M27 motorway

The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire that links the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth. It runs for nearly 45 kilometres between Cadnam in the New Forest and the outskirts of Portsmouth. The road was built in stages between the mid-1970s and early 1980s to give the two largest urban areas in Hampshire a fast route between them. The motorway runs close to the Solent coast and the A27, passing through gently rolling countryside and suburban edges. It crosses the Wessex Main Line railway near Southampton and passes the city’s airport before turning south-east towards Fareham. The M27 ends where the A27 takes over as a dual carriageway towards Portsmouth. The motorway’s history includes several unfulfilled plans from earlier decades. In the 1930s engineers proposed a continuous south-coast road, but only the M27 was built. A planned extension to Chichester was abandoned, leaving the wide A27 between the M27’s last junction and the A3(M) as a reminder. Other schemes such as the M272 spur to central Southampton and a service area near junction 9 were also dropped. The motorway has seen later improvements, including a smart motorway conversion between junctions 4 and 11 and a concrete resurfacing project between junctions 5 and 7. A visitor driving the M27 passes a mix of landscapes and landmarks. North of Southampton the road runs alongside the airport and the West Coastway railway line. Between Fareham and Portsmouth the motorway meets the M275, which leads directly into the city centre. Along the route lie services at Rownhams and a garden of remembrance near the motorway’s path through the former South Stoneham Crematorium site. The road itself has widened sections with four lanes each way and climbing lanes on uphill stretches.