M25 to close over weekend for the first time in its history, raising fears of travel chaos

A STRETCH of the M25 is set to close for an entire weekend for the first time in its 38-year history.

Drivers are being warned of long delays during the first planned daytime closure of a stretch of the UK’S busiest motorway.

National Highways urged motorists “only to travel if necessary” when it shuts the M25 in both directions between junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey this month. The five-mile stretch will be closed from 9pm on Friday March 15 until 6am on Monday March 18.

Motorists will be forced to detour more than 10 miles while a footbridge over the motorway is demolished and a new gantry is installed.

Traffic will be diverted via Cobham, Byfleet, West Byfleet and Sheerwater before rejoining the motorway at Chertsey, just south of the Heathrow Airport stretch.

The works form part of a £317million improvement project, with National Highways warning that more closures are likely to follow later this year.

National Highways project lead Jonathan Wade said: “Drivers should only use the M25 if their journey is absolutely necessary. This is the first of five full closures of one of the busiest junctions on our road network.

“We have spent months planning for these closures and making sure there are diversion routes in place, but there will still be heavy congestion and delays.

“These improvements will bring long-term benefits to drivers who pass through this stretch of the M25, not to mention pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders who will also see positive changes in the area.”

The three-year project will increase the number of lanes on the M25 around junction 10 and make it easier to enter and exit at the interchange, which is one of the UK’S busiest and most dangerous motorway junctions.

A six-vehicle smash in January caused 16-mile tailbacks after a lorry, a van and four cars were involved in an accident between junctions 10 and 11. Drivers were reportedly queueing for up to an hour to pass the accident area.

The junction 10 project began in summer 2022. Four more closures will take place up to September. No dates have been released, but the next is expected to take place in April.

Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: “For drivers who’ve already had their patience tried by the queues at the junction 10 works, the phrase ‘you ain’t seen nothing yet’ springs to mind.” More than half a million vehicles are expected to be affected, including many travelling in and out of London and to and from Heathrow and Gatwick airports. On average around 270,000 vehicles use junction 10 of the M25 every day, National Highways said, with the motorway carrying between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles per hour between junctions 9 and 11.

This is the first scheduled daytime all-lanes shutdown on the M25 since it opened in 1986, the state-owned company said.