An “increasing number” of motorists are “choosing to ignore” the official diversion route around the M25 closure, highways bosses have warned.
Estradas Nacionais claims to be making “good progress” in installing a new gantry and a new swing bridge between junctions 9 and 10 of the motorway.
The 11 kilometer stretch, passing through Surrey, closed at 9pm on Friday and is expected to reopen at 6am on Monday, whilst works take place.
A planned 30-kilometer diversion route, which sends vehicles through parts of the Surrey it’s bigger Londonis in effect during the closure.
However, National Highways claims that some drivers do not follow the route and instead follow another route specified for freight vehicles.
Simon Elliott, senior project manager at National Highways, said: “It is important that motorists follow the established diversion route.”
The official clockwise route for non-freight vehicles involves drivers exiting at junction 8, before traveling along the A217, A240, A24 and A3, before returning to the M25 at junction 10.
Freight vehicles should continue to Junction 9 and head towards Chessington via the A243 and then return to Junction 10 via the A307.
However, Mr Elliott said non-freight drivers also used this route.
“Exiting at junction 9 means that non-freight drivers will end up traveling behind or alongside HGVs, something we are actively trying to avoid and which is likely to have a negative impact on journey times, congestion and the communities they pass through. “, he said.
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This weekend’s closure is the second of five planned closures of the motorway and comes after a section between junctions 10 and 11 was closed in March.
On that occasion, fears that diversion routes would be overloaded turned out to be unfounded, as traffic levels were more than two-thirds lower than normal following a widespread awareness campaign.
The detour takes drivers along roads A. Photo: PA
National Highways says this weekend’s closure is to allow for the installation of a new bridge between Junction 9 and Junction 10.
See more information:
Everything you need to know before the M25 closes
Aerial footage shows calm amid congestion fears on M25
The previous closure was to allow for the demolition of the Clearmount Bridge between Junction 10 and Junction 11 and the installation of a large gantry.
Three further weekend closures of the M25 are scheduled to take place between August and the end of the year.
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