M3
Looking south at Twyford Down
Route information
Part of
Maintained by Highways England
Length	58.6 mi (94.3 km)
Existed	1971–present
History	Opened: 1971 Completed: 1995
Major junctions
Northeast end	Sunbury-on-Thames 51°25′00″N 0°25′26″W / 51.4166°N 0.4240°W / 51.4166; -0.4240 (M3 motorway (northeastern end))
	J2 → M25 motorway J14 → M27 motorway
Southwest end	Chilworth 50°57′16″N 1°24′29″W / 50.9545°N 1.4081°W / 50.9545; -1.4081 (M3 motorway (southwestern end))
Location
Counties	Surrey, Hampshire
Primary destinations	Basingstoke Winchester Southampton
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones ← M2 M4 →

The M3 is a motorway that runs from Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, to Southampton, Hampshire, a distance of approximately 59 miles (95 km). Via its feeder the A316, the route is one of five roads of dual carriageway width or greater into the southern half of London. It also provides access to major towns and cities along its route, principally the Aldershot Urban Area, Basingstoke, Winchester and Southampton.

It was constructed as a dual three-lane motorway except for its two-lane section between Junctions 8 (A303) and 9. The motorway was opened in phases, ranging from Lightwater/Bagshot to Popham in 1971 to Winchester to Otterbourne Hill in 1995. The latter stages attracted opposition from environmental campaigns across Britain due to its large cutting through wooded Twyford Down; numerous road protests were held which delayed its opening. Similar protests were avoided on the near-parallel A3 by construction of the Hindhead Tunnel. Since completion, the motorway has been an artery to the west and mid sections of the South Coast and Isle of Wight including for tourism. The major settlements nearest to the motorway are served by a railway also used for commuting but are relatively dispersed. Traffic on the M3 sees delays and congestion on its busiest sections near commuting hotspots and during holiday periods. From Chertsey to Fleet the road was in 2017 upgraded to a Smart Motorway, turning the hard shoulder into a permanent fourth lane with emergency refuge lay-bys. ^[1]

History[edit]

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

Originally approved as the "London to Basingstoke Motorway" with delays over funding for an extension to Southampton^[2] the road was built to relieve two single carriageway trunk roads that were congested.^{[n 1][3]}

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.^{[n 2][3]}

Eastern section[edit]

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.^[4] The cost for this first phase was £46m.^[5] 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.

The section is one of five routes into the southern half of London which reach Inner London with at least a dual-carriageway of dual-direction road, the others being the A3 (M), the A30/A4, the M20 and A2, however approximately one mile before reaching Inner London is combined with the routes of the A30 and M4 approaches.

Southern section[edit]

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.^[6][7] A second public inquiry was held in 1976–77.^[8][9] 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.^[7]

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.^[4] 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.^[7]

In 2008 the busiest section of the motorway, at Chandler's Ford, carried a daily average of around 130,000 vehicles.^[10]

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[edit]

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.^[11]
Plans for a Basingstoke Services were again published in November 2017 ^[12]

Additions[edit]

An additional junction, numbered 4A, opened in April 1992 for Fleet.^[13]

Detailed route[edit]

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,^[14] 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^{[n 3]} then has its latest junction for Fleet and nearby early 21st century expanded/new villages^{[n 4]}, it crosses the South West Main Line, before skirting Old Basing and Basingstoke to its north^{[n 5]}. 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[edit]

• 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.^[15]

• A private exit of the northern roundabout connected to Junction 4a provides access to the former ^[16] UK headquarters of Sun Microsystems.^[17]. As of 2018 this is now a new housing estate, Helios Park^[18]


• The section of the M3 between J2 and J4a has been converted into a SMART Motorway, with full opening on 30 June 2017.^[19]

Incidents[edit]

• 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.^[20] 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.^[21]

• On 1 April 2000, a zebra crossing was illegally painted across the northbound carriageway of the M3 between Junctions 4 and 4a.^[22]

• On September 23, 2017 two firebombs were thrown from a bridge onto the motorway between junctions 9 and 11 by mentally ill teenager Nicholas Elger leading to an 11-hour closure costing an estimated 40 million pounds. The attacker was identified after being linked to a bottle of Voss water used to transport the fuel. Elger told police he wished he had killed somebody and entered guilty pleas to two counts of arson recklessly endangering life.^[23]

Many accidents have happened on this road calling its safety into question. In Sept 2017 alone there have been 4 serious / fatal accidents.^{[citation needed]}

Junctions[edit]

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identification information.^[24]

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 Heathrow – M25 (M23), (M4)	J2	Gatwick, Heathrow (M23, M4) 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 (Welcome Break)	Services	Fleet services (Welcome Break)
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 (Moto)	Services	Winchester services (Moto)
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	Bournemouth M27(W) Eastleigh A335
		Start of motorway	J14	Southampton , Portsmouth M27(E) The West, Southampton Docks, 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[edit]

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

Notes and references[edit]

Notes

References

External links[edit]

Route map:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to M3 motorway.

• Chris's British Road Directory^{[Discuss – April 2013]}
  • Motorway Database – M3
  
  
  • 'Bad Junctions' – M3/A31 (Winchester)
  
  


• The Motorway Archive – M3