Major M25 and A3 Wisley Interchange work could force residents into daily U-turns

Major M25 and A3 upgrade works will force some residents into a daily U-turn just to get to their homes. The three year and GBP317 million Wisley Interchange improvement works started in summer 2022 and is expected to be completed in summer 2025, not before some major closures of the motorway carriageway[1] up to three days. Part of the M25[2] A3 interchange work will include making the approach from Seven Hills Road North left turn only on a trial basis.

Residents had hoped to convince Surrey County Council[3] to allow the junction with Seven Hills Road and Byfleet[4] Road to keep the right turn once the project had been completed. Support for their campaign led to 829 backing their petition. Ultimately, it was decided that the needs of the many outweighed the inconvenience.

The intention is to limit the queues that form on the A3 by widening the slip road and A245 from the Painshill Roundabout. A knock-on effect of this will be that cars arrive quicker and faster from the A3. Therefore, to improve safety, the current central reserve gap that allowed right turns into Feltonfleet School will be closed and a new access provided from Seven Hills Road South.

Addressing the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Economic Growth Decisions meeting, petitioner Julia Lindon-Travers said the details of the plan had been concealed from residents. She said: “We feel that local traffic is being forced to go around the Painshill Roundabout and back again, no doubt being forced to change lanes multiple times.” The report to the February 27 meeting read: “A disbenefit of a left turn only from Seven Hills Road North is that traffic wishing to travel west towards Byfleet out of Seven Hills Road North would have to travel extra distance.

This will involve a U-Turn at the Painshill Roundabout to then travel in the direction of Byfleet.” Work had been expected to begin in August or September but could be pushed back at the end of the year as part of the “last part” of the junction program. The report added: “However, traffic from Seven Hills North wishing to make this manoeuvre are a small proportion of the overall vehicle numbers at the junction.

Although the model is showing the additional travel time could be up to nearly two and a half minutes longer at certain times, it is indicating that at other times of the day journey times will be quicker; this is because when the junction just permits the left turn out of Seven Hills Road North it is operating more efficiently than compared with accommodating the right turn manoeuvre as well. “For those drivers with origins and destinations further away, the traffic model suggests they will choose to reroute and avoid the junction altogether. However if the right turn is permitted the junction would operate less efficiently and with reduced capacity means that drivers would also choose to use alternative routes.

“In addition improvements are to be made to both the road markings and traffic signal vehicle detection at the Painshill Roundabout to improve and manage the flow of traffic using this junction.

Therefore it is considered that this left only turn would provide a much wider overall benefit to the highway network in terms of both road safety and traffic capacity.”

References

1. ^ major closures of the motorway carriageway (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
2. ^ M25 (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
3. ^ Surrey County Council (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
4. ^ Byfleet (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
5. ^ 4500 hours of untreated sewage outfalls into River Mole area so far this year (www.getsurrey.co.uk)
6. ^ Full M25 diversion route mapped ahead of unprecedented 3 night closure (www.getsurrey.co.uk)