M25 to close for 13 hours this weekend to install 95m bridge

Photos of the first of eight bridges being built last year

Sections of the M25 will be closed again this weekend near the Wisley Interchange. Ongoing widening work means that the motorway will be shut for 13 hours overnight, as a new footbridge is constructed over the road. National Highway’s diversions mean it could take drivers more than 20 minutes extra to get to where they are going.

The carriageway will be closed overnight in both directions on Saturday, January 13. Going clockwise motorists will be unable to drive from junction 9 (just outside Leatherhead ) to junction 10 (where the motorway meets the A3 at Wisley).

From 9pm on Saturday, January 13 until 10am on Sunday, January 14 cars going in this direction will need to take a nearly 7 mile diversion. Motorists should travel via junction 8 (M25) to the A217 (Brighton Road) to A240 (Ewell By Pass) to A3 southbound to the M25 junction 10.

This route is only viable for vehicles under 14’6”, meaning taller HGV’s will have to go elsewhere. The suggested diversion for them is via the A243 towards Hook (Chessington) before following the A309, A307, A245 Painshill and A3 southbound for junction 10.

Drivers should take note that this overnight closure is a bit longer than normal. While National Highways usually schedule their nighttime diversions to end at 6am the next morning, this weekend work will go on until 10am on Sunday. This means that motorists heading from Reigate towards popular beauty spots such as RHS Wisley and Painshill for a morning walk will need to go the long way round.

Travelling anti-clockwise the M25 will also be closed between slip-roads for the same period of time. National Highways suggest that drivers exit and re-enter junction 10 anti-clockwise.

The closures are in place so that National Highways can continue its bridge building. Improvement works on the M25 junction 10/A3 Wisley interchange mean the company will build eight bridges in efforts to improve congestion and make journeys safer.

This weekend’s closures are for the Sandpit Hill footbridge, linking Ockham Common and Painshill. At 95m it is the longest bridge of the project; it will allow pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders to pass over the motorway. As it is such a big installation more closures will be needed at the end of the month.

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