M25 closure will see 'carnage' on diversion route, say villagers

Business owners and residents near the M25 closure have predicted ‘carnage’, cancellations, disturbed sleep and ‘traffic everywhere’ during the historic motorway shutdown this weekend.

Britain’s busiest motorway will be closed in both directions from Friday night to Monday morning between Junction 10 and Junction 11 in Surrey, to demolish a bridge and install a new gantry. National Highways says the closure is essential on a stretch of the M25 which normally sees 5,000 vehicles per hour between the two junctions at weekends.

That claim will be little consolation, however, to homeowners on the 11-mile diversion route who’ll have a motorway’s worth of traffic sent past their houses for nearly 72 hours.

National Highways have insisted people ‘only travel if necessary’, but those inevitably driving for business, pleasure, family visits and other weekend plans will be sent through the Surrey villages of Byfleet, Sheerwater and Ottershaw before returning to the carriageway. Residents in these small communities near the M25 have experienced traffic diversions before – but none on the scale of this closure from 9pm on Friday 15 March to 6am on Monday 18 March.

There have been occasional night closures on the M25 when traffic is minimal, but never in its 38-year history has the motorway opened by Margaret Thatcher been completely closed for an entire weekend.

When Yahoo UK spoke to families on the diversion route about the closure, the message was clear – if their journey wasn’t walkable, they weren’t doing it. For those forced to drive, it’ll be a commute which could be four times longer. For others, weekend trips with children have been cancelled. Businesses on the diversion route have predicted a ‘majorly quiet’ weekend.

“It’ll be carnage”, says Sophie Trippit, a cafe worker who’s lived in Byfleet for 20 years. “Where the cafe is situated, everyone can cut through the village. We call it ‘The Byfleet Bubble’. I’m not planning on going anywhere. I’m lucky to be able to walk to work, and that’s what I’ve told my family to do. It’s not going to be fun.”

Travelling on foot is a plan echoed by Elizabeth Lancemen, a massage and beauty therapist whose home-based business, Nice To Be Kneaded, overlooks the diversion route in the small village of Woodham.

“If you can’t walk somewhere this weekend, don’t go," she told Yahoo UK. “My son has football at the weekend in Byfleet and we can't get there and we've got a kids club on Sunday, which we can't get to either.”

Elizabeth, who has to travel to Wolverhampton on Saturday (“It should be fine getting there, but could be massive trouble getting back”), added that diverted lorries thundering past her home on the A245 often wake her up and make their house shake.

“My parents live a couple of roads away and are away this weekend – I might go there to get some sleep. It’ll be bumper to bumper in the daytime.”

Self-employed Carolyn Atkins, a business owner on the same road who’s lived in the area for 20 years, has similar concerns: “I’m meant to be taking my teenage granddaughter to work experience in Guildford on Sunday and I’m absolutely dreading it. It’s going to be awful. The last time they had a road closure nearby there was traffic everywhere.”

Modelling carried out while the plans were being developed estimated that drivers would face delays of up to five hours without mitigation measures such as urging drivers to stay away and creating diversion routes. A spokesperson for National Highways told Yahoo News UK last week that while they could not give a specific time on how long the diversion would take, it could “potentially add hours” to any journey.

Journey times will inevitably be far longer than normal as thousands of vehicles are forced through the Surrey A-roads, with the diversion likely to affect businesses too. And then there was the recent advice from National Highways to ignore alternative routes suggested by their satnavs – a claim disputed by those in the area.

Darci O'Neill, a pub worker at The Queen's Head in Byfleet, directly on the diversion route, tells us: "I live a 12 minute drive away, but it'll probably take closer to an hour, based on what it's been like before. Any way you go you can get stuck - I've taken the diversion route before and it's taken me even longer."

Charlotte Layton, an office worker at an Equestrian Centre and riding school just off the M25's Junction 10, said small local firms will be hugely affected: "We've had so many cancellations for this weekend, it's going to be majorly quiet. The diversion route is the road used to get to us, so it's going to be an absolute nightmare. I understand they don't have much option, but for people close by they'll be hugely affected."

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Four more daytime closures of the motorway will take place up to September. The project, due to be completed in summer 2025, will increase the number of lanes and make it easier to enter and exit the M25 at junction 10, which is one of the UK’s busiest and most dangerous motorway junctions.

It may be short term pain for supposed long term 'gain' according to National Highways, and some in the area are pragmatic about the disruption ("We'll keep calm and carry on", one church worker tells us), but for thousands near this southwest quadrant of the M25, it's going to be a stationary or slow weekend.

What have the police and AA said about the closure?

Surrey Police told Yahoo UK they've worked alongside partners for plans on the closure, and will continue to provide support all weekend. A spokesperson said: "We have contingency plans in place to bring in additional police resources if necessary."

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for The AA, said; “Roadworks are a necessary evil, but the full closure on this section of the M25 will feel like a new level of hell. The diversion routes will be busy, so drivers need to be prepared for delays. However, some drivers may decide that it’s ‘more trouble than it’s worth’ and cancel their trips altogether.”