M3 motorway

M3 motorway
Length	58.6 miles (94.3 km)
Direction	Northeast - Southwest
Start	London (A316)
Primary destinations	Staines Bracknell Basingstoke Winchester
End	Southampton (M27)
Construction dates	1971 - 1995
Motorways joined	2 - M25 motorway 14 - M27 motorway
Euroroute(s)	E 05

M3 is also the name of the motorway that connects the capitals of two largest states in Europe, Moscow and Kiev.

There are also M3 motorways in Northern Ireland, in the Republic of Ireland, Hungary and Pakistan

The M3 motorway is a motorway in Hampshire and Surrey, England. It runs from Sunbury-on-Thames to Southampton and is approximately 59 miles (94 km) long. The motorway was built to relieve traffic on the A30 and A33, the congested single carriageway trunk roads that previously carried the traffic. Part of this motorway forms a section of European route E5 — these are not signed in the United Kingdom.

Route

The M3 motorway at East Stratton

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

The motorway starts as a dual three lane route at Sunbury on Thames on the edge of South West London. It heads south west, crosses the River Thames on the M3 Chertsey Bridge to the north of Chertsey and passes under the M25 motorway, before continuing in a more westerly direction south of Camberley. From junction 4 it runs across the northern suburbs of Farnborough it enters a more rural setting, crosses the South Western Railway Main Line passes close to the Basingstoke Canal before reaching the outskirts of Basingstoke. Turning south west again, it runs across the south of Basingstoke, before reaching junction 8, where lane 1 becomes the A303 road and the motorway continues as a dual two lane road through open countryside and Micheldever Wood until it reaches the north of Winchester. Forming the Winchester Bypass it widens to 3 lanes at junction 9, continues directly south and then into a small loop around the east of the City. It runs through a deep cutting in Twyford Down and then proceeds south west again, crossing the South Western Railway Main Line a second time alongside the River Itchen and back into a more urban environment before crossing the Eastleigh to Romsey railway line and ending at the Chilworth Roundabout on the fringes of Southampton.

History

Construction of the M3 started in 1971, and was completed in stages until 1995. The opening dates, going from north east to south west, are as follows:^[1]

• Junction 1 to Junction 3 opened in 1974.
• Junction 3 to junction 8 opened in 1971.

An additional junction, numbered 4a, opened in April 1992 near Farnborough^[2]

• Junction 8 to Junction 10 opened in 1985.

The original terminus of the M3 was with a temporary junction near junction 8 that fed directly into the A33 at Popham, built in 1971. When the M3 was extended to junction 10 in 1985, this temporary junction was removed.

• Junction 10 to Junction 12 opened in 1995.

This section was constructed partly on the original route of the A33.

• Junction 12 to Junction 14 was designated as motorway in 1992.

The section from just south of Junction 11 to Junction 14 was constructed using the alignment of a section of the A33 road originally built in 1967. This was upgraded to motorway standards in 1991, although not formally designated a motorway until the completion of the section from Junction 10 around Winchester (see below). The westbound M27 motorway link was completed in 1975 and the eastbound link in 1986. The road was upgraded to motorway in 1992, but only as far as a temporary junction at Compton, south of the present-day junction 11. This temporary junction was removed when the final section of M3 between this and junction 10 was completed in 1995.

Twyford Down

See main article: Twyford Down

The M3 under construction at Twyford Down

Following completion of the route to north and south of Winchester, there was a gap in the motorway around Winchester. This section of the journey had to be completed on the A33 road, which suffered congestion and had junctions directly onto the mainline (unlike motorways which have grade separated junctions). The route ran to the west of Twyford Down. The Department for Transport wanted to complete the route, however they had difficulty setting a route due to several sites including St Catherine's Hill, an Iron Age fort being of historical or environmental interest. Twyford down was a site of special scientific interest and was afforded some protection under European Union regulations. Following an evaluation, the route was moved from the west to the east of St Catherine's Hill.^[2] A tunnel design was proposed, but this was not proceeded with and the route was placed in a cutting. During construction there were extensive protests by local people and environmental activists. Despite petitions to the High Court by, amongst others, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth contesting the legality of the construction, and an instruction by Carlo Ripa di Meana the European Environmental Commissioner to stop the project, the route was completed and opened to traffic between junctions 10 and 12. The A33 route, that ran east of Twyford Down, was removed and was opened in public land. Around 1.9 hectares of land was lost on Twyford down, but over 7 hectares was added as open space.^[3] Reportedly some people still refuse to drive on it.^[4]

Junctions

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• It is rumoured that the original negatives of the full-length cut of the film The Wicker Man are buried under the M3 after being used as part of a landfill. [1]
• On 1 April, 2000, Pranksters painted a zebra crossing across three lanes of the M3 between junctions 4 and 4A on the northbound carriageway near Farnborough in Hampshire. [2]
• The A325 has a roundabout junction with a minor road over the M3 between junctions 3 and 4, but there is no junction with the motorway.

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• CBRD
  • Motorway Database — M3
  • Bad Junctions — M3/A31
• The Motorway Archive — M3

•  • e Motorways in the United Kingdom
Great Britain	M1 • M2 • M3 • M4 • M5 • M6 • M6 Toll • M8 • M9 • M10 • M11 • M18 • M20 • M23 • M25 • M26 • M27 • M32 • M40 • M42 • M45 • M48 • M49 M50 • M53 • M54 • M55 • M56 • M57 • M58 • M60 • M61 • M62 • M65 • M66 • M67 • M69 • M73 • M74 • M77 • M80 • M90 M180 • M181 • M271 • M275 • M602 • M606 • M621 • M876 • M898 A1(M) • A3(M) • A38(M) • A48(M) • A57(M) • A58(M) • A64(M) • A66(M) • A74(M) • A167(M) • A194(M) A308(M) • A329(M) • A404(M) • A601(M) • A627(M) • A823(M)
Northern Ireland	M1 • M2 • M3 • M5 • M12 • M22 • A8(M)
Past	M16 • M41 • M63 • A18(M) • A40(M) • A41(M) • A102(M) • A6144(M)
Unbuilt	M12 • M13 • M15 • M31 • M64
Future	M4 Toll