This caused me a great deal of amusement as we live “on” the M27 corridor.
You have to scroll though to get the the last page…
motorway.But why the fck could they not do the whole lot at the same time. It almost smacks of “let’s spin out the jobs for the boys for as long as we can” corruption.
I reckon Bucketts Way NSW Australia would give a good account of itself
I also live on the M27 corridor and completely agree with your comments. I also don’t understand why, when they’ve had two major periods of roadworks, they couldn’t manage to fix the bridge at junction 8 which seems to have become a permanent restriction.
Recently done a couple of trips up Norf on the dreaded M40/M42/M6 and even with the HS2 roadworks, still better than the M27. Awful motorway considering how short it is.
Not being a highway engineer I’ve no idea why things couldn’t be done at the same time, but to the layperson it does look a bit bonkers, and Mrs HH and I were saying the very same thing just yesterday. The 40mph restriction between Emsworth and Havant (it’s the A27 I know) has been going on for ages. I’m really not keen on the long section of the M27 without a hard shoulder. I don’t know if there have been any accidents with stopped vehicles and I’m sure the smart features are good but to me it’s an accident waiting to happen. It’s a horrible road for sure.
You are perfectly correct! These stretches of motorway are death traps, I don’t care what the stats argue. As always, ‘risk balance’ is always adjudged by those NOT taking the risks!
ATB, J
It’s my understanding that the idea of no hard shoulders was abandoned while this M27 ‘upgrade’ was in progress. A potty idea.
Sounds like both bad planning and poor construction…
Interestingly when I originally moved to the the Isle of Man there was a lot of popular criticism of the then Government road maintenance workforce apparently standing around idle raking in their high wages doing nothing (of course, people only ever notice the workforce when some are apparently idle - which can be while a truckload of asphalt is being deposited or lunchtime, etc). There was then a move to using mainly private contractors on a tender system, saving costs … but the longevity of repairs took a very noticeable decline. You can form your own opinion.
The driver has to be lucky every day but only has to be unlucky once - I know that’s true for probably every road in the country but considering motorway speeds, traffic volumes and current levels of driver awareness, so called refuge areas are not in the broken down motorist’s favour 
.
DfT platitudes won’t save your life.
ATB, J
And who voted the M20 as any good?
Operation stack every 5 minutes and a poor surface. Yes, J8 to J9 is usually quite quiet- no idea why. Maybe the newish services at J11 impressed some.
When they ‘converted’ to a smart motorway, they dug up the entire central reservation to replace it with the I presume mandatory concrete blocks. Then, when they resurfaced the concrete section between Eastleigh and Hedge End, dug it all up again because it wouldn’t have been high enough, as rather than dig up the existing concrete surface, they have overlayed tarmac on top of it…
I’d imagine when they either finish the junction 10 stuff, or the M3/A34 junction, they’ll decide that the overlay isn’t good enough and starting digging it all up again.
Twice this week when a car has broken down on what used to be the hard shoulder, the traffic wombles seem to have started closing all four lanes. They actually swerved like maniacs to force all traffic to slow and stop, and then placed cones in front of each car at the front of the queue!
Of course the smart technology that takes months to calibrate is hopeless. Speed limits up to the incident, then all the signs just display car in live lane messages for about 2 miles with no indication if the speed restriction is ended. Utterly hopeless.
I don’t drive so, thankfully, I rarely face this stuff. My father ended a long career in civil engineering as a senior highway engineer. He initially shared many of the described frustrations but soon learned the various realities. My cousin has project managed across the UK. Everything from motorway works, major supermarket multi builds to football stadia.
Different work comes from different budgets and money gets released only at the relevant moment. So, for example, resurfacing money won’t be released even a month before the accepted lifespan of a road surface has been detailed as expiring. That needs to be allied to the fact that some work requires lanes to be kept open and some does not. Some work requires equipment which legally and practically cannot occupy the same space at the same time.
Both are of the view that essentially the public know this in broad terms already so the complaints, whilst understandable, and in some cases absolutely legit, largely speak to a wider frustration with big project management in general. There are obviously examples where timings could be co-ordinated far better, especially with utility work, but probably not as many as we’d like to imagine.
J6 is pretty good on the M27 to be fair.
Says the only person that found it… ever… 
My 1st job after graduating was for a chemical company in North Baddesley. If a sales person phoned up, that we didnt really want to see, we always gave directions that included “ get off at J6 “. Obviously no sales people were given these directions from early December to late December.