M27 motorway

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The Soviet motorway M27 connects Sochi, Tbilisi, and Baku.

Template:UK motorway routebox

Looking down onto the M27 from Portsdown Hill.

The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is 25 miles (40 km) long and runs west-east from Cadnam to Portsmouth.

Route

Running approximately parallel both to the coast of the Solent and to the A27, the M27 starts as an eastwards continuation of the A31 from Bournemouth and Poole, meets the A36 from Salisbury, crosses the Wessex Main Line railway, and then meets the M271 to central Southampton. After the M271, the road meets the M3 as it passes to the north of Southampton, passes Southampton Airport, then runs alongside the West Coastway Line as it heads south-east towards Fareham. It then runs alongside the northern outskirts of Fareham before its junction with the M275 to Portsmouth. At this point the motorway ends, becoming the A27.

History

Opening dates

In common with many UK motorways, the M27 was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983[1].

  • Junction 1 to 2 opened in August 1975
  • Junction 2 to 4 opened in December 1975
  • Junction 4 to 7 opened in 1983
  • Junction 7 to 8 opened in February 1978
  • Junction 8 to 12 opened in March 1976
  • The eastbound junction to the now M3 was completed in 1986.

Unfulfilled plans

There have been plans to make the M27 part of a motorway connecting Penzance to Ramsgate.[2] However road developments in the New Forest are restricted due to its National Park status.

The M272 was meant to go from Junction 5 through Portswood to the centre of Southampton, joining with an extended M271 (that would have run a similar route to the A33 today). The M272 was instead built (in much reduced form) as the A335 Thomas Lewis Way.

Junction 6 was never built - there were plans for a motorway spur (probably numbered M273) connecting it to the centre of the Townhill Park area of Southampton [3].

The question of what happened to the M274 is unanswered, although it has been suggested that it could have been part of a grander plan for the A32 from Junction 11 (Fareham and Gosport)[specify].

A planned service area just east of Junction 9 was never constructed. The lengthy westbound exit onto Junction 9 was originally to allow an entrance and exit into the service area[1].

The M27 was meant to be extended to Chichester[4], part of this is shown since between Junction 12 and the junction with the A3(M) is built with 3/4 lanes, a hard shoulder and grade-separated junctions. It is, however, not part of the M27 as its hard shoulders are not quite wide enough for Motorway regulations[5]. Other suggestions have been that there is a below regulation height footbridge. Another suggestion is that there is not a suitable parallel main road to this short stretch of the A27 - to offer an alternative route for non-motorway traffic. However, the old A27 (Now a B road) does run to the north.[specify]

Future plans

  • The motorway is currently being widened to dual 4 lanes between Junctions 3 & 4. Construction is due to be completed March 2009. [6].
  • Climbing lanes are being constructed in both directions between Junctions 11 and 12 to relieve congestion through this stretch of road. The lanes are due to be opened October 2008. [7].

Junctions

M27 Motorway
Westbound exits Junction Eastbound exits
Road continues as A31 to Bournemouth J1 Lyndhurst A336
Cadnam B3078
Lyndhurst A336
Cadnam B3078 		Start of Motorway
Salisbury, Bath A36
Romsey (A3090) 		J2 Salisbury, Bath A36
Romsey (A3090)
Southampton West and Docks, Romsey M271 J3 Southampton West and Docks, Romsey M271
Rownhams services
The MIDLANDS, London, Winchester M3 J4 The MIDLANDS, London, Winchester M3
Southampton International Airport, Eastleigh, Southampton North A335 J5 Southampton International Airport, Eastleigh, Southampton North A335
No Connection J6 Planned Junction for the M273, but not built
Hedge End, Southampton (East) A334 J7 Hedge End, Southampton (East) A334
Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice, Sarisbury Green A27 J8 Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice, Sarisbury Green A27
Fareham West, Whiteley A27 J9 Fareham West, Whiteley A27
Alton A32 (North Only) J10 No exit
Fareham Central, Gosport A27 (A32) J11 Fareham Central, Gosport A27 (A32)
Cosham A27 J12 Cosham A27
Start of Motorway J12 Portsmouth West, Ferries M275
Portsmouth West, Ferries M275 Road continues as A27 to Chichester, Worthing, Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings
NB. There is no junction 6

Nearby attractions

Junction 1 is about 1 mile from The Rufus Stone, where King William II aka King Rufus was killed in a hunting accident in the year 1100.

Solar Panels

The UK’s first solar motorway sound barrier was installed at Junction 9 in March 2004. The 50 m long solar panel was installed by solarcentury for the Highways Agency. It generates up to 11kW of electricity.

See also

References

  1. ^ "M27 - The South Coast Motorway and A3(M) Statistics and options". The Motorway Archive Trust. Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  2. ^ Marshall, Chris. "CBRD Motorway Database - M27". Retrieved 2008-09-30. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Overall plans for the city". Retrieved 2007-01-27.
  4. ^ "M27 Portsmouth-Chichester". Pathetic Motorways.
  5. ^ "M27 - The South Coast Motorway, M271, M275 and A3(M)". Retrieved 2007-01-25. The land acquired for this stretch of the motorway was not quite wide enough - by less than a foot - and the Chief Highway Engineer of the day, quite rightly if a little pedantically, ruled that it didn't conform to motorway standards and must therefore be an all-purpose trunk road.
  6. ^ "M27 Jcts 3 - 4 Widening". Highways Agency. Retrieved 2008-07-25.
  7. ^ "M27 Jcts 11-12 Climbing Lanes". Highways Agency. Retrieved 2008-07-25.

External links

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