M3 work welcomed despite delay fears (From Andover Advertiser)

M3 work welcomed despite delay fears

4:50pm Saturday 4th July 2009

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DRIVERS on the M3 between Hook and Basingstoke are set to face three months of delays as multi-million pound improvements start on the motorway next week.

The Highways Agency is to begin a £5million major maintenance scheme between junctions 5 and 6.

News of the essential work to resurface the road has been welcomed by Basingstoke MP Maria Miller, who has campaigned with residents to push forward the project despite budget worries.

The resurfacing will help improve the safety of the busy route and reduce noise from passing cars on a section that has seen a big rise in traffic.

The work is expected to be completed by October and will see a 50mph speed limit brought in, enforced by average speed cameras.

In a bid to ease delays, the works will include a 24-hour contraflow, providing three narrow lanes in each direction throughout the peak periods. At other times, there will be lane closures.

Guy Berresford, from the Highways Agency, is warning motorists to expect some delays.

He said: “We are asking people to leave more time than usual for their journeys and to check the Highways Agency website before they set out.

“The work will provide a safer and more reliable road.”

Campaigners of the M3 Action Campaign and Mrs Miller put pressure on transport minister Lord Adonis to push ahead with the works when plans to shelve the project were announced due to a lack of avaialble funds.

Mrs Miller said: “I am pleased that the Highways Agency has now agreed that this important maintenance of the M3 should go ahead and that it will not be cut because of pressure on budgets.

“It will help improve the condition of the road surface, making it safer, and should also reduce the level of noise from the motorway too, something that has become a growing concern for more and more local residents as the volume of traffic using the M3 rises.”

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