M3 Junction 9 cycle crossing – what’s happening?

The key points

The National Cycle Route 23 crossing of M3 Junction 9 will be closed from 7th April until (probably) the end of this year.

There will be a signed diversion route in place but it’s not ideal.

See our map for the official diversion route and some alternative options.

Let us know if you encounter any problems and we’ll let National Highways know.

Major construction work at Junction 9 will include new, improved cycling and walking facilities in the long term.

Construction work has started

National Highways’ £290 million project to redesign Junction 9 of the M3 motorway is now under way. It’s a major construction project intended to improve traffic flows between the M3 and the A34. You can read more about it on National Highways’ website.

What does the project have in it for cycling?

Aside from the changes to the road layouts, their plans also include

• a much-improved cyclepath across the junction for National Cycle Route 23, linking Winchester to Easton;
• a new utility cycle route between Winnall and Kings Worthy;
• and a new bridleway running across the downs parallel to the motorway on the east side.

The first two of those were our idea and we’ve been campaigning for their inclusion in the project since the start. The bridleway was suggested by South Downs National Park Authority and is meant to be a leisure route for horse riders, hikers and offroad cyclists.

If you look at the artist’s impression at the top of the page you can just see the new cycle crossing – a red strip snaking across the junction, with a branch heading off towards Kings Worthy on the right. It will be wider and easier than the current path and it’ll be well-separated from the motor traffic throughout.

That’s in the long term over the next few years, though we’re told that the new Route 23 crossing should be up and running by the end of this year.

What about the short term?

In the short term, though, the major road works mean that the cycle path across Junction 9 is going to be closed for many months. There will be diversions in place.

Cycle Winchester is on the “Cycling, Walking and Horse-riding Consultative Group” for the project, along with reps from The Ramblers, British Horse Society, Sustrans and South Downs National Park Authority.

We’ve been pressing National Highways and Hampshire County Council to come up with adequate cycling and walking diversion routes while the Junction 9 crossing is closed. (The county council has repeatedly refused to discuss it with us.)

Sadly, what we’ve got for cycling and walking diversions isn’t great. And worse still, National Highways seems to be making a bit of a hash of its implementation.

We’ll update this page as the situation becomes clear, but here’s what we know right now.

What’s happening

• The cycle route across Junction 9 will close on 7th April. (Not the “31st March” it says on the big signs they’ve put up.)
• Until 7th April we’ve been assured that you can still use the crossing, though on the eastern side of the junction you may have to wait for a member of staff to move some temporary barriers out of the way as there are some heavy construction vehicles crossing the path during the day.
• After 7th April, it will probably stay closed until around the end of this year. (Not the “December 2026” it says on the signs.)
• There will be diversion signs to show the alternative routes for walking and cycling.
• The official cycle route diversion between Easton and Winchester leaves National Cycle Route 23 southeast of Easton village. It heads south along minor lanes (Long Walk and Fair Lane) to join Alresford Road (B3404). It follows Alresford Road into Winchester, past St Swithun’s School and over Spitfire Bridge, then turns right down Winnall Manor Road to rejoin National Cycle Route 23 as it heads down through Winnall towards town.
• We’re not happy about the Alresford Road part of that route: it’s a road busy with fast-moving , traffic and part of it has a 60mph speed limit. As anyone who’s cycled along it knows, it can be pretty scary. It doesn’t meet Sustrans’ standards for a National Cycle Route diversion.
• We suggested several ways to make that better, at the very least by reducing the speed limit on Alresford Road temporarily. That’s a Hampshire County Council (HCC) road so HCC would have to organise that. National Highways say they asked HCC about it but were turned down. HCC says… nothing. Again.

• Here’s our map showing the official diversion route.
• Our map also shows our unofficial suggestion for an alternative route between Easton and Winchester, along the B3047 to Kings Worthy then into Winchester along Worthy Road and through River Park. It’s not great, but it’s less scary than the Alresford Road route – and more direct for most parts of Winchester. The only thing to beware of is that the B3047 is also a diversion route for motorway traffic during overnight closures of the M3 for construction work. So it’s probably best to avoid it at night!
• There will be separate diversion routes for pedestrians, but those are even more of a mess at the moment. We’re working with our friends on the consultative group to sort that out with National Highways.

And that’s it for now. Stay tuned for more information as we get it.