Meon Valley

MSO Home - Unbuilt Services - Meon Valley

Factfile:

Motorway: M27
Junctions: At J9. Sort of.
Location: Hampshire PO15
Other names: Segensworth
Date planned: 1976-1990

The M27 was originally billed as the Southampton-Chichester motorway, so several services were needed. Meon Valley services would have been 12 miles from the M27's only other service area at Rownhams, and 13 miles from an unnamed service area on the A27 which has plenty of room to expand, had the road been built as motorway.

Quite clearly a service area was needed here, but this bit of the M27 has so many busy junctions that squeezing one in would be tricky. The solution? Build it on a junction!

You see, they made the westbound offslip at J9 unnecessarily long, and immediately after it diverges from the motorway there is a 'sliproad to nowhere', and then another one joins the sliproad not long afterwards. The eastbound onslip isn't a mile long, but before it merges with the motorway a sliproad peels off of it. This sliproad has faded road markings and cat's eyes, and it runs alongside the motorway until it suddenly stops. Another 'sliproad to nowhere' then rejoins the motorway not long after. The positioning of the eastbound unused sliproad ending and the 'sliproad to nowhere' joining is exactly the same as the positioning of the two 'sliproads to nowhere' on the westbound side. The unused sliproad is today used to store works materials, and it also houses Britain's first motorway solar panel.

It is impossible to tell whether the westbound sliproad would have had a slip for services traffic to join the motorway without passing through J9 in a similar style to Washington southbound, whilst the eastbound service area is more comparable to Burtonwood.

In 1990 the government included the site of these services as part of their strategic programme to reduce the gaps between existing services. In other words, the plans were back on again.

Using Google's aerial photography I have made an educated guess as to the positioning of the service area, click to see the full size:

One thing which I don't think I will ever understand is why the layout of the sliproads would have been different on either side of the motorway. If one sliproad needed to be a mile long, why didn't the other?

Photos:

Click on a photo to view the full size. If you have one to add, contact me. It's never too late to get your name in the limelight.

	Standing on Whitely Way and looking west (towards Southampton and J9), to the left is the sliproad to J9 and to the right is the unused sliproad which should have led the services. Photo taken in 2008.
	Zooming in on where the unused sliproad to the services should have left the sliproad on to the motorway. Traffic heading to the services would have had to drive through J9 to get there. Given that there are major roadworks taking place on the M27, one to the west of here and one to the east, this disused sliproad couldn't be more useful, as unused works tools and materials can be left here. You can also see the solar panel to the right. Photo taken in 2008.
	Looking in on the road surface, you can see clearly that it was once given full markings and cat's eyes. These have since faded, which isn't surprising given that for thirty years the road has only been used occasionally to pile rubbish on. Photo taken in 2008.
	Looking west now (towards Portsmouth), with the extra-long and worn out sliproad to J9 in the foreground. Is that a 'sliproad to nowhere' I see before me? Photo taken in 2008.
	It certainly is! This is where traffic would have left the services and joined the J9 sliproad. To the top of the photo is where the services should have been, I will have to find out whether it is possible to get into that field. Photo taken in 2008.
	Standing back a bit, and you can see that where the unused sliproad stops is exactly where the other 'sliproad to nowhere' is. Photo taken in 2008.
	Looking in on where the unused sliproad ends. That blue post is a driver location sign and it allows motorists to pinpoint exactly where they are when they call the emergency services or a breakdown company, so I wonder why it is on the disused sliproad and not the main carriageway..? Photo taken in 2008.
	And finally, with the sliproad being used a fair amount right now for storage, this temporary exit means that works vehicles can leave the site without having to reverse up the sliproad and make a sharp u-turn at the top. Photo taken in 2008.