M27 junction set for overhaul to reduce amount of queuing traffic

DETAILED plans for a £2.5m project to tackle a major traffic bottleneck have been unveiled.
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Junction 7 of the M27 at Hedge End and the Thornhill Park Road and Hinkler Road junction in Southampton are set to be transformed in a bid to improve traffic flow.

The Highways England scheme will see seven electronic traffic signs, four CCTV cameras and Bluetooth journey time monitoring detectors installed on the motorway.

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The new technology will help manage congestion, identify network incidents and assist journey planning, an official document revealed.

M27 traffic 
Picture Ian Hargreaves  (181128-1_weather)M27 traffic 
Picture Ian Hargreaves  (181128-1_weather)
M27 traffic Picture Ian Hargreaves (181128-1_weather)

New traffic lights expected to regulate traffic flow are also set to be installed at the junction of Thornhill Park Road and Hinkler Road.

Highway bosses said the proposals are designed to ‘improve traffic capacity and to reduce instances where westbound queues on Charles Watts Way block back to affect the motorway operation’.

The scheme will be funded by Highways England and is expected to be approved by Hampshire County Council tomorrow.

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A spokesman for Highways England said: ‘The £2.5m project will improve traffic flow at the junction by replacing the current traffic signals with a state-of-the-art system that will update the phasing of the traffic lights using real time information about vehicles using the junction, along with a package of improvements on nearby local roads.’

Works are expected to start next month for four weeks.

A document published ahead of next week’s meeting says: ‘All works on Hampshire County Council’s network are “off-highway” and are not expected to cause any significant disruption to the travelling public during construction/installation. Traffic signal upgrade at Hinkler Road will require a series of communications in association with Southampton City Council, which will commence on approval of this project appraisal.’

Dan Fitzhenry, city councillor for Harefield ward, said: ‘Traffic congestion is an issue in Southampton. We hope that these changes on a very busy road will help to speed up the traffic to reduce the congestion that lots of local residents face daily.’

Queue detection on A334, a refurbishment of all traffic signals at the junction and new pedestrian facilities will also be part of the project. The scheme will complement the measures being taken to turn the stretch of M27 between junction 4 and 11 into a Smart motorway.

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