Starting 18th February 2018 there are going to be major roadworks in Southampton that will create a major nightmare for travelers.
People who need to commute between the city centre and Chilworth Roundabout to get to work will face severe delays, as Basset Avenue is going to be closed southbound 24 hours a day for seven weeks. This is one of the busiest roads in the area with no easy alternative route to take. As a result, driving to and from my place of work in Chandler’s Ford will surely involve long delays in both directions both going to work and returning home.
This is really the only route that drivers can take to come off the M3 southbound to get into Southampton City Centre, unless they are going to Millbrook or Totton in the west. The only alternative route with basset Avenue being closed is a wide diversion to either the east through Basset and Swaythling, or to the west via Nursling and Millbrook. Both of these routes are heavily congested almost every day, so it’s not going to be pleasant. For a map of the official suggested diversions to see just how far they are expecting people to drive with the road closed, see Google Maps.
Normally if there is an accident on either the M3 or M27 motorways which go around Southampton, or if Southampton FC have a home football game at St. Mary’s, the roads usually become gridlocked. With the roadworks in place, what ought to be a 20-25 minute commute is likely to turn into a 2 hour journey. It’s happened before a few times even without roadworks, so with one of the major arteries out of action, there is no doubt that any incident will create total chaos in the whole area.
For the full official announcement, see this post on the Discover Southampton website.
