Drivers are facing five-hour delays on the M25 this weekend as councils warn of “gridlock” in town centres.
Thousands of motorists are braced for traffic chaos during an unprecedented closure of the motorway while a bridge is demolished and a new gantry is installed.
The five-mile stretch of the M25 between Junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey will be closed in both directions from 9pm on Friday until 6am on Monday.
It is the first planned daytime closure of the road, which encircles London, since it opened in 1986.
‘Gridlock’ expected
Official estimates of congestion levels may be “optimistic”, the RAC has warned, while councillors in areas where traffic will be diverted are preparing for “gridlock”.
The M25 normally carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles in each direction every hour during the daytime at weekends between Junctions 9 and 11, including those travelling to, from and between Britain’s two busiest airports Heathrow and Gatwick.
Councillors whose wards line the diversion route are preparing for the worst. Malcolm Cressey, of 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 to avoid the area. It could end up with all sorts of gridlock in our area.”
Never seen before
Tahir Aziz, of 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.”
National Highways said modelling carried out while it was developing its plans for this weekend indicated that vehicles would face delays of up to five hours without mitigation measures, such as urging drivers to stay away.