Making a noise over M3 repairs (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Making a noise over M3 repairs

in South Winchester

TRANSPORT chiefs are driving villagers to distraction as repeated requests to resurface the M3 fall on deaf ears.

It has been a constant headache since it fully opened 15 years ago, but has now taken a fresh turn.

Having insisted that resurfacing was not needed, the Highways Agency has now patched parts of the road.

Villagers in Compton and Shawford near Winchester, who live beside the affected stretch, argue that it is not enough.

They are lobbying for the whole section between junction 10 at Bar End and junction 12 at Otterbourne to be resurfaced.

The residents include Sarah Broomfield from Otterbourne Road in Compton, who lives 50 yards from the motorway.

She said: “We moved here eight years ago on the understanding that the road would have a quiet surface, but it hasn’t been done.”

She said they could hear the road indoors, even with double glazing.

She added that late night works – carried out a few weeks ago with no prior warning – also disturbed them.

The resulting noise caused a crack in their dining room, which the Highways Agency has agreed to fix. However, the road is no quieter after the patching, she said.

“I can’t say there’s any real difference at all, and I think they’ve reneged on their original promise,” she said.

Una Stevens at Compton and Shawford Parish Council is also lobbying the Highways Agency to resurface the M3.

She received a letter from them in May saying the road was “safe and serviceable” and no works were planned for several years.

She said: “Imagine our surprise when only a few weeks later, residents were woken up with resurfacing works.”

However, she said the patching was inadequate, and a quieter surface is needed.

Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Winchester, Steve Brine, is taking up the campaign.

He said: “This has dragged on for years and my recent correspondence with the Highways Agency gives us good reason to put them on the spot and the issue back on the agenda.

“I don’t accept that the short-term remedial works mean the re-surfacing issue is parked for at least another five years and neither do many affected residents.”

This week, the agency confirmed that it had no plans to resurface the Bar End to Otterbourne section within the next four years.

A spokesman added: “We always look to provide best value with our maintenance programmes, and resurfacing lanes that do not need resurfacing would be a poor use of taxpayers’ money.

“Selective resurfacing is a more cost effective solution.”