M27 smartification

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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Johnathan404 »

As expected the restrictions are in place between the middle of J4 and the middle of J5 only.

Given the cameras are in place and the temporary VMS switched on all the way to J9, and all of Highways England's publicity has said restrictions are now in place as far as J8, I do wonder whether a second phase of work will begin very soon. Maybe phase one is building the crossover for a contra-flow?

For commuters who leave at J5, J7, J8, J9, J10 or J11, this is the second date Highways England have given them (21 March 2018, 7 January 2019) where they have been told works will be in place and nothing visible has happened. This is not doing them any favours.

A quick look online suggests there is now a lot of confusion, thanks to a combination of poor-quality reporting and poor-quality driving. Many people believe that the whole of J4-J8 now has a 50mph speed limit; some even believe the entirety of the M27 does! I know it's as simple as looking for the NSL and the 'camera not in use' signs, but we know motorists have a habit of panicking and all this wrong information is not helping.
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B4444
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by B4444 »

'Interesting' overhead message going M27 west just after J11,10, this morning - 'M3 east entry closed'. I presumed it was something to do with overnight slip road closures, so ignored it, not that I could interpret it. The signs then changed to the normal '10mts to J5' etc long before we got to the M3.
Coming back east M27 this evening, everyone was obeying the 50mph limit, though we never saw the end of the restriction until seeing the 'camera not in use'. The recovery vehicles are now in place on the west off-slip road at junction 9, which seems some way away. I do get the feeling that no one is exactly rushing to get started.
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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Johnathan404 »

Highways England at it again. VMS before J9 says:

M27 J8-J4
ROADWORKS
7.5 MILES
10 MINS

The works are still only in place from J5 to J4. It's all very well being ready early - I do appreciate that - but the average driver has no idea what's going on. There have been a number of people contacting Highways England to say they don't know what the speed limit is, which is itself silly, but switching on signs like this doesn't help.

There are some folded down signs at J9 so the works may be extended very soon.

Also I think the journey time is capped at 50mph because the road was flowing freely today.
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Patrick Harper
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Patrick Harper »

D3M should persist through J5 with a lane drop, otherwise the weaving between there and J4 would be a touch scary.
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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Johnathan404 »

Skye wrote: Sun Jan 13, 2019 18:26 D3M should persist through J5 with a lane drop, otherwise the weaving between there and J4 would be a touch scary.
That is exactly what is happening, but it's more to do with the heavy volume of traffic leaving at J5 westbound which upsets the flow. The fact it will also help with the weaving uphill is a bonus.
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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Johnathan404 »

Few more observations:

Lots of cones and queues likely signs have been added around J7 and J8.

The J8-4 7.5 miles / 10 mins VMS is used throughout, including immediately before J4 westbound

A gap in the barrier has been cut immediately west of J5.

Finally, the SPECS-enforced 50 on the J4 westbound offslip is far too long. There is normally no hard shoulder through the exit, so traffic is already on its normal alignment and the cones just end as soon as the carriageways split... but for some reason the final camera is the other side of the flyover. Little things like this do Highways England no favours.
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B4444
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by B4444 »

An article in Portsmouth's 'The News' states J9 is to be 'widened' with additional slip-roads in a £22m upgrade. It states that they don't yet own the required land, so I presume it's not part of the current work?
https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/polit ... ments-area
mnb20
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by mnb20 »

Nothing they do to J9 will help much. The real problem there is that Whiteley can't absorb all the cars arriving in rush hour fast enough, particularly since some of the offices don't have enough parking and a lot of people end up parking on the road (mainly on Parkway - I'm sure that wasn't what they had in mind when they named it!).

The improvements to the Parkway South roundabout will help a bit, but as the main problems are beyond the roundabout, they won't make a huge difference. Stacking space in the form of a longer eastbound off-slip would help - westbound the queue is just as bad but the oversized off-slip keeps the M27 main line flowing.
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by mikehindsonevans »

mnb20 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:38 Nothing they do to J9 will help much. The real problem there is that Whiteley can't absorb all the cars arriving in rush hour fast enough, particularly since some of the offices don't have enough parking and a lot of people end up parking on the road (mainly on Parkway - I'm sure that wasn't what they had in mind when they named it!).

