Improvement of the existing A2500 between the A249 Sheppey Way and Barton Hill Drive. This section of road is at present a narrow single carriageway, but carries substantial volumes of traffic, serving most of the eastern side of the Isle of Sheppey. Planned housing developments around Barton Hill Drive will increase pressure on this route.
The improvement will be delivered in two phases:
Construction of a new sliproad exiting the coastbound carriageway of the A2 to provide access to the A28 at Wincheap, west of Canterbury.
Upgrade of the M23 between junction 8 (the M25 at Merstham) and junction 10 (the A264 at Crawley) to Smart Motorway standard. This is the busiest section of the M23 and heavy volumes of traffic, with associated slow-downs and phantom traffic jams, can occur even at off-peak times. It is also the principal road link between London and the city's second largest airport.
Upgrade of the M3 between junction 9 (the A34 at Winchester) and junction 14 (the A33 and M27 north of Southamnpton) to Smart Motorway standard. This part of the M3 suffers particularly high levels of traffic, being a single link connecting the major conurbation and port at Southampton to the wider UK.
Upgrade of the M20 between junction 3 (M26) and junction 5 (the A20 west of Maidstone) to Smart Motorway standard. This section of the M20 has three lanes in each direction and is particularly busy, running between the M26 and Maidstone. West of this section, traffic disperses between the M20 and M26; east of this section the motorway was widened in the 1990s and already operates with variable speed limits.
Improvements to Redbridge Roundabout, the junction at the southern terminus of the M271. At present this is a grade-separated roundabout, with an east-west flyover serving through traffic between the A33 and A35.
Improvements to M27 junction 8, the nearby Windhover Roundabout and 31 junctions on the A3024 between that point and the Six Dials junction in central Southampton, in addition to widening of the A3024 across two railway bridges. The scheme is highly unusual as it is being carried out by Highways England, who operate trunk roads, and at their expense, but the work will almost all take place on non-trunk local authority roads operated by Southampton City Council.
Upgrade works to alleviate the severe congestion experienced at this junction on a regular basis.
Upgrade of the existing M27 between junction 4 (the M3) and junction 11 (Fareham) to Smart Motorway. New technology and Emergency Areas will be installed to enable variable speed limits to operate, and the hard shoulder will be converted into a permanent running lane to provide four continuous lanes throughout this section. Smart Motorway upgrade works are also planned on the M3 between Winchester and Southampton, and the two schemes will connect at M27 junction 4.
Construction of a bypass to carry the A27 past Arundel. There is already a bypass for the A27, but it is now quite old and runs very close to the town centre. The A27 presently reduces from dual to single carriageway approaching the town from both the east and west, and negotiates several junctions that regularly suffer congestion. The objective of this scheme is to allow the A27 to flow past Arundel as an uninterrupted dual two-lane expressway.
Improvements to the sliproads at M2 junction 5 (Stockbury) and the roundabout where they connect to the A249. At present the junction suffers regular congestion, particularly on the A249 southbound and the exit from the M2 westbound, and has an extremely poor safety record. Planned developments in the area will put further pressure on the junction.
Highways England plan to consult on the scheme in autumn 2017 and issue a preferred design towards the end of the year. Until then the form of the proposals are not known, and no costing has been issued.
Widening of the A28 Chart Road in Ashford to provide a dual two-lane road between the Tank Roundabout at Carlton Road and the Matalan Roundabout at the B2229 Brookfield Road. The A28 north from the Tank Roundabout to the M20 already has two lanes in each direction and this section, connecting that dual carriageway to the Great Chart Bypass, is now a bottleneck.
The scheme will see a second bridge across the railway to carry southbound traffic, some turns in and out of side roads prohibited, and improvements to the roundabouts at each end and to the junction of Loudon Way.
In August 2016, East Street bridge was struck and collapsed. What's left behind when you demolish half a bridge?
Upgrade of the existing M3 between junctions 2 and 4a to allow dynamic hard shoulder running (use of the hard shoulder as an extra lane at peak times). Where necessary, junction capacity will be increased to prevent traffic queues building up on the slip roads and encroaching on the main carriageway.
This scheme was introduced as part of the National Infrastructure Plan in autumn 2011.
Upgrade of the A21 between the A26 near Castle Hill and the Longfield road roundabout near Pembury to a dual carriageway standard. This is one of the most congested sections of road and is a high priority. Longfield road roundabout will be grade separated, giving access to a new regional hospital. This section of road, on average, carries 46,000 vehicles a day.
There will also be another minor road grade separated.
A new crossing of the Thames Estuary, east of London, to increase cross-river capacity for road traffic, relieve congestion on the Dartford Crossing, and improve the reliability of journeys.
This scheme was first announced in 2009.
As part of a programme of improvements to congested junctions around Basingstoke, the first of which was the M3 J6 Black Dam Improvements, the A30/A340 Winchester Road roundabout will be widened and the approaches improved.
Three of the four approach roads are to be widened and have traffic light controls added, with additional lanes created on those approaches and on the gyratory, increasing capacity around the junction. Drainage improvements will also be made to prevent the junction flooding.
An upgrade of the existing roundabout and sliproads at the junction between the M25 and A10. The scheme is intended to improve the performance of the junction and improve reliability for all traffic, specifically reducing the regular queues on the sliproads that tail back on to the mainline of the motorway. It also aims to reduce the number of collisions at the junction, improve pedestrian and cycle facilities and increase overall capacity.
At present, three options are proposed, all of which will involve improving the existing layout.
Upgrade of the existing M4 between junctions 3 (Hayes) and 12 (Theale) to Smart Motorway, with the hard shoulder converted to an extra traffic lane for most of that length.
Unusually for a Smart Motorway scheme, bridge widening and replacement works will be carried out to provide extra space on parts of the motorway that presently carry three lanes with no hard shoulder. The M4 Slough and Maidenhead Bypass sections were subject to "rapid widening" in the 1970s which left the motorway with a discontinuous hard shoulder through bridges.
Upgrade of the current A27 Chichester Bypass, which suffers from chronic congestion and unreliable journey times. The existing road has five roundabouts and one signalised junction, and is one of the major barriers to the provision of a free-flowing route along the south coast.
Highways England have refined the possible options to three proposals, and a preferred scheme will then be selected from these three as part of a public consultation in spring 2016.