M27 to reopen following lengthy festive closure
HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL have announced that the M27 between Junctions 9 and 11 will fully reopen twenty-four hours earlier than planned at 4am on Saturday (January 3); offering a boost for drivers on the road this weekend following the Christmas and New Year period.
The motorway was closed on Christmas Eve from Fareham to Whiteley and wasn’t due to reopen until 4am on Sunday (January 4) following the completion of a major engineering scheme to deliver a new underpass beneath the motorway. The project has been delivered by Hampshire County Council and main contractor Volker Fitzpatrick, in close collaboration with National Highways; whilst there has been support by a number of specialist subcontractors.
Work was done to improve Junction Ten using an innovative ‘box slide’ technique that has only been deployed in the UK a handful of times. Using precision engineering, a 60‑metre‑long pre‑constructed concrete underpass was slid 65 metres into position before the road surface was reinstated.
This innovative, time‑saving approach replaced what would otherwise have been many months of lane and speed restrictions, as well as overnight works. Over the closure period, around 130 people have worked in total around 10,000 hours throughout day and night; which marks a great achievement that was supported by favourable and dry weather despite cold temperatures.
Councillor Lulu Bowerman, Hampshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “This has been a mammoth engineering challenge, delivered by a dedicated team working around the clock right through the Christmas period. The complexity of the operation cannot be overstated – from excavating huge volumes of material to sliding an 8,500‑tonne structure into place and rebuilding the road above it. We recognise the inconvenience this has caused for drivers and local residents, and I want to thank everyone for their patience.
Thanks to the skill of our teams – and favourable weather conditions – construction has progressed smoothly, meaning we can now confirm the motorway will reopen a full day ahead of schedule. I’d like to pay tribute to the County Council’s expert team and our skilled contractors, for working 24/7 to achieve this early completion. Finishing this phase of the project paves the way for a new, free‑flowing, all‑moves junction due to open later this year, supporting the delivery of the Welborne Garden Village development.”
She concluded her comments by saying: “This showcases what can be achieved when the County Council works closely with its public and private partners on a project of this scale, demonstrating our ability to deliver the infrastructure that underpins sustainable economic growth in Hampshire.”
The £100 million+ scheme is being delivered by Hampshire County Council who have been working closely with National Highways to manage the implementation. It has been fully funded by the Buckland Group (the developer of Welborne Garden Village) and Homes England; with the new underpass connecting Fareham with the Welborne Garden Village development. This will further help in improving access to the M27 and supporting future growth in the area.
National Highways Programme Leader, Andrew Jackson, said: “I would like to thank all drivers and the local community for their patience and understanding while these improvements have been carried out. This has been a very complex operation requiring intense planning, teamwork and close collaboration with Hampshire County Council, VolkerFitzpatrick and their construction workers. We are delighted to be able to reopen the M27 earlier than planned and are thankful to all those who worked through Christmas to make this scheme a success.”
Project Manager of VolkerFitzpatrick Ltd, Adrian Mawdsley, commented: “This is an incredible achievement from our team who have worked around the clock to ensure that the works have been delivered safely and to a high-quality standard. The many months of meticulous planning and contingency measures that have been put in place, have meant we are able to open the motorway earlier than expected.”
“The successful delivery of this excellent engineering project wouldn’t have been possible without the strong collaboration from our VolkerFitzpatrick staff, Hampshire County Council, National Highways, and our supply chain including Carney Construction, MJ Church, Freyssinet, FM Conway, CP Groundworks and Core Highways.”
Once the motorway reopens on 3 January, lane restrictions and a 50mph speed limit that were in place before the full closure, will remain in place. These safety measures are there to protect both drivers and the crews completing the remaining work.
A series of complementary highways improvements on and around Junction 10 are being delivered by the County Council to support the Welborne Garden Village development, which is set to provide up to 6,000 homes alongside schools and community services just outside Fareham, and to improve access to the M27. Under planning conditions for the Welborne development, no more than 1,160 new homes can be occupied until the new ‘all‑moves’ Junction 10 on the M27 is completed and operational.
When open to traffic later in 2026, the underpass will provide two northbound and two southbound lanes connecting with new entry and exit slip roads at Junction 10. It will also accommodate a shared footway/cycleway connecting Fareham Common to the south and the Welborne Garden Village development to the north. The two-year construction scheme is due to be fully open to traffic in winter 2026.
PICTURED: Workers enter final phases of work on January 1 (New Year’s Day) on the M27, allowing it to open twenty-four hours early tomorrow (January 3) at 4am.
