M25 closure – stay: Drivers delayed as motorway section shut all weekend

People have flocked to an unlikely spot to take selfies as they gaze over an eerily quiet M25.

A five-mile stretch of the highway has been shut till Monday whereas a bridge is demolished and a brand new gantry is put in.

The first deliberate daytime closure of the M25 could possibly be a “nightmare”, a councillor fears as native residents and companies alongside the diversion route brace for the affect.

Daryl Jordan, of Woking Borough Council, informed the PA information company the Byfleet Road, which is near junction 10, had been “chock-a-block” on Friday afternoon.

He stated residents shall be “affected massivel”, including: “It is pulling people apart. I mean, you know, when you work full-time and then you’re going to get home tonight from work thinking ‘I must fill the fridge up’ and you can’t even get into your own village.

“It’s going to be a nightmare. Just going down the road to get milk is going to be a problem … or picking up your dry cleaning.”

RAC breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson stated: “With the M25 closures and the Easter getaway both falling in March, it could be a month of double traffic trouble for drivers trying to get around London or access Gatwick and Heathrow.

“Despite fair warning, the reality is most holidaymakers seeking to use either airport will have booked their trips months ago and will have to leave a lot more time to get there – not least because the most obvious diversion routes are likely to get extremely congested.

“If you do plan to drive between the 15th and 18th, we recommend starting your car to test its battery health well in advance of travelling and remembering FORCES to check the Fuel, Oil, Rubber, Coolant, Electrics and Screen wash before making any long journey.”

A number one railway determine has supplied some recommendation to travellers who danger being caught up within the M25 closure over the weekend, Simon Calder writes.

Mark Hopwood, managing director of Great Western Railway, informed The Independent’s day by day journey podcast: “There isn’t, sadly, a railway equivalent of the M25 so we can’t necessarily replicate all the journeys – but actually one of the great things in London at Farringdon is you can interchange from the Elizabeth Line to Thameslink in about 45 seconds.”

The central London station of Farringdon will permit anybody coming from Heathrow airport or Reading on the Elizabeth Line to vary to a Thameslink practice to Gatwick airport, Brighton, Luton airport or Cambridge.

“I think people will find that they could maybe make their journey by train and do it in a decent amount of time,” the GWR boss stated.

“If you’ve ended up on one of those strange flight itineraries where you need to get from Heathrow to Gatwick, you can do that quite easily.”

Mr Hopwood was talking on the unveiling of a revolutionary new battery-powered practice for a line in west London.

National Highways mission lead Jonathan Wade has warned that how properly the world copes with the M25 closure will partly rely upon whether or not drivers follow official diversions.

He informed the PA information company: “How many people are going to take the initiative and try and use satnavs? There’s probably a greater risk of congestion by people just doing their own thing and thinking they can perhaps beat the signs and find a shorter or quicker route.

“That will cause further congestion on some of the key junctions so please avoid doing that if at all possible.”