M27 Motorway

Street guide, Solent News

The M27 is the principal east-west motorway corridor across south Hampshire, running from Cadnam near the New Forest in the west to the junction with the A27 east of Fareham. It carries commuter, commercial, and holiday traffic between Southampton and Portsmouth, two of the south coast's largest cities, and serves as the main artery for towns along its route including Fareham, Hedge End, and Eastleigh. The motorway was built in stages during the 1970s and 1980s and is typically a three-lane dual carriageway. Junctions 9 through 12 are the most relevant to the Solent area, providing access to Fareham, Gosport, Portchester, and the Meon Valley. The stretch between junctions 9 and 12 is heavily used at peak times, with congestion a daily reality for commuters. Smart motorway proposals and junction improvement schemes have been debated for years, with the section around junction 9 (Whiteley) a particular bottleneck. The M27 connects to the M3 at its eastern end (via the M271/A33) and to the A31 and A36 in the west, making it the gateway route for almost all road journeys in the Solent area.