M27 motorway constructed through the area

1975

The construction of the M27 motorway through the fields south of what is now Whiteley transformed the area's transport geography. The motorway, linking Southampton to Portsmouth, cut through the agricultural landscape and created the Junction 9 interchange that would later become the gateway to the Whiteley development. The motorway construction required the compulsory purchase of farmland, the diversion of watercourses and the building of bridges and embankments. The presence of the motorway junction, with its excellent road connections in all directions, was the single most important factor in the decision to locate a major new settlement on this site.