M27 motorway

This article is about the motorway in Great Britain. For the motorway in Russia, see M27 highway (Russia).

M27
Route information
Length	25.0 mi (40.2 km)
Existed	1972–present
History	Constructed 1972–1983
Major junctions
From	Cadnam 50.9182°N 1.5930°W / 50.9182; -1.5930 (M27 motorway (western end))
Major intersections	J3 → M271 motorway J4 → M3 motorway J12 → M275 motorway
To	Portsmouth 50.8366°N 1.0650°W / 50.8366; -1.0650 (M27 motorway (eastern end))
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Primary destinations	Southampton, Fareham, Portsmouth, (Ringwood), (Bournemouth), (Salisbury), (Winchester), (Chichester), (Brighton)
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones

Looking down onto the M27 from Portsdown Hill.

M27 Between Junctions 5 and 7 (there is no junction 6)

The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is 25 miles (40 km) long and runs west-east from Cadnam to Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983. It is unfinished, as an extension to the east was planned. A number of smaller motorways were proposed, connecting the city centres of Southampton and Portsmouth to the motorway; of these only the M271 and M275 were built.

Two sections of the M27 near Southampton and Portsmouth have been widened to four lanes each way.

Route

Running approximately parallel both to the coast of the Solent and to the A27, the M27 starts as an eastwards continuation of the A31 from Bournemouth and Poole, meets the A36 from Salisbury, crosses the Wessex Main Line railway, and then meets the M271 to central Southampton. After the M271, the road becomes a dual four lane motorway and passes Rownhams services, it then meets the M3, (two lanes going off, two lanes continuing to the other side of the junction) reverting to a dual three lane motorway as it passes to the north of Southampton, passes Southampton Airport, meeting Junction 7 and becoming dual four lanes again, then becoming dual three lanes after Junction 8, it then runs alongside the West Coastway Line as it heads south-east towards Fareham. It then runs alongside the northern outskirts of Fareham, briefly with a fourth climbing lane in either direction, before its junction with the M275 to Portsmouth. At this point the motorway ends, becoming the A27.

History

Opening dates

The M27 was opened in stages (in common with many UK motorways) between 1975 and 1983.

• Junction 1 to 2 opened in August 1975
• Junction 2 to 4 opened in December 1975
• Junction 4 to 7 opened in 1983
• Junction 7 to 8 opened in February 1978
• Junction 8 to 12 opened in March 1976

The South Stoneham Crematorium, which was located north of South Stoneham Cemetery, was demolished during 1973 to make way for the construction of the M27 motorway. The South Stoneham garden of remembrance is now located at the north end of the cemetery, adjacent to the motorway.

Unfulfilled plans

It has been said that the M27 was intended as a motorway connecting south coast towns from Penzance to Ramsgate. However the only proposal of a route similar to that was by the Institution of Highway Engineers in 1936. Road developments in the New Forest are also restricted due to its National Park status.

The M27 was meant to be extended to Chichester; a sign of this is the width of the A27 road between Junction 12 and the junction with the A3(M), which has 3/4 lanes, a hard shoulder and grade-separated junctions. It is not part of the M27 as its hard shoulders are not quite wide enough to comply with motorway regulations.

The M272 was meant to go from Junction 5 through Portswood to the centre of Southampton, joining with an extended M271 (that would have followed a similar route to today's A33). The M272 was instead built (in much reduced form) as the A335 Thomas Lewis Way.

Junction 6 was never built - there were plans for a motorway spur (probably to be numbered M273) connecting the M27 to the centre of the Townhill Park area of Southampton.

A planned service area just east of Junction 9 was never constructed. The long westbound exit slip road at Junction 9 was designed to allow an entry to and exit from the service area.

Junctions

Data from driver location signs are used to provide distance and carriageway identifier information. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and start and end points are available, both are cited.

