Council writes to Government over M27 and M3 concerns
Eastleigh Borough Council has written to Secretary of State for Transport Rt Hon Grant Shapps regarding serious concerns that it has with the current M27 and future M3 Smart Motorway schemes.
The Council is extremely concerned that previous promises to include low noise resurfacing as part of the M27 Smart motorway scheme have now not been included in the scheme despite Government funding being specifically allocated to resurface this stretch of motorway. The Council has also been informed by Highways England that without further ministerial intervention the promised low noise surfacing scheme may never be delivered.
The Council is to formally request that a representative from Government and from Highways England attends a session of the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Panel as soon as possible to answer questions about the basis for recent decisions, to answer concerns regarding the project, and to ensure that lessons are learned should the subsequent M3 scheme for our area proceed.
Council Leader Keith House said, “We are very angry that despite previous promises from Government and Highways England to include much needed low noise surfacing as part of the M27 Smart Motorway works that is now not included. We, on behalf of local community, urgently need answers to our concerns over environmental and biodiversity issues , the safety of Smart motorways and the ongoing issue of noise.”