smart motorway1

Balfour Beatty has secured a £129m contract to upgrade a 13.4-mile stretch of the M3 through Hampshire and Surrey, UK, to a ‘smart motorway’.

The contract has been awarded through the UK Highways Agency’s national major projects framework.

Under the contract, Balfour Beatty will convert the hard shoulder between Junction 2 and Junction 4A into an additional lane, which will upgrade the section to a four-lane motorway.

Electronic signs will be operated by a regional control centre and installed to manage the flow of traffic in response to driving conditions.

"This award further strengthens our position as one of the UK’s leading contractors for smart motorways."

Balfour Beatty is set to begin mobilisation work in August. Main construction work will start later this year and is scheduled for completion in early 2017. The scope of the works will include installing and refurbishing gantries, new static and variable signs, concrete safety barriers, as well as drainage and surfacing works.

Balfour Beatty executive chairman Steve Marshall said: "The Highways Agency’s approach to using technology in this way reduces the costs of the road network, provides additional capacity and improves journey times.

"This award further strengthens our position as one of the UK’s leading contractors for smart motorways and reflects the strength of the relationship we have built with the Highways Agency over the last 20 years."

Image: Balfour Beatty will upgrade a 13.4-mile stretch of the M3 through Hampshire and Surrey. Photo: courtesy of Balfour Beatty.