News on M23 J8-10 smart motorway

M23 SMP Weekly Newsletter

Edition No: 62 During the holiday period and the increase passenger numbers at Gatwick Airport there are no planned full closures on the M23 during August 2019

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You said… we listened We have had a lot of comments regarding signage on the M23, both static signage through the works area and on the diversion route. We understand that signage can be a problem and sometimes when travelling at 50mph, this can be missed or misinterpreted, and junctions missed. We have done some extensive work around signage over the past month and have asked our traffic management company to redesign both the static signage and diversion route signage to make it easier for our customers. The northbound signage leading up to junction 9, Gatwick airport now states the word ‘Gatwick’ as well as a plane symbol and our diversion route signage has had the symbols replaced with wording. We hope that when the next closure takes place in September you will see a difference and your journey will be easier to follow.

Closures coming up In September, we will be moving from working in the verge area to the central reservation. We will be undertaking full and partial closures to facilitate this. We will be keeping you informed via our weekly update, which we issue every Friday, so that you will be able to plan your journeys, taking into account when the M23 will be closed and the diversion route is in place. This operation is likely to be throughout September and into October. Extensive consultation has been undertaken with Gatwick airport and our other stakeholders to cause as little disruption to our residents and customers as possible. Heads up for closures on M20 this weekend For further information contact: Carolyne Ferguson, Senior Stakeholder and Customer Liaison Manager at Carolyne.Ferguson@kier.co.uk or Jeannie.Dwyer@kier.co.ukCharity we support… On 13 August, Lisa Morris, Chief Executive and Paula Beniston, Head of Finance and Resources came to visit us with greyhounds Blake who is 8 months old and Star his mother at the M23 SMP site. The Greyhound Trust are our latest Charity and we welcomed them with a donation of £100. This money will enable the Trust to feed a rescue dog for 1 month or help with vaccination costs. Lisa explained that Greyhounds are bred and trained to race… Born into an outdoor kennel, life as a racing greyhound is nothing like life as a family pet. All those things that we and dogs who are brought up in a home environment take for granted, are the things that can be daunting or downright scary for an adult dog who has never before experienced them. All the things that we and dogs who are brought up in a home environment take for granted, are the things that can be daunting or downright scary for an adult dog who has never before experienced them.

TV’s, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, door bells, letter boxes and stairs are all thing most greyhounds will never have experienced Many greyhounds won’t have felt carpet or rugs under their feet or seen another breed of dog.

At the Trust they teach greyhounds how to be family pets and live in homes and experience things like human/dog play, socialisation with different breeds. Following this visit we have one family who will now volunteer at the Trust in Crawley and another who is looking into rehoming a greyhound.

Posted on 19th August 2019

by M23 SMP Communications Team