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M3 motorway: Encyclopedia BETAFree Encyclopedia |
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HistoryThe first stretch of the M3 opened in 1971, and consisted of the current Junction 3 to Junction 8. The motorway was extended over time to the full length it is today. The opening dates, going from north east to south west, are as follows:* Junction 1 to Junction 3 opened in 1974. * Junction 3 to junction 8 opened in 1971. An additional junction, numbered 4a, opened in April 1992 near Farnborough [1]. * Junction 8 to Junction 10 opened in 1985. * Junction 10 to Junction 12 opened in 1995. * Junction 12 to Junction 14 opened in 1991. The section from just south of Junction 11 to Junction 14 was constructed using the alignment of a section of the A33 road originally built in 1967. This was upgraded to motorway standards in 1991, although not formally designated a motorway until the completion of the section from Junction 10 around Winchester (see below). The original terminus of the M3 was with a temporary junction near junction 8 that fed directly into the A33 at Popham, built in 1971. When the M3 was extended to junction 10 in 1985, this temporary junction was removed. The alignment of the M3 from near junction 11 to junction 14 was built as the A33 in 1968. The westbound M27 link was completed in 1975 and the eastbound link in 1986. The road was upgraded to motorway in 1991, but only as far as a temporary junction at Compton, south of the present-day junction 11. This temporary junction was removed when the final section of M3 between this and junction 10 was completed in 1995. Twyford DownThe Ministry of Transport (MoT) had trouble purchasing the land required to bypass Winchester. The land they wanted, on Twyford Down, east of the city, was owned by Winchester College, who refused to sell the land to the government because it was an important chalk grassland habitat. The government did not wish to issue compulsory purchase because they were on good terms with the college and did not want to sever ties. Proposals were made for a tunnel through Twyford Down, but because the estimated cost for this was £75 million more than the estimated cost for a cutting the government dismissed the plans. In 1990 a link between Southampton and the southern end of Twyford Down was completed and soon after work began on clearing the route across the down. Environmentalists, including the Dongas, gathered on the down making a camp to hinder work. A coalition of locals, and environmental organisations including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth took the MoT to the high court stating that the road was against the government's own environmental protection laws. The case failed, but European Union Commissioner for the Environment, Carlo Ripa de Meana looked into the case and ordered the project to stop because it violated British and EU laws. The MoT ignored this order, and when the UK took over the EU chairmanship later that year Carlo Ripa de Meana lost his job. The project was held up further as scientists and archaeologists worked hard to minimise the destruction caused by the project. The link was completed in 1994.TriviaIt is rumoured that the original negatives of the full-length cut of the film The Wicker Man are buried under the M3 after being used as part of a landfill. [2]See also List of motorways in the United Kingdom External links*CBRD Motorway Database - M3*UK Roads Portal *Highways Agency
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