EAST Hampshire drivers using the M3 will find it safer and achieve faster journeys now it is a ‘smart’ motorway, says Highways England.

Cutting-edge technology installed on a 13.4 mile section between the M25 and Farnborough will help pinpoint traffic queues, incidents or broken down vehicles, and set the speed limit accordingly.

Shaun Pidcock, director of Highways England’s smart motorway programme said:

“This is a significant upgrade and will deliver real benefits for the 130,000 drivers who use it every day.

“Smart motorways create vital extra capacity, improve journey times and maintain our high levels of safety across the network.

“We’ve added 26.8 miles of new lanes to this section of the M3 and completely overhauled the technology to give drivers better information to help with their journeys.

“New technology will make the road more resilient to disruption, improving journeys by using variable speed limits that will help tackle frustrating stop-start traffic and giving drivers better information on conditions ahead.

“As well as the smart motorway upgrade, we have also been carrying out the most extensive maintenance on the M3 since it was first built in 1971, fully resurfacing the motorway and its slip roads and restoring it to an ‘as new’ condition.”

“I would like to thank drivers for their co-operation and understanding while we’ve been building this new improved road and hope they enjoy the improved journeys between London and the south coast.”

The hard shoulder has also been converted to a new fourth traffic lane in each direction,boosting capacity by a third on the vital route between London and the South West.

Since it was created in April 2015, Highways England has completed 16 major improvements, with a further 15 upgrades due to be started or open by next spring