M27 motorway junctions
miles	km	Westbound exits (B Carriageway)	Junction	Eastbound exits (A Carriageway)	Coordinates
0.0 1.2	0.0 2.0	Road continues as A31 to Bournemouth, Ringwood and Poole	J1	Cadnam A336, Brook, Bramshaw B3079, Lyndhurst A337	50.92051°N 1.58958°W / 50.92051; -1.58958 (M27, Junction 1)
		The New Forest, Cadnam, Lyndhurst A337		Start of motorway
4.2 4.6	6.8 7.4	Salisbury A36, Fawley A326	J2	Salisbury, Romsey A36, Fawley A326	50.94583°N 1.52950°W / 50.94583; -1.52950 (M27, Junction 2)
6.6 6.8	10.6 11.0	Southampton, The Docks, Romsey M271	J3	Southampton, The Docks M271	50.94577°N 1.47637°W / 50.94577; -1.47637 (M27, Junction 3)
		Rownhams Services	Services	Rownhams Services	50.95732°N 1.44917°W / 50.95732; -1.44917 (M27, Rownhams Services)
9.4 9.8	15.2 15.7	The Midlands, London, Winchester M3	J4	The Midlands, London, Winchester M3	50.95394°N 1.40767°W / 50.95394; -1.40767 (M27, Junction 4)
11.7 11.9	18.9 19.2	Southampton Airport, Eastleigh, Southampton A335	J5	Southampton Airport, Eastleigh, Southampton A335	50.94948°N 1.37115°W / 50.94948; -1.37115 (M27, Junction 5)
		No connection	J6	Planned junction for the M273, but not built
15.5 15.7	24.9 25.2	Hedge End A334	J7	Hedge End, Botley A334	50.91700°N 1.31763°W / 50.91700; -1.31763 (M27, Junction 7)
16.2 17.0	26.0 27.4	Southampton, Hamble-le-Rice, East Docks A3024	J8	Southampton (East), Hamble-le-Rice A3024	50.89838°N 1.31222°W / 50.89838; -1.31222 (M27, Junction 8)
19.9 20.6	32.1 33.1	Fareham (West) A27, Whiteley	J9	Fareham West A27, Whiteley	50.87431°N 1.25257°W / 50.87431; -1.25257 (M27, Junction 9)
23.2 23.5	37.4 37.8	Alton A32	J10	No exit	50.86678°N 1.18232°W / 50.86678; -1.18232 (M27, Junction 10)
24.4 24.7	39.2 39.8	Fareham Central A27, Gosport (A32)	J11	Fareham Central A27, Gosport (A32)	50.86004°N 1.15760°W / 50.86004; -1.15760 (M27, Junction 11)
27.7 28.1	44.6 45.2	Access from M275 only	J12	Cosham, Paulsgrove, Hilsea A27	50.84213°N 1.09271°W / 50.84213; -1.09271 (M27, Junction 12)
29.0	46.6	Portsmouth, Ferries M275	M275 Terminus A27	Portsmouth (West), Ferries M275	50.83652°N 1.06507°W / 50.83652; -1.06507 (M27, Start or motorway)
		Start of motorway		Road continues as A27 to Havant, Portsmouth (East), Brighton and London (A3(M))
Notes Distances in kilometres and carriageway identifiers are obtained from driver location signs/location marker posts. Miles are also shown for information, but are not displayed on the motorway. Where a junction spans several hundred metres and the data is available, both the start and finish values for the junction are shown. Coordinate data from ACME Mapper.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Information above gathered from Advanced Direction Signs April 2011

Nearby attractions

Junction 1 is about 1,800 metres (2,000 yd) (2,400 metres (2,600 yd) by road) from The Rufus Stone, where King William II, also known as William Rufus, was killed in what may have been a hunting accident in 1100.

See also

• List of motorways in the United Kingdom

External links

• CBRD Motorway Database - M27
• The Motorway Archive - M27
• TAB-MSAS: Photo Gallery: M27