M25 reopens eight hours ahead of schedule

Media caption, Watch: Stretch of the M25 emptied to allow roadworks

A stretch of the M25 has reopened after works were finished eight hours ahead of schedule – before Monday’s rush hour.

The “unprecedented” daytime closure of one of the country’s busiest stretches came into force at 21:00 GMT on Friday.

The five-mile stretch was due to be closed until 06:00 on Monday.

But it re-opened at 22:00 on Sunday, and some delays in both directions were reported at the scene by BBC Radio Surrey on Monday.

Speaking to the BBC, National Highways project lead Jonathan Wade said: “The congestion wasn’t anywhere near as dire as you might expect.”

However, Mr Wade says one of his “biggest concerns” moving forward was that people become “blasé” about further closures and this impacts congestion.

Drivers had been warned to avoid travelling on this section of the motorway over the weekend and there had been fears that there would be large tailbacks and long wait times.

Mr Wade said drivers had “taken on board our advice, which reduced traffic levels by over 50% and meant the length of time added to journeys was around 30 minutes”.

He added that he was “delighted” the work had been completed early.

“Thank you to everyone for their cooperation that has made carrying out work on this major project to make journeys safer and reduce pollution much easier.”

National Highways said this was the first of five closures between now and September and the date of the next would be announced “very soon to give people as much notice as possible”. The works are part of a £317m upgrade to the motorway.

The road was re-opened following the demolition of the Clearmount bridge over the weekend.

Carriageway closures happened along and between junctions 10 and 11. People were told ahead of the weekend to only use the M25 if “absolutely necessary”.

The carriageway between junctions 9 and 11 carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles per hour in each direction between 10:00 and 21:00 on a weekend, National Highways said.

This weekend’s works led to the first planned daytime closure of the M25 – which encircles London – since it opened in 1986.

‘Sleeping well’

An 11.5-mile diversion route was created to direct traffic along A roads; while some locals visited the empty motorway to take selfies.

Amanda Boote, of Woking Borough Council, told PA news agency: “It’s actually been a lot better than we expected, it’s not gridlocked in the way that we thought it would be.

“It was built up a bit, but no different to how it might normally be. Actually residents are quite happy, they’ve been sleeping well because it’s so quiet overnight.”

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.

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