M27 to reopen ahead of schedule following "meticulous planning" and "round the clock" work on new underpass

The Hampshire County Council has confirmed that the M27 between Junctions 9 and 11 will fully reopen 24 hours ahead of schedule on Saturday, January 3 at 4am.

This comes following the completion of major construction works as part of a multi-million pound project to improve the infrastructure for the delivery of the Welborne Garden Village development.

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.”

The motorway has been closed since Christmas Eve to enable the construction of improvements to junction 10 using a ‘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.

Over the closure period, around 130 people have worked in total around 10,000 hours, day and night.

Adrian Mawdsley, VolkerFitzpatrick Ltd, project director, added: “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.”

The scheme, costing upwards of £100m is being delivered by Hampshire County Council and is being funded by the Buckland Group, the developer of Welborne Garden Village, and Homes England.

The new underpass will connect Fareham with the Welborne Garden Village development, improving access to the M27 and supporting future growth in the area.

Once 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.

Councillor Bowerman added: “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.”

Once the motorway reopens, the 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.

Andrew Jackson, National Highways programme leader, added: “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.”