M25 roadworks - get a grip

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I'm sorry but anyone who lives or works outside of the "golden sphere" that is the M25 has had to deal with road/motorway closures and sudden changes in route/planning for decades.

Why do we have to be subjected to this as "national news"?

FFS they close motorways every weekend in North West, Yorkshire, Midlands, Wales, Scotland and elsewhere on a regular basis.

@Teenangels they closed J33-j32 for a whole weekend southbound and there is only ONE other A road single carriageway with lots of traffic lights as an alternative.

Only other diversion was across the A66 many miles north then down the A1M/A1 instead.

So even though those folk far north could be diverted no one else knew, Google maps didn't know and it was awful. People stuck being brought off the motorway for 10 hours having on driven on it 2/3 miles from J34.

The fact that they completely abandoned the future weekend closures and did them overnight keeping one lane open instead tells you what a disaster it was.

I guess it's newsworthy because it will affect so many people. I don't expect a road closure at the end of my street to make national news, for the same reason. I don't feel huge amounts of sympathy for most of those affected, they've chosen to live there - I wouldn't.

@Delphiniumandlupins "I don't feel huge amounts of sympathy for most of those affected, they've chosen to live there - I wouldn't."

And how does that astounding lack of empathy work for you in real life? If you dug REALLY deep, might you be able to rustle up a smidgeon of something or other for the poor lady quoted up-thread who's trying to spend time with her terminally ill husband in his final days?
Go on, have a go.

The PR behind this has been impressive. They've used a key fact to grab the headlines "first planned closure" but managed to get the message spread far and wide to avoid using that bit of the M25.

The simple fact is that there WOULD be gridlock if the normal volume of M25 traffic tried to use the diversion, or indeed any other local alternative options which sat navs might send people on.

It's not a competition, it doesn't matter about the state of potholes, public transport or ...but the M6. The fact is this will affect thousands of journeys today, and the fact there isn't gridlock means people have been able to make alternative plans. It's been well handled so far.

But the works are a PITA and I'm not looking forward to more closures. Hope they publish the dates soon!

I agree...also live inside the M25 on the affected section. People have no idea of the chaos this closure will cause this weekend, probably more today than tomorrow.
Just hope that anybody going to Gatwick or Heathrow for flights is aware of the closure.

This is a disaster but they are closing both sides for over 60 hours they have closed both lanes down to one numerous times on this part on the M25, they are also closing it for another 6 weekends.

Also when people get stuck on the motorway in Scotland it’s on the national news, do I stamp my feet saying it’s not newsworthy of course I don’t.

To close the biggest motorway in the UK that serves of 18 million people with 2 international airports on it, and it being a first makes it newsworthy.

@Teenangels I completely agree. As I've said repeatedly this kind of publicity is essential to avoid exactly what did happen up here. They complete failed to publicise it to the local community between Preston and the Lakes let alone nationwide when it would affect anyone travelling from Scotland to the south.

The fact Googlemaps didn't reflect the closure FML as people weren't diverted expecting the delays to clear.

The fact it was the main weekend for 12,000 to descend at the uni served by the junction just no words 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Think a few folk were either airlifted or ambulanced off the motorway after being stuck so long with no water or food as it's usually a 15 minute motorway journey tops.

I'm with you OP. If you live really close and have to do a long detour it's a nuisance or if you usually use the A25 and it's full of lorries now.

But otherwise, there are plenty of other routes you can use that take you well away from it. Look at a map and stop relying on satnav. And remember that the M25 has a northern bit and goes in a circle.

To close the biggest motorway in the UK that serves of 18 million people with 2 international airports on it, and it being a first makes it newsworthy

Both airports are well away from the closure and are very accessible by other routes.

the works are a PITA and I'm not looking forward to more closures. Hope they publish the dates soon

I don't disagree with this, and it's ridiculous they haven't published the dates months in advance!

Please tell me how you can get to Gatwick without using the M25 without going through London and down.

I don’t think you understand how this works, I can assure you that they are not far away from the closures 🤣

Also, not sure why they even needed to improve the junction. No doubt it will have hundreds of lanes and be really complicated. It was fine before they started messing with it. I bet there are more accidents afterwards than there were before - or that the accidents are more serious. The A3 is a racetrack as it is, and now they are giving it 4 lanes. Yuck.

@enchantedsquirrelwood

Both airports are well away from the closure and are very accessible by other routes.

But you do get a lot of passengers who connect via surface transport between the two airports so the closure is significant for many travellers, quite a few of whom won't be familiar with the UK road system.

National Express are the main coach carrier between the two and they've been pushing out warnings for a while:

https://www.nationalexpress.com/en/help/live-service-updates

😂

This is nonsense. As anyone that's tried to get to LGW when the M23 is closed will tell you. No one in their right mind would attempt the back routes if they didn't have to and they seize up the minute all the motorway traffic tries to join the normal local traffic.

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/wisley-airfield-development-5-key-27943591

https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/he/m25-junction-10-a3-wisley-interchange-improvement/results/consultation-report.pdf

Did anyone see a BBC drama a few years ago, called "The Day Britain Stopped"? It's still available on YouTube.

It showed how a chain reaction occurred and how one incident can have a ripple effect and cause chaos.

It wouldn't take much for something similar, if on a smaller scale, to occur if there was an accident on the diversion route(s) around the M25 weekend closure(s)

Which is a good reason for it to be on the news so people know to use the other routes

@quantumbutterfly

Most of us who live locally have already seen the posts you linked. ie why it's being done. But many of us sceptical and don't believe the weak reasons they've given. I think it's suspect. Many of us do.

I've lived here for 30 years and saw no problems with the junction. Every time I went to Guildford, there was no delays. Now, I queue on the M25 for over an hour to get on the A3. I never queued before!

Local road closure is headline news… must not be anything else going on

What are your suspicions?

Wondering if anyone knows if the journey from Esher to Guildford would be impacted tomorrow? It’s showing on google maps as only being half an hour at the moment, even with the m25 closed!

Because the economy of this country is wholly dependent on what happens inside the M25. It’s not rocket science to understand that.

Can someone tell me if google maps is wrong in regards to traffic? We need to get to Frimley tomorrow from the Midlands. It looks a clear run even today. But I'm worried that's wishful thinking. I know Google maps has let me down before. Thanks

Well, Esher to Guildford is straight down the A3 and not actually going on the (closed) M25 at all so I would have thought you'd be OK?

We did Guildford to Weybridge on the A3 on Friday afternoon and it took ages (about 3x the usual time) due to lane closures and diversions. Basically traffic bound for the m25 at junction 10 created a massive backlog on the A3. This was before the full closures so I would anticipate quite a bit traffic. Hopefully people will avoid unnecessary journeys.