Ignore satnavs and stick to diversion routes, motorists have been told ahead of an “unprecedented” closure on the M25 this weekend.
Drivers are warned to stay away from a five-mile stretch of the motorway in Surrey between junctions 10 and 11, which will be shut in both directions from 9pm on Friday until 6am on Monday.
This will be the first scheduled daytime all-lanes shutdown on the M25 since it opened in 1986, with National Highways planning to demolish a bridge and install a new gantry.
While the plans were being developed, modelling suggested drivers would face delays of up to five hours without mitigation measures such as urging drivers to stay away and creating diversion routes.
National Highways believes only around an hour will be added to journeys because of the steps it has taken, which is based on a reduction in traffic of 50%.
The government-owned company’s project lead Jonathan Wade said how well the area copes with the closure will partly depend on whether drivers stick to official diversions.
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Everything you need to know about the M25 closure
He said: “How many people are going to take the initiative and try and use satnavs?
“There’s probably a greater risk of congestion by people just doing their own thing and thinking they can perhaps beat the signs and find a shorter or quicker route.
“That will cause further congestion on some of the key junctions so please avoid doing that if at all possible.”
Senior project manager Daniel Kittredge added moving away from diversion routes would create “additional issues” in different parts of the road network.
But Mr Wade admitted it is difficult to know how long delays will take because it is “so unprecedented”.
“There’s never been a closure of this nature, we really can’t be certain how many people will heed the messages which we’ve given,” he added.
“It’s very difficult to determine right now how effective all our traffic management will be. Please don’t travel if you can avoid it.”
The M25 normally carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles in each direction per hour from 10am until 9pm at weekends between junctions 9 and 11.
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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 hope to make it easier to enter and exit the M25 at junction 10, which is one of the UK’s most dangerous junctions.
