M25 works immensely frustrating - council leader

The M25 roadworks are part of a £317m upgrade to the motorway

A council leader in Surrey said roadworks on the M25, which have resulted in full weekend closures along a stretch of the motorway, were "immensely frustrating".

Tim Oliver, leader of Surrey County Council, also said the works were "the right thing to do".

The M25 roadworks are part of a £317m upgrade to the motorway, which will see an increase in the number of lanes to attempt to make journeys safer and a new junction layout to improve traffic flow.

National Highways said the construction work was complex and the new lanes would only be opened when it was safe to do so.

'Massive impact'

Five full weekend closures to a stretch of the M25 were scheduled as part of the improvement scheme.

Two have already gone ahead, one in March and one earlier this month, prompting National Highways, to urge motorists to only travel if "absolutely necessary".

Mr Oliver said the closures had a "massive impact" on residents in Weybridge and Cobham, which were seeing the "displacement of traffic off of the M25".

He added he would continue to lobby National Highways to "not only do this work as quickly as possible but to try and recognise the disruption that these works are causing to all of us".

National Highways senior project manager Simon Elliott said: “We appreciate that the construction work at junction 10 has had a significant impact on traffic flow, especially given the high volume of vehicles that pass through this critical junction daily.

“The construction of the new free-flow left turn lanes between the M25 and A3 are complex. While we will seek to realise the benefit of these lanes early, they will only be opened when it is safe to do so. There is no firm date committed to at this stage and we’ll update on progress.

“Meanwhile, we continue to actively work with Surrey County Council and other stakeholders to mitigate any disruption caused by our construction works and the project remains on track for opening to traffic in 2025.”