Smart motorway project for UK’s M3

Balfour Beatty is to work on a €163.5 million (£129 million) upgrade project for a 21.4km stretch of the M3 motorway in the UK. The work involves upgrading the route to smart motorway status and is being carried out for the UK Government’s Highways Agency. This project will increase capacity, reduce congestion and shorten journey times for the 120,000 motorists/day using the route. This section of the motorway runs through the counties of Hampshire and Surrey, between Junction 2 which is interchange with th
July 23, 2014 Read time: 2 mins

1146 Balfour Beatty is to work on a €163.5 million (£129 million) upgrade project for a 21.4km stretch of the M3 motorway in the UK. The work involves upgrading the route to smart motorway status and is being carried out for the UK Government’s 2309 Highways Agency. This project will increase capacity, reduce congestion and shorten journey times for the 120,000 motorists/day using the route. This section of the motorway runs through the counties of Hampshire and Surrey, between Junction 2 which is interchange with the M25 orbital motorway around London and Junction 4a (Fleet). The route will be upgraded to a four-lane motorway by converting the hard shoulder to a permanent running lane. Electronic signs, operated by a regional control centre, will be installed to manage the flow of traffic in response to driving conditions.

Mobilisation work is due to start at the beginning of August. Main construction work is due to start in the third quarter of 2014 with completion scheduled for spring 2017. Construction activity will include installing and refurbishing gantries, new static and variable signs, concrete safety barriers, drainage and surfacing works.

The contract is the latest in a series awarded to Balfour Beatty since the company was appointed to the Highways Agency's National Major Projects Framework in 2010.  In June 2014, Balfour Beatty was awarded the M60 J8 to M62 J20 smart motorway scheme.  In April 2014 the company’s construction joint venture with Skanska completed upgrading a stretch of the M25 to a smart motorway, and in January 2014 Balfour Beatty completed upgrading parts of the M4 and M5 to a smart motorway.

The M3 passes through Chobham Common, one of the largest areas of heathland in Surrey, and   Balfour Beatty’s sustainable design will take into account ecological considerations with natural habitats being reinstated.

M4M5 smart motorway scheme in operation:

Balfour Beatty will use similar technology upgrading the M3 to smart motorway status as it has installed on its successful M4/M5 project

Highway & Network Management

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Highways England awards €2.1 billion of upgrades for UK motorways
    August 7, 2015
    Highways England has today appointed six joint-venture companies to design and build 10 “smart motorways” as part of a €2.1 billion investment. Construction contractors appointed are the Balfour Beatty and VINCI joint venture, a Costain and Galliford Try joint venture, as well as a Carillion and Kier joint venture. Designers are a CHM2 and Hyder joint venture, an Amey and Arup joint venture, as well as a Jacobs and Atkins joint venture. The award is the second major procurement to be given under th
    Read More
  • Upgrade work starts on junction of London’s orbital motorway M25
    February 20, 2015
    Work has started on a €136 million road improvement project on the UK’s London ring road, the M25 motorway. Crews from Balfour Beatty and Skanska have moved onto the interchange between the A13 national road and the M25 at junction 30 near Thurrock in the county Essex. The A13 on approach to the junction will be widened to four lanes in each direction and the junction itself will have dedicated link roads between the M25 and the A13. “Traffic at the junction is expected to grow by up to a quarter b
    Read More
  • Atkins sells stake in London’s M25 ring road
    December 14, 2016
    Infrastructure engineering firm WS Atkins sold its stake in London’s M25 orbital road to a consortium of institutional investors for nearly €79 million (£66.3 million). Atkins, a publicly listed UK company, sold to Edge Orbital Holdings 2 Limited and the deal for its minority stake is expected to be complete by March 2017, the end of the financial year, according to a statement by Atkins. In October, the Edge Orbital consortium picked up Skanska’s 40% stake in Connect Plus, which manages the M25. Skanska so
    Read More
  • Installation underway of first UK M4/M5 ‘superspan’ gantries
    July 4, 2012
    The installation is underway of the first superspan gantries on the M4/M5 managed motorway scheme. The existing gantries and infrastructure were successfully removed last month while the new steel gantries were being constructed, fitted-out and tested at a dedicated facility located near junction 17 of the M5, before being delivered to the works site. A total of 33 new overhead gantries, a number of which span 50m and weigh over 30tonnes, will be installed along the new managed motorway section up until T
    Read More

Highlighted Content