M3 Junction 9 (A34 & Winchester)
Junction 9 is where the A34 from Newbury and Oxford joins the M3 north of Winchester. It is the most dramatic change in traffic anywhere on the motorway: the M3 carries almost twice as many vehicles south of this junction as it does north of it.
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Latest accident or incident on the M3
The most recent accident or incident on the M3 that we are aware of.
M3 Eastbound Jct 2 to Jct 1 carriageway closure
00:462 Sept 2026reported 10 min ago
- Location
- M3 eastbound between J2 and J1
- Direction
- Eastbound
- Lanes closed
- Carriageway closed
- Reason
- Other
- Schedule
- 22:00 Tue 1 Sept → 05:30 Wed 2 Sept
Latest active roadworks on the M3
Roadworks live on the M3 right now.
A303 eastbound crematorium to M3 carriageway closure
00:462 Sept 2026reported 10 min ago
- Location
- M3 eastbound between J8 and J7
- Direction
- Eastbound
- Lanes closed
- Carriageway closed
- Reason
- Roadworks
- Schedule
- 20:54 Tue 1 Sept → 06:00 Wed 2 Sept
+ 1 more active roadworks - search all M3 traffic news →
Latest planned roadworks on the M3
The next planned roadworks scheduled on the M3.
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Updated 00:57 Wed 2 Sept
Powered by National Highways’ Transport Data Feeds.
Traffic on the M3 almost doubles at Junction 9
Both of these stretches are physical counts by the Department for Transport, not estimates. These are the 2025 figures.
| Stretch | Length | Vehicles per day | Lorries |
|---|---|---|---|
| North of J9 — J8 down to J9 | 11.0 miles | 56,135 | 3,515 |
| South of J9 — J9 to J10 | 1.4 miles | 110,741 | 10,404 |
That is a 97% increase across a single junction — some 54,600 extra vehicles a day arriving from, or leaving for, the A34. Nowhere else on the M3 does the traffic change by anything close to that.
The effect on lorries is even sharper. North of Junction 9 lorries are 6.3% of traffic; south of it they are 9.4%, the highest lorry share on any counted stretch of the M3. The A34 is the main freight route between the Midlands and Southampton Docks, and Junction 9 is where that freight arrives.
It is also why a hold-up on the A34 shows up as M3 congestion, and vice versa. See M3 lorry and freight traffic for the full picture.