M3 motorway (Great Britain)

M3 motorway
Route information
Part of E05
Length:	58.6 mi (94.3 km)
Existed:	1971 – present
History:	Constructed 1971–95
Major junctions
From:	Sunbury-on-Thames (A316)
	J2 → M25 motorway Junction 12 J14 → M27 motorway Junction 4
To:	Southampton (M27)
Location
Primary destinations:	Sunbury-on-Thames Bracknell Farnborough Basingstoke Winchester Southampton
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

The M3 is a motorway that runs from Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, to Southampton, Hampshire, a distance of approximately 59 miles (95 km). Along with the A316, the M3 provides the main artery into South West London, as well as providing access to major towns and cities along its route, which include Winchester, Basingstoke, Southampton and the Aldershot Urban Area. From Junction 9 (A34) near Winchester, to Junction 14 (M27) on the northern fringe of Southampton, the M3 forms the southerly part of the unsigned E05. It was constructed as a dual three-lane motorway for most of its length, except for the two-lane section between Junctions 8 (A303) and 9. The motorway was opened in phases, with the first section (Junction 3 to 8) opening in 1971, and was eventually completed in 1995 upon the completion of the Junction 10 to 12 section. This faced widespread opposition due to the motorway being cut through the Twyford Down, numerous road protests were held during construction, which ultimately delayed its opening. Since then, the motorway has become a major artery to the South Coast, becoming a popular tourist route. As such the M3 faces regular delays and congestion on its busiest sections during rush hours and seasonal periods. The Junctions 2 to 4A section is currently being upgraded to a Smart Motorway, which will turn the hard shoulder into a fourth lane to provide extra capacity.

History

M3 motorway at East Stratton

Southern end of the M3 motorway, meeting the A33 at Southampton

M3 motorway at Fleet

The M3 under construction at Twyford Down

See also: Twyford Down

Originally approved as the "London to Basingstoke Motorway" with delays over funding for an extension to Southampton the road was built to relieve two single carriageway trunk roads that were congested.

In 1967, sections of the A33 road from Popham, Hampshire, to a northeastern point of the Winchester Bypass were widened to dual carriageways; this only partially alleviated growing congestion, especially in Winchester, which led to the southern phase gaining approval.

Eastern section

The eastern section, from Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey to Popham near Basingstoke opened in sections: first the Hampshire section in 1971, and then the Surrey section in 1974. The cost for this first phase was £46m. The completed road acts as a continuation of the A316 Country Way, an express three-lane road from Apex Corner, Hanworth, in Greater London to Sunbury-on-Thames.

Southern section

A first public inquiry for the "M3 London to Basingstoke Motorway: Popham to Compton extension" centred on the section passing Winchester, and was held in 1971, after which the ministry was instructed to reconsider and reconsult on the proposals. A second public inquiry was held in 1976–77. The earlier decision to route the motorway through or alongside the water meadows between St Catherine’s Hill and the compact cathedral city was reopened, and during the year-long inquiry the headmaster of Winchester College was forcibly ejected along with others for causing a disturbance.

The scope of the M3 extension was reduced to defer the difficult decision about the section around Winchester and it was built in two sections (from 'Popham to Bridget's Farm' and from 'Bridget's Farm to Bar End') in 1995. When this opened, the temporary junction to the A33 parallel route was removed.

The section of the M3 from near Junction 12 (Eastleigh and Chandler's Ford) to the last, Junction 14 for the M27 replaced part of the A33 road which was upgraded to motorway standard and opened in 1991.

In 2008 the busiest section of the motorway, at Chandler's Ford, carried a daily average of around 130,000 vehicles.

The southern section starts as a continuation of a single-lane avenue, Bassett Avenue and The Avenue in the City of Southampton as the M27 motorway provides alternative routes from other parts of the city, particularly its waterfront and downtown peak-hour accessway, the M271 motorway and Mountbatten Way providing dual to three lane highways starting at the northwest of the city.

Abandoned/suspended proposals

Its service station was envisaged at Basingstoke upon the motorway's completion but not built – superseded by one just north of Fleet and another north of Winchester.

Additions

An additional junction, numbered 4A, opened in April 1992 for Fleet.

Detailed route

The M3 starts at Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey on the edge of South West London as the continuation of the A316 which has three lanes each way from Hanworth in the London Borough of Hounslow, and two from Chiswick. The motorway 2 miles (3.2 km) after its start turns more west-southwest, crosses the River Thames on the M3 Chertsey Bridge to the north of Chertsey and then has its second junction, at the M25 motorway, before continuing through the gorse, bogs and heather of the Surrey Heath. Its third junction is for Camberley, Bagshot, Bracknell, Ascot and Worplesdon. From Junction 4 it bisects the northern Blackwater Valley conurbation then has its latest junction for Fleet and nearby early 21st century expanded/new villages, it crosses the South West Main Line, before skirting Old Basing and Basingstoke to its north. Turning south west again, it passes Popham and, just before reaching Junction 8, where one lane becomes the A303 road, the motorway continues as a dual two lane road through open countryside and Micheldever Wood until it reaches the north of Winchester.

