Work on a major road scheme on one of Hampshire’s busiest motorway junctions is due to start today – signalling months of traffic headaches for drivers.

Junction three of the M27 will receive extra carriageways and traffic lights as the second phase of the makeover to reduce bottlenecks on the motorway gets underwway.

The £2.3m scheme follows a similar project which started in August to transform junction five at Eastleigh, at a cost of £8m.

But the 96,000 motorists who use junction three every day will face traffic misery until next spring.

As previously reported by the Daily Echo, work was due to start on junction three in July but it was delayed so that it did not cause additional traffic during the August bank holiday weekend and the PSP Southampton Boat Show last month.

Daily Echo:

The project is part of the Government’s £300m motorway “pinch point” programme, which aims to remove bottlenecks on the nation’s roads.

Workers will create a third lane on the slip road off the westbound carriageway of the M27 as well as the northbound and southbound approaches to junction on the M271, along with additional traffic lights.

They will also replace the hard shoulder on the eastern side of the roundabout with a third lane to ease traffic on the roundabout heading into Southampton from Romsey or the eastbound M27.

Diversions will be put in place while the junction is closed over night and some lanes on both the M27 and M271 will be closed during the day.

The project comes ahead of the planned development of Adanac Park, which sits alongside the M271.

Earlier this year landowners Barker-Mill Estates announced plans to create 47,000sqm of business space spread over four plots in Adanac Park. The project will include redevelopment of Yew Tree Farm plus the creation of 49 homes and an 80-bedroom care home. The estate claims this will bring 3,600 new jobs to the area.