M25 disgrace

[Tallerandtall]

I live near the a3 m25 junc.
no one knows why they are changing the junction versus mending potholes
now it's shutting this week and four more weekends to come this year.

they don't give dates far in advance so you can plan ( this date was announced about 20th of Feb and April date not set yet).

no doubt this is to allow flex to keep costs down but those costs are just being spread around the local and it's effectively two weeks this year ruined as the roads busy at normal will grid lock.

it's just another example of this bankrupt useless Brexit bunch of stupid racist fools in this goverment

it beggars belief

https://nationalhighways.co.uk/article/m25-braced-for-first-ever-planned-full-closure-as-drivers-warned-of-long-delays-and-told-to-only-travel-if-necessary/#:~:text=The%20next%20full%20closure%20of,will%20be%20the%20project%27s%20centrepiece.

@SheilaFentiman there are links on this article where you can get real time information will not be built on site completely and brought in - there are more than 2 or 3 links to this chain and people will be working to pull everything together.

A ridge is being demolished and another put up in its place and 5 closures are schedule in total for improvement works.

The reason the dates haven't been put up for April is the dates are likely to change, this is a case of trying to make everything come together as the gantr

There was an excellent article in the Sunday Times about this recently. Brilliant graphics and I love the idea of the wildlife 'green bridge'. Yes, I live reasonably close, yes traffic will be awful. Yes, I recognise sometimes you have to put up with short-term pain for long-term gain.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ad11eee6-fdf9-475f-bf61-5b22ca9d4baa?shareToken=0dd4fb4d3942d7bc575375ea77855def

So they're closing it for a couple of days. They need to take down a bridge. They did the same with the M4 a few years ago.

When that happened, I just got my shopping in on the Thursday night and planned a weekend at home getting the garden straight for spring. And batch baking.

Treat it in the same way as you would if we had a heavy fall of snow - the advice is don't travel, so stay at home. Or walk.

I had no idea till I read an email from our MP earlier today. That junction has been a disgrace for years. It would be nice to think there’ll be any improvement, considering the number of trees uprooted and how desolate it all looks atm.

The M25 closure will be a total PITA, but it's got to be done to improve the A3 junctions, particularly with the developments planned.

We are visiting family at the weekend and need to use the road in both directions, so we're travelling there on Friday early evening to beat the closure. Will bring sandwiches and a flask of tea for the trip back on Sunday.

Another one on the list is J9 (Reigate) where the roundabout over the motorway is totally unfit for purpose. They've kicked that particular can down the road for a couple of years but it will happen soon. That will be major (and I live much closer to that one).

To all those moaning.

The closure has been well-publicised for several weeks via various means including front page of last week's local paper, radio ads, signs on the network.

You have time to make alternative arrangements.

It's a massive civil engineering project that is being done in the most efficient way with regard to the works and to the travelling public.

Get over yourselves. It's not being done to inconvenience you personally .

'M25 roadworks / closures / gridlock shocker'

Not exactly surprise news, is it?

The moaning about a short term road closure is insane. It’s road works get a bloody grip!

@MikeRafone

dates likely to change is the issue

if this was resourced correctly they would not but due to an inappropriate budget they are not.

so the costs and inconvenience is spread across the local residents with no means of practical redress.

That’s the disgrace.

and ps I understand large projects so there is no real excuse for this and the lack of preparation on the local roads which appears just to be yellow signs that that been up for ages due to the night closures.

if the routes are not utterly covered with cops and or people all stay at home this will be an utter mess.

if this was resourced correctly they would not but due to an inappropriate budget they are not.

And you know this how?

Might it be down to availability of supplies? Availability of specialist machines? Availability of suitable engineers? Availability of safety inspectors? Availability of sufficiently qualified workforce? Availability of all those being needed at the same time?

You can't just go at a motorway bridge with some sledgehammers, you know.

Thanks for that Times article share link.

The new plans look impressive, especially the green bridge for wildlife. There is a wonderful time-lapse film of wildlife crossing a similar bridge across a highway in the USA.

Of course the closure weekends will be a nightmare but this time next year it will be done and forgotten.

Most importantly, the people who would otherwise die or be seriously injured at that junction (the one with the terrible safety record, remember?) will have happy lives and still be there for their loved ones!

It will be ensuring all those above are available - but OP thinks you can just nap fingers and make a date - like magic

The alternative is - don't do anything, then the OP will moan about constant gridlock and congestion

And deaths.

Everyone we know had been told not to travel unless absolutely necessary. £317 million. 3 years. For what? 'Routes fit cyclists. And horse riders'. FFS.

This 👆

It is nothing to do with safety as there were other ways to solve that. It is all to do with the planning permission for the new housing estate which requires the road infrastructure.

https://www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/new-homes/ockham/wisley-airfield

@GotMooMilk

"The moaning about a short term road closure is insane. It’s road works get a bloody grip!"

It's the new HS2. The whole project is. Joke. Triple the first budget. You queue on the M25 for nearly an hour to get onto the A3. For 3 years. And then when you di get there, the 15 times I've been, 13 times there's not a single workman. Not one. Not a single one. Single Men sat in single lorry's, watching. No one working. At all.

It's like the M4. Roadworks been there for over a year many of my friends travel on the M4 all the time and see no one working. ever.

Aprils closure is 19th - 22nd.
It is a pain but it absolutely needs doing. We are meant to be travelling to a hotel with a non refundable payment so will decide in the morning to go or not. It’s awkward because you can’t plan but after this weekend hopefully more dates will be released.

"Stop moaning about being able to use a private car at a cost to others 46% of households inside London within the M25 don't even own a car"

No, because they don't need to because the public transport in London gives them options.

I suspect most people who use the M25 would really rather not! I know I hate the bloody thing.

My best friend lives in the area. They have known for more than 3 weeks, and have made suitable plans so they can avoid. Simple enough fgs!

I used to live there, it will be a nightmare

Currently live off the M6 they closed it one direction for one junction for a weekend, no proper publicity it was absolutely crazy some people stuck for 10 hours. In the end the cancelled the future closures and kept one lane open at all times and did some of the work overnight.

It's not just this weekend. There are 4 other weekend closures planned. It's not the weekend closures that are the problem, it's the whole plan, the whole thing.

I’m (sort of) sympathetic. I live near the part of the M6 that is being ‘upgraded’ to smart motorway. It was meant to be finished around this time last year. Will now be 2025 at the earliest. It’s disgraceful. I say ‘sort of’ as we’ve put up with narrow lanes and average speed checks for 4 years already!

They blamed it on ‘ground conditions’ (if only they’d done a survey first 🤔). Also blamed ‘poor weather’, well yeah…it’s Gtr Manchester/Lancs/Merseyside…what were they expecting?

@LutonBeds Due to driving up and down the M6 it's been going on for at least 12 years and they haven't got "oop North" yet. I try view the speed restrictions as fuel economising and take the train to London as often as possible as the journey is so slow now.

As someone who uses this frequently due to unreliable trains, once the junction is finished it will be an improvement. I think they’ve made quite fast progress.
I do agree they should also be sorting other roads as well and spending much more on potholes and maintenance.