Taking over the "Winchester Bypass" the M3 resumes to three lanes each way at Junction 9, continues directly south and then takes a small curve around the east of the city running through a deep cutting in Twyford Down and then proceeding south west again, crossing the South West Main Line a second time alongside the River Itchen and through the Eastleigh urban-suburban area before crossing the Eastleigh to Romsey railway line and ending at the Chilworth Roundabout on the edge of Southampton.

Road features

• The Spitfire Bridge carries the B3404 Alresford Road to Winchester over the M3 motorway and the parallel A272 (J9-J10 spur). This is known as the "Spitfire Link". It replaced a concrete parabolic arch bridge under which a Curtiss P-40 had been flown by George Rogers in October 1941. It was generally assumed locally that the aircraft had been a Spitfire hence the name.

• A private exit of the northern roundabout connected to Junction 4a provides access to the UK headquarters of Sun Microsystems.

• The section of the M3 between J2 and J4a is currently being made into a Managed Motorway, due to be completed in December 2016, to ease congestion around the M25 interchange.

Incidents

In the early morning of 25 April 1999, the drum and bass DJ and record producer known as Kemistry was killed on the M3 near Winchester by the steel body of a cat's eye, which had been dislodged by a van and flew through the windscreen of the following car in which she was a passenger. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death. A question was asked in the House of Lords about the safety of cat's eyes in light of the highly unusual incident, and Highways England conducted an investigation into the "long-term integrity and performance" of various types of road stud.

On 1 April 2000, a zebra crossing was illegally painted across the northbound carriageway of the M3 between Junctions 4 and 4a.

Junctions

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identification information.

M3 motorway junctions
miles	km	North-east bound exits (B carriageway)	Junction	South-west bound exits (A carriageway)
15.0	24.2	Road continues as A316 to London	J1	Sunbury, Kingston A308 Non-motorway traffic
15.3	24.6	Sunbury, Kingston A308		Start of motorway
21.3	34.2	Gatwick (M23), Maidstone (M20), Stansted (M11), The North, Sheffield, Luton (M1) , Cardiff, South Wales, Heathrow (M4), Chertsey (A320), Staines (A30) – M25	J2	Gatwick Airport, Crawley (M23), Maidstone (M20), Stansted Airport (M11), The North, Sheffield, Luton Airport (M1), Heathrow Airport, Bristol, Hounslow, South Wales (M4), Chertsey (A320), Staines (A30) M25
28.1	45.2	Woking, Bracknell, Camberley, Bagshot, Lightwater A322	J3	Woking, Camberley, Bracknell, Bagshot, Lightwater A322
32.6	52.5	Guildford, Farnham, Camberley, Farnborough, Aldershot A331	J4	Guildford, Farnham, Camberley, Farnborough, Aldershot A331
34.4	55.4	Fleet (A3013), Farnborough (West) A327	J4a	Fleet (A3013), Farnborough (West) A327
		Fleet services	Services	Fleet services
41.9	67.4	Hook A287 B3349	J5	Hook A287 B3349
46.6	75.0	Basingstoke, Reading (A33), Alton A339	J6	Basingstoke, Newbury, Reading, Alton A339
51.8	83.3	Basingstoke A30	J7	Basingstoke A30
53.1	85.5	No access	J8	The South West, Andover, Salisbury A303
59.9	96.4	Winchester services	Services	Winchester services
63.9	102.8	The Midlands, Newbury A34 trunk road Winchester A272, Alresford A31	J9	The Midlands, Newbury A34 trunk road Winchester A272
65.2	105.0	Winchester (City) B3330 Alton, Alresford A31	J10	No access
67.2	108.1	Winchester A3090 Twyford B3335	J11	Winchester A3090 Twyford B3335
70.0	112.6	Eastleigh (North) A335	J12	Eastleigh (North), Chandler's Ford A335
71.8	115.6	Eastleigh, Chandler's Ford A335	J13	Eastleigh A335
		Start of motorway	J14	Southampton , Portsmouth M27(E) The West, Southampton Docks, Bournemouth M27(W) Southampton A33
Notes Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

• Chris's British Road Directory
  • Motorway Database – M3
  • 'Bad Junctions' – M3/A31 (Winchester)
• The Motorway Archive – M3