M25 closure set to cause traffic chaos with thousands braced for ‘carmageddon’

'Just going down the road to get milk is going to be a problem tomorrow or picking up your dry cleaning.’

The first-ever planned daytime closure of the M25 this weekend could become a ‘nightmare’, with local residents and businesses braced for ‘carmageddon’ traffic.

A five-mile stretch of the motorway between junctions 10 and 11 is now shut in both directions and will remain inaccessible until 6am on Monday while a bridge is demolished and new gantry installed.

Motorists are being directed to take an 11.5-mile diversion route along A-roads, sparking concerns surrounding roads will be paralysed by ‘absolute gridlock’ as thousands are funnelled through.

People living by the route have already cancelled plans and stockpiled groceries ahead of the chaos, with Byfleet councillor Daryl Jordan saying he expects to see ‘absolute gridlock’.

Cllr Jordan, of Woking Borough Council, said the Byfleet Road, which is close to junction 10, had been ‘chock-a-block’ on Friday afternoon. He said residents will be ‘affected massively’.

‘It is pulling people apart,’ the councillor said.

‘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 tomorrow or picking up your dry cleaning.’

South East Coast Ambulance Service, which covers Surrey, has urged drivers to let ambulances through what is expected to be  bumper-to-bumper traffic in some areas.

A spokesman said: ‘We ask for the public’s support and advise motorists to avoid the area unless their journey is essential.

‘We also ask that, as ever, they are aware of any emergency vehicles looking to progress through any heavier traffic.’

Edmund King, the president of the AA, said: ‘The M25 is the biggest bypass in Europe so any closure will potentially cause chaos and gridlock.

‘If drivers don’t heed warnings to stay away, we could see “carmageddon” across the wider road network adjacent to the M25.’

Jonathan Wade, project leader at National Highways, yesterday advised motorists to simply stay indoors.  

‘Please, if you can either avoid travelling completely, find something to do at home – decorate the bathroom or something, or play in the garden,’ he told The Independent’s travel podcast.

‘If you must go, travel by train, walk, use a bicycle. I don’t mind really what you do.

‘Avoid driving anywhere around those diversionary routes around Painshill, Byfleet, West Byfleet on the eastern side of Woking. It will be in your interests.’

Business owners in the areas along the diversion route have told of cuts they have made to their services in anticipation of traffic.

Mark Pollak, owner of Billy Tong, which caters for events and sells biltong at markets, said he expects to see 50% of the firm’s turnover for the weekend go ‘down the drain’.

He said he had to refuse a request to cater an event in Guildford and had to cancel its stall at Surbiton Farmers’ Market on Saturday with staff not wanting to face expected traffic to get to jobs.

‘It has a massive impact on my business,’ he said.

‘I’ve cancelled events, I can’t get customers to come and collect stuff, I can’t get my staff to go to events.’

Ammara Kanwal, director of Code Kids, cancelled a coding club session due to take place at Cobham Free School on Saturday over fears she would not be able to make it there on time.

‘It was a bit of a disappointment,’ she said.

‘I am the one who cancelled, it was my business, so I am having to issue a refund for tomorrow.

‘I mean, nobody wants to travel somewhere for two hours if it doesn’t take that long, it’s not fair.’

The M25 normally carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles in each direction every hour from 10am until 9pm at weekends between junctions nine and 11.

This includes many airline passengers travelling to, from and between the UK’s two busiest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick.

National Highways said modelling carried out while it was developing its plans for this weekend indicated vehicles would face delays of up to five hours without mitigation measures, such as urging drivers to stay away.

The Government-owned company believes its awareness campaign will help reduce traffic levels by approximately 50%, meaning the length of time added to journeys will be limited to around an hour.

It is urging drivers not to use their sat navs to attempt to find quicker alternative routes on minor roads due to fears this could cause major congestion.

Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, said: ‘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 under way.’

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, one of the UK’s busiest and most dangerous motorway junctions.

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