When will M27 smart motorway roadworks end? What will be the speed limit? Day that Hampshire motorway will run as usual is revealed by National Highways

National Highways has announced a new lane will become available to drivers, with four lanes open to traffic in each direction.

Crews will start removing the traffic cones and barriers on the newly upgraded 15-mile stretch between junction 4 and junction 11 at Fareham tonight (Saturday).

National Highways smart motorways programme director, David Bray, said: ‘We are making good progress on completing the upgraded M27 Southampton and Fareham and we are grateful for people's continued patience through our roadworks.

‘While it may appear fully open, this stretch of motorway will continue to have a lower 60mph speed limit in place – which allows us to complete and test the technology, including the stopped vehicle detection system, before it goes live and the scheme is opened.’

‘Roadworks must be removed to allow full testing to be completed.’

Due to the scale of the project £244m project, National Highways will remove all the traffic management and safety measures across several nights.

All the cones and barriers will be removed by 6am on February 18.

After this, four lanes will be open with 60mph speed limits – as new technology for stopped vehicle detection will continue to be tested.

Stopped vehicle detection uses radar technology to alert the control centre about emergency incidents.

The control centre will then set up signs and signals to close a lane, and send assistance to the stranded vehicle.

During these tests, and while the scheme is open, extra patrols of traffic officers will be in place to help road users and control room operators to change the speed limit and display warning messages during incidents.

Mr Bray added that CCTV cameras and a free recovery service will be available to motorists during this commissioning period.

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He said: ‘In the meantime, drivers using the M27 can be reassured that the motorway already has multiple safety features in place while this testing is carried out.

‘This includes 142 CCTV cameras; a dedicated free recovery service with a fleet of 10 vehicles, and the ability to use technology to vary the speed limit and to close lanes using a Red X.’

Drivers will also be able to use any of the 13 new emergency areas if they need to stop in an emergency.

Once the stopped vehicle detection tests are completed, the speed limit will be raised to up to 70mph when junctions 4 to 11 are fully open.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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