Residents brace for M25 gridlock chaos: Villagers living on official diversion route stockpile groceries and scramble to get home before motorway closes from 9pm tonight and …
- Five-mile stretch between Junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey to shut in both directions
- Closures runs from 9pm tonight until 6am Monday while bridge is demolished
By Mark Duell[1] and Darren Boyle[2]
Published: 16:46, 15 March 2024 | Updated: 17:24, 15 March 2024
People living near this weekend’s dreaded M25 shutdown have begun stockpiling essentials ahead of tonight’s 9pm closure.
Drivers have been warned to avoid Surrey with fears ‘traffic will be nose-to-tail’ while the road between Junction 10 and 11 will be closed to allow the demolition of a bridge.
The road – which opened in 1986 – will have the busy section shut between 9pm tonight and 6am on Monday morning.
One councillor in Byfleet, which is set to be gridlocked during the closure, said life for locals living on the diversion routes will be a misery.
Cllr Daryl Jordan said: ‘Basically they’ve slaughtered us in the area, they’ve dumped it on us and we’re suffering.
‘I’m expecting to see absolute gridlock this weekend – everybody I know, and I’ve been in this area for years, has said they’ve been shopping already, they haven’t made any plans and if anything it will be like Covid lockdown[3] and people will be walking the canals and what’s left of our greenbelt.
‘It’s wrong, they’ve taken two days of our lives away – two days when we’re off work.’
National Highways expect motorists will face five-hour delays along the diversion route – although it is feared that this is overly optimistic.
People going to Heathrow[4] and Gatwick[5] Airport have been advised to use rail services – but a stolen car hitting a railway bridge in south London has stopped Gatwick Express trains this afternoon.
A diversion will be in place while the M25 is closed between Junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey
This will be the first planned daytime closure of the orbital motorway since it opened in 1986
Traffic at junction 10 of the M25 in Surrey during a site visit on Monday ahead of the closure
A massage and beauty therapist said the M25 closure will have a ‘massive impact’ on her weekend plans both with her business and family.
Elizabeth Lancemen runs Nice To Be Kneaded , a mobile and home-based business in the village of Woodham which is on the diversion route.
But she will not be able to visit any clients over the next few days due to the disruption – and can also not take her son to his football club.
Ms Lanceman told MailOnline: ‘For my business I either work from home or mobile. Obviously I can’t be mobile this weekend. Only local clients can come to me.
It’s not like I can put a massage kit on the basket in my bike.
‘Also family wise, the kids have all got clubs, football clubs – we can’t walk there, we can’t get there.’
Her parents are due to fly into Heathrow Airport on Sunday, so she was also concerned at how long her journey will be to pick them up.
And she has had to cancel dinner five miles away in Shepperton because she would have to leave after an hour just to get home before the closure.
The M25 diversion routes this weekend
The five-mile stretch of the M25 between Junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey will be closed in both directions[6] from 9pm on Friday until 6am on Monday.
A local diversion route will be in place which is the same for both directions:
- Junction 10 to Junction 11: Northbound A3 to Painshill Junction, A245 towards Woking, and then A320 to M25 Junction 11
- Junction 11 to 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.
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While Ms Lanceman accepted that she ‘understands what needs to be done’ on the M25, she added: ‘We’re at the time when everyone’s struggling financially and it’s going to hit local businesses.
‘The roads around here are already a nightmare. I don’t think our roads are built for thousands of cars an hour.’
Amanda Boote, councillor in Byfleet on Woking Borough Council, told Sky News: ‘It’s going to literally be gridlock, nose to tail.’
Taking a reporter through the local area yesterday, she said: ‘Looking at now, this isn’t even rush hour, this is just a regular journey.
‘All of those cars are going to be coming up and down this road on both sides, because when they come off at Junction 11 they’re going to be coming the way we are going now, and when they come off at 10 they’re going to be going the other way – and it’s just a single carriageway.’
Sophie Trippit, a cafe worker who has lived in Byfleet for 20 years, told Yahoo News[7]: ‘It’ll be carnage. Where the cafe is situated, everyone can cut through the village.
The unprecedented M25 closure will bring ‘carnage’ to villages on the diversion route with ‘traffic everywhere’ and weekend plans cancelled, locals have warned.
Drivers will be stuck in ‘gridlock, nose to tail[8]‘ when the five-mile stretch between Junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey will be closed in both directions from 9pm tonight until 6am on Monday while a bridge is demolished and a new gantry is installed.
The first planned daytime closure of the London[9] orbital motorway since it opened in 1986 will see locals forced to walk everywhere amid forecasts of five-hour queues.
Motoring experts believe official estimates of congestion levels may be ‘optimistic’, while local councillors in areas where traffic will be diverted are anticipating chaos.
Byfleet in Surrey is among the areas facing traffic ‘carnage’ this weekend from the closure
A couple walking on the River Wey towpath at Byfleet, a Surrey village on the diversion route
With cars set to be redirected through small villages, residents who live in the likes of Byfleet, Ottershaw and Woodham are concerned about the impact on local life.
‘We call it “The Byfleet Bubble”.
I’m not planning on going anywhere. I’m lucky to be able to walk to work, and that’s what I’ve told my family to do. It’s not going to be fun.’
Elizabeth Lancemen, who runs a massage and beauty therapy business from home in Woodham, added: ‘If you can’t walk somewhere this weekend, don’t go.
