Experts and local resident have expressed their concerns about the upcoming closure of the M25 motorway over fears it will bring chaos to the roads in their area.
Later today, National Highways will roll out the first-ever scheduled daytime closure of the M25 to demolish the Clearmount bridleway bridge and install a "very large" gantry.
As part of the closure, the M25 will be shut between Junction 10 (A3 Wisley) and Junction 11 (A320 Chertsey Interchange) from 9pm on Friday to 6am on Monday, March 18, next week.
While National Highways has unveiled a diversion route for drivers to follow, there are fears that drivers could be trapped in terrible traffic collisions.
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Local residents have warned that drivers could face gridlock
PA
Some experts have said that official estimates of congestion levels may be “optimistic”, while local councillors have warned that traffic could turn into “gridlock”.
Driving data suggests that the M25 normally carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles in each direction from 10am until 9pm at weekends between J9 and J11.
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, warned of the potential for serious issues on the road if people do not heed advice.
“We must hope National Highways has overstated its dire predictions of sat navs adding to the traffic chaos by taking drivers off the official diversion route, because the temptation to try to skip the queues will be intense, and the impact on actual journey times uncertain.
“Whilst the modelling suggests around an hour might be added to people’s travel time, that will feel optimistic to anyone used to the frustrations of driving round the M25 on days even without major construction works underway,” he told the PA news agency.
According to modelling from National Highways, if no mitigating measures were in place, motorists could have faced delays of up to five hours.
It now believes that through its awareness campaign and the diversion measures, it will reduce traffic levels by around half, limiting the length of time added to journeys to around an hour.
Drivers will be made to follow an 11.5-mile diversion route along A roads in the area, although some local councillors are worried drivers will face massive traffic issues.
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 and avoid the area. It could end up with all sorts of gridlock in our area.”
Similarly, Tahir Aziz, from 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.”
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The closure will last until Monday
PA
Four more closures of the M25 will be shut between March and September with National Highways aiming to complete the project in the summer of 2025.