Greenlight for £290M improvements to M3 to support over 2,000 homes in Winchester

Winchester is set to see faster, safer journeys and 2,000 new homes, as Ministers approve the M3 J9 scheme in South Hampshire, the Government has announced today (13th March 2025).

Backed by £290m of Government funding, the road scheme will significantly speed up journey times, reducing the current bottleneck, and saving commuters, businesses, and tourists hundreds of hours each week. 

Peak time journeys through the junction to the A272 into Winchester will be almost 30 per cent faster. Between the M3 and A34, drivers will save more than 20 per cent of their overall journey time during peak hours.

The scheme is also essential to building 2,000 new homes in Winchester, another milestone for this Government’s Plan for Change to deliver 1.5 million homes over the next 5 years. To deliver this target, last month the Government also announced it was approving over £200m for the A47 Thickthorn Junction in Norwich, which will support 43,000 homes in Norwich. 

To mark this significant landmark for drivers and businesses in Hampshire, the Transport Secretary, visited the M3 J9 to mark the approval of the scheme and understand its impact on the local economy.

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said:

“Anyone who uses this junction knows how frustrating it can be. But our £290m investment will save thousands of hours for commuters, tourists and freight every week, unlocking the true potential of our ports to deliver economic growth.

“We’re building rather than blocking, so that we can get our economy growing. Approving these works, and the 2,000 homes it will support, is just another milestone on the way to delivering 1.5 million homes in this Parliament as part of our Plan for Change.

“This Government is investing in vital road schemes with huge economic benefits, and so far we’ve invested half a billion pounds for six schemes across England to renew our long neglected national infrastructure.”

The junction is a key interchange for economic growth, connecting the ports of Southampton and Portsmouth to ship millions of tonnes of freight every year, providing a vital link for those travelling to the South coast and beyond.

Ministers have given the go ahead to the project as part of a wider drive to unblock vital transport infrastructure development.

Since entering office, the government has approved over £200m for the A47 Thickthorn Junction, and £90m for the A130 Fairglen Interchange, the South East Aylesbury Link Road, the A350 Chippenham Bypass, the A647 scheme in Leeds. This is a total of over £580m for schemes to get Britain moving. The Government is also supporting the expansion of Heathrow Airport.

The new design will also improve safety; by extending the southbound slip road onto the M3 so traffic has more time to join the motorway.

The government is providing £290 million for the scheme which is expected to generate millions more for the local economy of South Hampshire. It is part of the government’s Plan for Change to renew infrastructure and grow the economy.

With the aim to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure across the UK, the government is focused on improving the UK’s road network to increase economic growth.

As well as faster journeys, drivers in Hampshire are also set to benefit from improved road surfaces, thanks to a recently announced £52.9 million uplift in highway maintenance funding for Hampshire. This is part of the government’s record £1.6 billion investment to fill the equivalent of 7 million potholes and repair roads across England.

The scheme will see the number of lanes on the M3 increased from three to four through the junction, as it passes under a wider gyratory, with free-flowing links between the M3 and the A34 in both directions.

Several new, safer routes for pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders will also be built, connecting Kings Worthy and Winnall and Long Walk and Easton Lane. The area will also see benefits to the environment, as National Highways will be introducing 22.2 acres (equivalent to 13 football pitches) of ancient chalk grassland, a species-rich grass that grows on top of chalk and is said to be Europe's equivalent of tropical rainforest. Since the Second World War, 80% of these grasslands have been lost.

ENDS