Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the (a) strategic and (b) major road network in (i) Hampshire and (ii) surrounding counties on roads that continue out of Hampshire.

On the Major Road Network, the Department is providing £13.4m to improvements to the A35 Redbridge Causeway, due to complete construction by the end of 2023. Our pipeline of schemes in the Major Road Network programme also includes the A326 Waterside improvements in Hampshire and improvements to the A31 Farnham Corridor (Surrey), both subject to business case approval.

On the Strategic Road Network, we have recently invested £282m on the M27 junctions 4 to 11 scheme which opened to traffic in June 2022. We are also committed to two other schemes in Hampshire; the M3 Junction 9 and M27 Junction 8, which are due to start construction before the end of 2024/25. Finally, as part of our considerations for future road periods beyond 2030, National Highways are considering the case for improving junction 3 of the M27, improving connections onto the A270 into Southampton