior project manager Jon Roose said: "Our new plans for the M3 at junction 9 will increase capacity, help reduce journey times and improve safety.
"We have taken feedback from the previous consultation into account and we’re looking forward to showing people these new designs and talking through the improvements.
"I would urge anyone interested in the scheme to visit our virtual exhibition to find out more about the proposals and feedback their thoughts to us.
"There are also various ways they can engage the team directly to ask questions or just find out more."
Winchester MP Steve Brine said: "This project has been a long time in coming to even this stage but it’s no less important now, to the local and national infrastructure piece, than it was when first conceived.
"We’ve got to take people with us and get this done so I hope as many as possible will take part in the consultation."
A consultation will run until 8 July with the new plans taking into account feedback from a previous consultation in summer 2019.
Details of the consultation and how to get involved are available online now.