By Guy Taylor
Drivers are facing an unprecedented weekend of disruption on the M25 as one of the busiest sections of the motorway shuts.
National Highways has warned Brits to steer clear of a five-mile section of the motorway in Surrey between the busy junctions 10 and 11, which is shut both ways until 6am on Monday.
Eight lanes of normally chock-a-block traffic were empty on Saturday morning as the work commenced.
National Highways said only an hour would be added to journeys, but other estimates suggested delays of up to five hours.
Jonathan Wade, National Highways Project Lead, said in early March: “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.”
However, he told the Independent’s daily travel podcast on Friday that Brits should “avoid the area totally if you can.
“Either avoid travelling completely or find something to do at home, decorate the bathroom or something, I don’t know, or play in the garden.”
Around 4-6,000 vehicles travel per hour on the stretch of the M25 between junctions 10 and 11, and will now be diverted to smaller roads more than 11.5 miles longer. It is regularly used by travellers flying from the UK’s two largest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick.
The local diversion routes in place are as follows:
- Junction 10 – Junction 11: North bound A3 to Painshill Junction, A245 towards Woking, and then A320 to M25 Junction 11.
- Junction 11 – Junction 10: A320 south towards Woking, A245 towards Byfleet and Painshill junction, Southbound A3 to Junction 10.
Taking the M25 in the other direction to avoid the closure is also an option.
