M25/A3 suddenly delayed by months!

[UTH]

And just like that, now looks like completing in Spring 2026!!


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgxek4391eo

[The Leaper]

UTH said:

And just like that, now looks like completing in Spring 2026!!


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgxek4391eo

I seem to recall that the delay of around 6 months beyond the original completion date was announced about 6 months ago, so no change then.

R.

[outnumbered]

Honestly, they should stop planning, studies or work on ANY new major “improvements” for a couple of years, and spend the money on fixing the existing roads instead.

[Mr Tidy]

It's being blamed on adverse weather condition, but we haven't really had any adverse weather.

But it's the same with every project. Turning the M3 into a Smart Motorway overran by a year or so, and now it's a mess all over again while they put in extra safety laybys because they didn't build enough first time around.

[edc]

Mr Tidy said:

It's being blamed on adverse weather condition, but we haven't really had any adverse weather.

But it's the same with every project. Turning the M3 into a Smart Motorway overran by a year or so, and now it's a mess all over again while they put in extra safety laybys because they didn't build enough first time around.

I've read locally it's caused a lot of flooding of local fields, woods etc as the run off is going there and they have lost a lot of natural drainage.

For the M3 works they didn't build any lay-bys originally.

[Caddyshack]

edc said:

Mr Tidy said:

It's being blamed on adverse weather condition, but we haven't really had any adverse weather.

But it's the same with every project. Turning the M3 into a Smart Motorway overran by a year or so, and now it's a mess all over again while they put in extra safety laybys because they didn't build enough first time around.

I've read locally it's caused a lot of flooding of local fields, woods etc as the run off is going there and they have lost a lot of natural drainage.

For the M3 works they didn't build any lay-bys originally.

How can they build a massive road for hundreds of millions and not realise that the drainage needs to be planned as well?

[Tindersticks]

edc said:

I've read locally it's caused a lot of flooding of local fields, woods etc as the run off is going there and they have lost a lot of natural drainage.

For the M3 works they didn't build any lay-bys originally.

Not strictly true. They built refuge areas but as anyone who has ever driven a car could have told them, removing hard shoulders was a terrible idea and after deaths due to people breaking down in live lanes (and the promised camera network to avoid this not being done) they realised they needed far more of them and those are being added now.

It’s glacially slow and no doubt a lot of money is being made somewhere. Meanwhile almost 20 miles of the M3 is an utter joke.

[aeropilot]

Mr Tidy said:

It's being blamed on adverse weather condition, but we haven't really had any adverse weather.

Well, 2024 was a wetter than normal year, 7% above average, and the 17th wettest year for rainfall since 1836, with Feb 24 and Sept 24 being particularly bad.
Any major roads project will always be affected by wetter than normal conditions with delays to certain types of work because of the weather. Once you start accumulating lots of weather delays, its very hard to get back on track.

[Terminator X]

Mr Tidy said:

It's being blamed on adverse weather condition, but we haven't really had any adverse weather.

But it's the same with every project. Turning the M3 into a Smart Motorway overran by a year or so, and now it's a mess all over again while they put in extra safety laybys because they didn't build enough first time around.

It's been pissing with rain for 6 months!

TX.

[ukwill]

Im very, very shocked this has overrun.

[Frimley111R]

Tindersticks said:

edc said:

I've read locally it's caused a lot of flooding of local fields, woods etc as the run off is going there and they have lost a lot of natural drainage.

For the M3 works they didn't build any lay-bys originally.

Not strictly true. They built refuge areas but as anyone who has ever driven a car could have told them, removing hard shoulders was a terrible idea and after deaths due to people breaking down in live lanes (and the promised camera network to avoid this not being done) they realised they needed far more of them and those are being added now.

It’s glacially slow and no doubt a lot of money is being made somewhere. Meanwhile almost 20 miles of the M3 is an utter joke.

It seems to have been lost in the annals of time but the first smart motorways tested worked just fine. BUT at some point someone worked out that they could save a ton of money by having the refuge areas much farther apart and so, fewer of them and somehow it got put through.

Then lots of people died and so they decided it was probably a good idea to put the correct number/spacing of refuge areas back in.

Someone, somewhere is responsible for tens of millions of extra public expenditure and a lot of deaths and yet no-one ever bothered to find out who that was.

[Caddyshack]

ukwill said:

Im very, very shocked this has overrun.

Were you shocked that it was morning when you woke up today? (I assume you weee being sarcastic and went along with it)

Surely every major project like this runs over and then we all moan, govt….to blame etc?

[edc]

M3 northbound this morning all lanes appeared open albeit they used the gantry signs to put up a 60 limit. I drove almost the whole way from junction 3 to M25 in the inside lane at around 63 ISH and passed most cars to my right. Moved to lane 2 1 or 2 times to overtake and move back.

[Tindersticks]

You mean that 50mph section from J4 has gone?

[edc]

Tindersticks said:

You mean that 50mph section from J4 has gone?

I join at junction 3. Coming back earlier restrictions still in place southbound. Big barriers removed and only comes. 2 cars broken down in the closed lane though blocking the works truck.

[Mr Tidy]

I was on the M3 earlier from J3 to J4 and most of it is now back to 4 lanes and a 70 mph limit. But not many drivers seemed to notice.