Delivering junction 10 is a project long overdue

ANYONE who has repeatedly driven up and down the M27 over the years must have wondered at least one of two things.

The first being, where on earth is junction 6?

The second, what is going on at junction 10, between Fareham and Whiteley?

It is a junction where you can only join the motorway heading eastbound back towards Portsmouth, and only exit it if heading westbound.

Plans to upgrade it to something in keeping with a regular junction on a busy artery along the south coast have been mooted now for years.

Indeed, they have often been cited as key to the creation of the long-awaited Welborne Garden Village.

The 6,000 houses due to eventually be built on that parcel of land north of the motorway, between Fareham and Wickham, will generate thousands of extra vehicle movements.

Once upon at time it was said that no brick would be laid for Welborne until the infrastructure issues were addressed and dealt with.

It was said that this would be by 2016 at the earliest. Well, 2016 is now a long way in the rearview mirror and receding further into the past.

With the cost of the scheme ballooning by some 150 per cent in four years, from £0m to £75m, one has had cause to wonder if it was ever really going to happen.

And for that reason, we must hope that with Hampshire County Council agreeing to take the lead, might finally make progress.

With the Welborne developer Buckland Development Ltd also agreeing to double its spend on the works, we may finally see this long-awaited project come to fruition.

Councillor Rob Humby, the county’s transport lead says they ‘will not underestimate the magnitude of the task.’

Let’s hope not.