Work is due to start next month on a £200 project to transform a major Hampshire motorway junction and improve journey times. 

National Highways says preparations will start on October 11 for major works at junction nine of the M3 near Winchester. 

The scheme is expected to improve journey times with the main bulk of the closures and works starting next year, lasting for three years.

But over the coming weeks vegetation management and compound construction work will take place to prepare the site. 

Services, foundations and parking for office and welfare facilities will also be installed at the site entrance with improvements to safety at the A272 Spitfire Link. 

READ MORE: M3 Junction 9: Plans to transform junction approved

Archaeological investigations will also take place from mid-October with some stripping and replacing of the top layers of soil. 

All work will take place during the day and on weekdays away from the road as part of the wider project that is expected to cost £190 to £210 million. 

It comes ahead of work to change junction nine so it has "free-flowing links" between the M3 and A34, widening the junction and building two new bridges allowing the M3 to become four lanes wide. 

Currently, the junction is a major bottleneck, with queues during rush-hour.

Almost all traffic travelling north towards London or the Midlands from Southampton has to pass through junction nine, and is a common route for freight heading to the Port of Southampton.

A National Highways spokesperson said: "We’ll also extend the southbound slip onto the M3 so traffic has more time to join the motorway and improve the safety of the junction with upgraded signs and gantries.

"Walker, cyclists and horse-riders will also benefit from our scheme with non-motorised routes connecting Kings Worthy and Winnall and Long Walk and Easton Lane."

The work is expected to complete at some time between 2025 and 2030, though the level of disruption is unknown at this stage.

Former MP for Winchester and Chandler’s Ford, Steve Brine, has been a supporter of the scheme, and welcomed the approval of the upgrades in May.

He said: “For more than a decade I have fought to secure this vital transformation at junction 9 of the M3 at Winnall.

“It's a national priority, of major regional importance with a big local win in terms of congestion through Winnall in particular but many other parts of Winchester and the villages.

“The work itself will inevitably cause disruption but it will really pay off in the end. A good day.”