Battle to reopen M25 on time after three-day closure
ROAD engineers were last night in a race against the clock to finish work that closed the M25 for three days.
Commuters were hoping the upgrades, which saw a bridge demolished and gantry installed, had all gone to plan and that the road would reopen at 6am today as scheduled.
National Highways last night said workers had made “good progress” and that works “remain on schedule”.
The motorway was closed in both directions in the five miles between junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey at 9pm on Friday in the first planned closure since the M25 opened in 1986.
Between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles an hour normally travel in each direction from 10am to 9pm on weekends between junctions nine and 11.
Delays
Drivers were sent on an 11-mile diversion along A-roads, with National Highways urging people not to travel unless necessary.
The route is used by travellers going to Heathrow and Gatwick airports, and both urged flyers to allow extra time for their journeys.
Mark Pollak, owner of Billy Tong, which caters for events and sells biltong at markets based along the diversion route, said he expected to see 50% of his weekend turnover go “down the drain”.
Five-mile delays were reported on the approach to junction 10 at Wisley on Saturday as drivers were sent through small villages.
By 1pm yesterday, Surrey Highways reported traffic was “beginning to
build” along the diversion route. But conditions seemed to be much smoother after word spread to avoid the area, with the agency saying roads were “generally coping”.
Travel times through the diversion were said to take about 25 minutes.
Some local residents even decided to visit the motorway to marvel at the
empty roads. Amanda Boote, of Woking Borough Council, said traffic along the route, which goes through the towns of Byfleet, West Byfleet, Woking and Ottershaw, was not as bad as feared.
However, more traffic chaos is likely throughout 2024, with four more closures to the M25 slated between
now and September. National Highways said junction 10 was the busiest section of the M25 with 300,000 vehicles driving along the stretch of road every day.
Works costing a total of £317million will help increase capacity and improve access, with an extra lane being added with the adjoining A3.