The improvements to the Parkway South roundabout will help a bit, but as the main problems are beyond the roundabout, they won't make a huge difference. Stacking space in the form of a longer eastbound off-slip would help - westbound the queue is just as bad but the oversized off-slip keeps the M27 main line flowing.
Having visited Whiteley many times over the years, I have noted the steadily-declining amount of spare space for car-parking. Thank heavens that they never built the next phase (although the back road out to Burridge is a useful cut-through). Swanwick railway station is too far away (on the Portsmouth-Fareham-Southampton line), so a rail station (£3mill out of the £22mill?) wouldn't help any ideas of "green" commuting and a bus link.

I am, of course, reassured by the final line of the article: ‘The proposed works are also fully co-ordinated with the planned smart motorway programme due to be taking place on the M27 later this year.’. Yeah, right! (I thought, from the reports by "jonathan404", that those fun&games had started!).

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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

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B4444 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 08:23 An article in Portsmouth's 'The News' states J9 is to be 'widened' with additional slip-roads in a £22m upgrade. It states that they don't yet own the required land, so I presume it's not part of the current work?
https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/polit ... ments-area
There are schemes for M27 J8, J9, J10 and M3 J9 all expected to start in the next few years. None of them are connected to the smart motorway works. While I doubt the delays will be too bad, motorists will associate more cones with more misery.
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mnb20
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Re: M27 smartification

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mikehindsonevans wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 14:54 Thank heavens that they never built the next phase (although the back road out to Burridge is a useful cut-through).
If you mean the expansion to the North, it's still on the cards and received outline planning permission last summer. As it's mostly housing (and local facilities to support that housing) it's not likely to make the traffic too much worse, as that's mostly caused by the employment and the housing will cause traffic in the opposite direction.

Part of the expansion includes a new road out to the North, to somewhere near Botley. This is welcome but unlikely to make a lot of difference to the traffic using the M27 as it will only be a good route for a small proportion of people currently using the M27, and any diverting will likely be cancelled out by people driving all the way through Whitely to get from Bishops Waltham etc to the M27.
Swanwick railway station is too far away (on the Portsmouth-Fareham-Southampton line)
It's pretty close to some of the housing in the SW corner of Whiteley. Whiteley as a whole is large enough that you can't expect a single station to be convenient for all of it. However, if the aim is to reduce the pressure on the M27 by providing an alternative for people who work in Whiteley, most of the employment is in the SE, near the Motorway. A new station in Segensworth combined with a new pedestrian bridge over the M27 would be very helpful for this, although it may be felt that it is too close to Swanwick station.
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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

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Eastbound restrictions have now been extended to cover J5-7. The hard shoulder line through J7 has been removed so another extension could be on the way.

EDIT: The restrictions have now been extended from J7 to J8. I've never known them be applied in so many phases but I'm sure they have their reasons.

According to HE's schedule, works between J5 and J8 were supposed to start in February so that's on time. But J4-5 was supposed to start last November - what happened there, and why did Highways England claim starting in January 2019 was "good progress"? :confused:
mnb20 wrote: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:38 Nothing they do to J9 will help much. The real problem there is that Whiteley can't absorb all the cars arriving in rush hour fast enough, particularly since some of the offices don't have enough parking and a lot of people end up parking on the road (mainly on Parkway - I'm sure that wasn't what they had in mind when they named it!).
The evening peak is the problem. Commuters and shoppers leave at the same time and try to join the J9 roundabout at the same time as residents of Park Gate leave the motorway on their journey home. In theory junction improvements could make a huge difference, but I'm not sure there's anything feasible you could do that will keep up with the rate of development.

For me, on the rare occasion I end up there and have to escape, it's quicker to take the long way around Parkway, crawl up Leafy Lane (apologising to the residents as I bounce over their speed humps) and then sneak through Segensworth East. That ought to be stopped.

