Driving home for Christmas will be difficult next year as a stretch of the M27 is set to close amid full funding being agreed for junction 10 improvements.

A full closure of junction nine and 11 will take place over the festive week, according to Hampshire County Council.

This will facilitate the installation of a new underpass under the M27 just west of the existing A32 overbridge.

It forms part of the upgrade to junction 10 of the motorway which will serve Welborne Garden Village, a 6,000-home development that will be built on fields between Fareham and Wickham.

It comes as full funding has been agreed between Buckland Group, the developer of Welborne, and Homes England.  

The works will deliver the new underpass and three slip roads to the west of the existing M27 junction 10, creating an ‘all moves’ junction for the first time since the M27 was built.

CGI image of planned underpass CGI image of planned underpass (Image: Hampshire County Council) A new dual carriageway will also be built to link the new slip roads to the existing road network. 

Councillor Simon Martin, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said: “The council has been clear it is imperative that the new community of homes, supporting facilities and employment provision being created at Welborne Garden Village is accompanied by all the necessary infrastructure to ensure that it fully realises its potential, without unduly affecting surrounding communities.

“It is fantastic news that full funding for the essential M27 Junction 10 works needed to support the delivery of Welborne has been secured.”

The underpass will be pre-constructed as a concrete box on land next to the M27 and then slid into position using a ‘boxslide’ engineering approach.

This will shorten the construction time of the underpass, according to the council. Plans for the work are still to be finalised, and specific dates for the closure will be revealed in the future.

The estimated completion date is late 2026.

There is currently reduced capacity on the A32 north of the M27 and south of the Knowle roundabout, with one lane open in each direction.

This is expected to stay in place until early 2026.

There are overnight closures currently in place on the A32 and M27 junction 10 eastbound on-slip road, and westbound exit slip road until Thursday, October 24.