We have received the following message about the M23, from Kier, the main Contractors:

“It gives me great pleasure to announce that as of Wednesday 16 September, the M23 is open for traffic with the 70mph national speed limit reinstated and gantry technology in place.

We have been on your network for the past two and a half years, and during that time, have undertaken heavy civils work to turn 3 lanes on the M23 into an all lane running, 4 lane motorway, to help ease congestion and make journeys better for the 180,000 motorists using this stretch of road daily.

We would like to thank you for your patience during this time, as we appreciate that on occasions we would have disturbed you, caused congestion on diversion routes and generally disrupted your activities.

Your help and support has been much appreciated and we are most grateful.

We still have some work to complete the project such as fencing, re-planting and snagging, but hope to keep any further closures to a minimum.”

As they say it has been a long time!