Incidentally, I have noticed how bad the parking on Parkway has become. It is a very poor situation for what is (nominally) a bus route. I know Whiteley is designed for cars, but given the congestion and the number of low-paid jobs (most Fareham school-leavers are advised to consider working in Whiteley) you'd think it would be able to sustain a bus service. The fact the main bus stop is at the end of a very congested cul-de-sac has to be one of the biggest planning disasters of our time. If I were building it from scratch, Leafy Lane would be wide enough for buses so they could at least get out.
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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

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Last week restrictions were put in place westbound. Now the central reservation is being worked on in both directions between J4 and the Hamble Bridge.

Meanwhile, Eastleigh Borough Council are considering legal action against Highways England for not resurfacing the road as part of this project.
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by mikehindsonevans »

We had a great trip today along the length of the roadworks and beyond, from M27j5 (airport) at 1215 through to Gunwharf Quays at the bottom of the M275, then we left Pompey at 1615 and had a steady cruise at 49mph all the way through the roadworks from j8 westwards, through j4 and up the M3 to M3j13.

Everything flowed (it *may* have been half-term) but what both Mrs H-E and I remarked on was the new tarmac through j5 - the old concrete has gone (okay, only for about 400yds, but it did make joining the M27 eastbound at j5 a little more pleasant). The overhead gantries at M27jEB now have the wrong signs over the wrong lane of course (everyone is one lane to the left); this must trip up a few of our Continental cousins heading east for Portsmouth ferry port!

Removals crew arrives within a month; so pleased that the M6j17-19 improvements are drawing to a close.
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by GeekyJames »

The 50 mph average speed cameras have now been switched on both East and Westbound close to junction 9, however there are no narrow lanes yet along this stretch which begs the question - why?
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Truvelo »

Last time I went through these roadworks the first Specs camera westbound and the last Specs camera eastbound were outside the 50 limit with not in use signs next to them.
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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Johnathan404 »

Work up to and including J9 was scheduled to start in May 2019, so it would make sense to put some extra SPECS up while setting up the others. However with Highways England you can never be too sure what schedule they are actually working on.

I haven't been that way for a while but I'm still seeing people complaining that they don't know where the speed restriction starts and ends. I don't know about any live cameras far outside the work zone other than the one half way up the M3 which I moaned about upthread.
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DB617
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by DB617 »

Doesn't this just show the extent of zombie mode that drivers as a whole are afflicted with?! "Don't know where the speed limits start and end." Is it not as simple as looking at the big red circles and black stripes all over the carriageway? Can we make it any more clear? If it's not judged in law as being clear, it's unenforceable. I'd argue that when it comes to limit awareness, that is 100% driver inattention and 0% HE, provided the signage is legal.
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Johnathan404
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by Johnathan404 »

Came through for the first time in a while.

Signs have been put up giving a countdown to every exit. "J8 1 mile", "1/2 mile", "300 yards", "200 yards", "100 yards", now, and on the gore. At the moment this seems a bit excessive as the temporary signs are smaller and less helpful than the existing signs, which are now obscured by the temporary ones.

This is except for J7-8, where the gantries (erected in 2006) have all been taken down, and the temporary signs don't have any road numbers or destinations. So as far as I could see, you have a countdown to J7, but absolutely nothing to tell you what J7 is for, and I couldn't see any indication that it's a lane drop.

Meanwhile, I can confirm the 50mph speed limit starts about two miles before the narrow lanes. Add this to the half-mile on the end and this is crazy.

Also something I've never noticed before. The J11 eastbound onslip has a "Work starts here 17 March 2018" sign. There are no plans to widen this section of road at all, though I realise it will be affected by the traffic management starting in September. It seems a bit much though.
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Re: M27 smartification

Post by GeekyJames »

the M27 was closed on Saturday between Junctions 9 and 11 for the demolition of the North Fareham footbridge. This photo is from the Highways England twitter feed.
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