Drivers have been warned of unprecedented traffic jams with the first planned full closure of part of Britain’s busiest motorway, the M25, in March.
A five-mile stretch of the London orbital motorway will be shut for an entire weekend from late 15 March, affecting the journeys of an estimated 200,000 vehicles.
Work to widen the roads, including demolishing a bridge and installing a gantry, will shut the motorway in both directions between junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey for the longest planned closure of the M25 since it opened in 1986.
National Highways has warned drivers to travel only if necessary with large delays likely on surrounding roads during the £317m roadworks, which will require four more weekend closures in 2024.
Up to 6,000 vehicles per hour normally travel in each direction at the weekend peaks, including traffic heading in and out of London, as well as going to and from Heathrow and Gatwick airports or the Channel ports.
Jonathan Wade, the project lead for National Highways, the government-owned agency that manages motorways, 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.”
The project to rebuild one of the M25’s key junctions started in summer 2022, and is due to be completed in summer 2025.
Steve Gooding, the director of the motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, told PA Media news agency: “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.
“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.”
