M25 set for day closures
DRIVERS WARNED OF DISRUPTION AND DELAYS DURING THIS WEEKEND
DRIVERS are being urged to only travel “if necessary” during the first planned daytime closure of a stretch of the M25.
National Highways has warned drivers to expect delays when it shuts the motorway in both directions between Junctions 10 and 11, as part of the £317million Wisley junction improvement project.
The five-mile stretch will be closed from 9pm on Friday until 6am on Monday.
More than 200,000 vehicles are expected to be affected and other roads in the area will be impacted by diverted traffic.
The official diversion route has now been published, taking motorists through Byfleet, West Byfleet and Ottershaw, in Surrey.
This is the first scheduled daytime all-lanes shutdown on the M25 since it opened in 1986, National Highways said. It is so a bridge can be demolished and a new gantry installed.
Four more closures will take place up to September. No dates have been released for when they will happen, but the next is expected to take place in April.
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 Junction 10 project began in the summer of 2022 and is expected to last three years.
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research at 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. National Highways’ plea for people to avoid driving in the area applies not just to trips on the M25, but also to those on surrounding local roads onto which the M25 traffic will be diverted.
“The hope must be that drivers take great care, however frustrating the delays and disruption might be.
“The last thing we need is shunts or crashes, however minor, because the slightest mishap will compound the misery.”
The official diversion for the weekend closure will route clockwise drivers via the A3 to Painshill, the A325 to Woking, and the A320 back to the M25, with the reverse applying for drivers heading anticlockwise.