‘My son has football at the weekend in Byfleet and we can’t get there and we’ve got a kids club on Sunday, which we can’t get to either.’
M25 closure will have ‘massive impact’ on weekend plans for business and children 
A massage and beauty therapist said the M25 closure will have a ‘massive impact’ on her weekend plans both with her business and family.
Elizabeth Lancemen runs Nice To Be Kneaded[10], a mobile and home-based business in the village of Woodham which is on the diversion route.
But she will not be able to visit any clients over the next few days due to the disruption – and can also not take her son to his football club.
Ms Lanceman told MailOnline: ‘For my business I either work from home or mobile.
Obviously I can’t be mobile this weekend. Only local clients can come to me. It’s not like I can put a massage kit on the basket in my bike.
‘Also family wise, the kids have all got clubs, football clubs – we can’t walk there, we can’t get there.’
Her parents are due to fly into Heathrow Airport on Sunday, so she was also concerned at how long her journey will be to pick them up.
And she has had to cancel dinner five miles away in Shepperton because she would have to leave after an hour just to get home before the closure.
While Ms Lanceman accepted that she ‘understands what needs to be done’ on the M25, she added: ‘We’re at the time when everyone’s struggling financially and it’s going to hit local businesses.
‘The roads around here are already a nightmare.
I don’t think our roads are built for thousands of cars an hour.’
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And self-employed local resident Carolyn Atkins said: ‘It’s going to be awful. The last time they had a road closure nearby there was traffic everywhere.’
National Highways said modelling carried out while it was developing its plans for this weekend indicated vehicles would face delays of up to five hours without mitigation measures, such as urging drivers to stay away.
The Government-owned company believes its awareness campaign will help reduce traffic levels by approximately 50 per cent, meaning the length of time added to journeys will be limited to around an hour.
An 11.5-mile diversion route has been created to direct motorway traffic along A roads.
Malcolm Cressey, Ottershaw councillor for Runnymede Borough Council, said: ‘I think it’s going to be a difficult period but we have to sort out those bridges.
‘I think it’s going to be very disruptive. I would certainly urge anybody to try and avoid the area.
It could end up with all sorts of gridlock in our area.’
And Tahir Aziz, Canalside councillor for Woking Borough Council, said: ‘We’ve never experienced something like this before.
‘It will have a significant impact in this area.
It will cause huge disruption and delays, and a lot of traffic jams.’
The M25 normally carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles in each direction every hour from 10am until 9pm at weekends between Junctions 9 and 11.
This includes many airline passengers travelling to, from and between the UK’s two busiest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick.
Amanda Boote, councillor in Byfleet on Woking Borough Council, told Sky News: ‘It’s going to literally be gridlock, nose to tail.’
Taking a reporter through the local area yesterday, she said: ‘Looking at now, this isn’t even rush hour, this is just a regular journey.
‘All of those cars are going to be coming up and down this road on both sides, because when they come off at Junction 11 they’re going to be coming the way we are going now, and when they come off at 10 they’re going to be going the other way – and it’s just a single carriageway.’
National Highways is urging drivers not to use their sat navs to attempt to find quicker alternative routes on minor roads due to fears this could cause major congestion.
Byfleet councillor Amanda Boote told Sky News: ‘It’s going to literally be gridlock, nose to tail’
Traffic approaches junction 10 of the M25 in Surrey on Monday ahead of the planned closure
National Highways project lead Jonathan Wade said it was tough to forecast the amount of congestion that will be caused by the closure because ‘it’s so unprecedented’
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: ‘We must hope National Highways has overstated its dire predictions of sat navs adding to the traffic chaos by taking drivers off the official diversion route, because the temptation to try to skip the queues will be intense, and the impact on actual journey times uncertain.
‘Whilst the modelling suggests around an hour might be added to people’s travel time, that will feel optimistic to anyone used to the frustrations of driving round the M25 on days even without major construction works under way.’
Four more daytime closures of the M25 will take place up to September.
The project, due to be completed in summer 2025, will increase the number of lanes at Junction 10, which is one of the UK’s busiest and most dangerous motorway junctions.
Traffic approaches junction 10 of the M25 in Surrey on Monday ahead of the planned closure
Mr Gooding said: ‘National Highways needs to learn from this weekend’s experience and work closely with neighbouring road managers to minimise the traffic impacts of the further planned closures.
‘It must give as much certainty and notice as possible – months rather than weeks – to drivers and hauliers, many of whom will be making trips that can’t be put off to another day.’
Earlier this week, National Highways project lead Jonathan Wade said it was tough to forecast the amount of congestion that will be caused by the closure because ‘it’s so unprecedented’.
He added: ‘It’s very difficult to determine right now how effective all our traffic management will be.
Please don’t travel if you can avoid it.’
Mr Wade also said: ‘Please, if you can either avoid travelling completely, find something to do at home – decorate the bathroom or something, or play in the garden.’
Heathrow AirportGatwick Airport[11][12]
References
- ^ Mark Duell (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Darren Boyle (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ lockdown (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Heathrow (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Gatwick (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ closed in both directions (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Yahoo News (uk.news.yahoo.com)
- ^ gridlock, nose to tail (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ London (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Nice To Be Kneaded (www.nicetobekneaded.co.uk)
- ^ Heathrow Airport (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Gatwick Airport (www.dailymail.co.uk)