(AFP via Getty Images)
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Drivers have been warned to “stay at home” as the unprecedented closure of the M25 is expected to cause a “carmageddon” of gridlock traffic this weekend.
Miles-long tailbacks had already begun on Saturday in the run-up to the five-mile closure between Junctions 10 and 11 in Surrey, which was closed in both directions at 9pm on Friday and will remain shut off until 6am on Monday while a bridge is demolished and a new gantry is installed.
It is the first planned daytime closure of the motorway – which encircles London – since it opened in 1986. National Highways said its modelling indicated vehicles would face delays of up to five hours without mitigation measures, such as urging drivers to stay away.
An 11.5-mile diversion route has been created to direct traffic along A roads – and Inrix data suggested there were queues of around six miles along the route at Cobham on Saturday.
The M25 normally carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles in each direction every hour from 10am until 9pm at weekends between Junctions 9 and 11.
In pictures: Travel chaos as stretch of M25 closed until Monday
An information sign as traffic builds up in Cobham, Surrey, near to a closed section of the M25 (Yui Mok/PA)
(PA Wire)
(AFP via Getty Images)
A view of traffic approaching junction 10 of the M25 in Surrey during a site visit ahead of a planned closure of both carriageways
(Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)
Athena Stavrou16 March 2024 20:30
Business owners affected by M25 closure
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, told PA he expects to see 50% of the firm’s turnover for the weekend go “down the drain”.
Mr Pollak said he had to refuse a request for Billy Tong 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.
Athena Stavrou16 March 2024 19:30
Parts of M25 see two miles of congestion
Two miles of congestion was seen on the M25 in Surrey on Saturday morning after a section of it was closed.
A five-mile stretch of the motorway between junctions 10 and 11 was closed in both…
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