M3/A33 Old Photos
In this gallery I have some old photos of the M3/A33 I have been sent which I wanted to share with you - so here we go. They are shown in roughly chronological order.
Tap each thumbnail to enlarge it.
The A33 at Compton in June 1966, close to where Otterbourne Road crosses the M3 today. This side is heading towards the Winchester Bypass (which is behind the camera), with those signs saying you should use the nearside lane for Winchester and Newbury. The road on the left has come out of Winchester, passed under the bypass, and now meets the A33 at a give way line, with the pre-Worboys road signs telling traffic they should continue straight unless they've just come out of Shawford and are trying to get on to the Bypass. South of here the A33 was single carriageway, but space has been cleared for it to be upgraded.
The A33 Winchester Bypass in the 1970s, at its junction with Easton Lane near Winnall. There is a Shell garage in the corner.
The notorious Hockley Lights, junction of the A33 and the A333 Winchester Road. The junction remained broadly like this until the 1990s, when it was finally eaten by M3 J11.
Looking towards Winchester on the A333 (now B2177), with the Hockley Lights in the foreground. The remains of the railway bridge can be seen, while the road under it is now a footpath.
A typical view of the bypass, with Twyford Down on the right. This part follows an old railway alignment in the 1930s and is the section which was controversially replaced by the M3 in the 1990s.
Construction work at Twyford Down in 1993. Razor wire fencing has been placed across the road to deter protesters, who soon breached it. Security guards are watching on in yellow coats. Specifically, this is the old A33 at Hockley Cross, which has been surrounded with chalk from the cutting. The replacement road has already opened.
The A33 north of Kings Worthy, with its large signs before the M3 bypass replaced it as the main road to London.
Originally, the M3 ended just south of J8, where it joined the A33 at Popham. In this 1980s picture, the M3's extension to Winchester is almost finished, but for now traffic is shunted off onto the old London road.
This is what it was hiding. The M3 between J8 and J9 near East Stratton, in its late stages of construction. Two emergency accesses can just be made out.
Construction of the new M3 reaches the site of J9. You can see the route of the Winchester Bypass snaking off towards Kings Worthy.
M3 J9 is now structurally complete, but the J8-9 section still isn't finished. The road south of here is ready and a temporary diversion via the roundabout and Easton Lane is now in operation.
The Winchester Bypass receives its direct, online motorway upgrade at the Petersfield Road junction.
The A272 Alresford Road crosses the A33 Winchester Bypass on the Spitfire Bridge. Space is being made to replace it.
Alresford Road crosses the A33 on Spitfire Bridge. A temporary bridge, Mabey Universal Bridge, is being built on the left.
The A272 is diverted onto the temporary Mabey Universal Bridge, allowing the existing bridge to be demolished.
Another look at the junction, with the bridge being replaced in the distance and the road being widened in the foreground.
Looking north from Spitfire Bridge. Here the road has been diverted onto the new southbound carriageway, but the old road/new northbound carriageway and Spitfire Link aren't ready.
Looking north as the old-style contra-flow sign directs traffic as it passes under the new Spitfire Bridge. Now the old carriageway has been ripped up.
Looking north towards Spitfire Bridge. We've gone back a few years and the new M3 we were just admiring is shown under construction, with one half built over the path of the A33.
At the old Petersfield Road junction, the new M3 swoops round to the right while the old dual carriageway takes a longer route. This bend (the long one in the distance) features many times in this gallery.
The route of the new M3 is on the left and the old A33 is on the right. In this photo one carriageway is using each route as a temporary measure during the roadworks.
Skip forward to 1989, this is the M3 looking south, with a sign saying it's one mile from J9 Winnall. The sign in the background says "Winchester traffic leave at J9". Beyond here the road went back to A33, but it was being upgraded, so side-turnings were closing.
Looking south from J9 Winnall in 1989. Here the motorway ended as it joined the path of the old A33, but it was built ready to be extended further.
Looking north towards J9. The road is still classified A33 at this time, but was built ready to be the M3. A temporary sign ahead warns traffic the real M3 is about to take over, while poles on the left are waiting to hold the eventual sign for the A34 exit. The new Spitfire Link on the right. Notice only two lanes were provided southbound (it's currently three), while northbound has a lane closed off.
Looking south towards the Spitfire Roundabout, still 1989. In the distance is a blue motorway sign but the number 'M3' has been covered up, as the new road gives up in the distance. Space left for the eventual third lane in the centre is clear.
Back to the bend, near the current site of M3 J10, Bar End. Pictured here in the 1980s, the road north of here is under construction while work on the road south of here hasn't started yet. As a result, this will be where the M3 ended and joined the A33 Winchester Bypass, but only one half of the M3 is ready in this photo - although it looks like the other half is almost finished.
Here it is finished. We're back to 1989 now. So this is M3 J10, where the new road to the north ended and joined the old A33 (visible on the right) - but they built it with lots of space for the M3 to be extended.
This is today's M3 J10, with a slip road from Bar End to join the M3 towards Winnall and London. Except work on the M3 here wasn't finished yet, and by 1989 this hangover from the old A33 Winchester Bypass was closed.
Looking north on the A33 at the Compton junction, in 1991. The northbound on-slip joins behind the camera, while the southbound off-slip leaves in the distance. The road has a 50mph speed limit and warnings for a sharp bend at the next junction, the start of the Winchester Bypass. The two lanes on the left appear to have an exit for Winchester.
Looking south from the same spot, as the A33 flows on to the Chandler's Ford Bypass. This was the main A31 exit towards Romsey, a cheaply-built effort to relieve both Winchester and the A33 route south. The resemblance to the M3 here can be seen.
The old A33 Chandler's Ford Bypass used to flow seamlessly onto Bassett Avenue. Here the new bend towards the M27 eastbound is being added, with the existing one to the M27 westbound already open at the bottom.
Protesters argue the case against upgrading the M3 at Twyford Down, calling for a cut and cover tunnel instead.
There are a few related pictures on other websites which may be of interest:
