One of the busiest stretches of the UK’s M25 has reopened ahead of schedule following an unprecedented daytime closure which came into effect on Friday. The five-mile stretch was due to be shut until Monday, but after the demolition of Clearmount bridge was completed 8 hours ahead of schedule, the road was reopened on Sunday evening, just after 22:00. It is believed that the first closure is part of a plan of five road closures in the future that will be announced soon.
National Highways project lead, Jonathan Wade praised drivers for taking into account the advice offered by the authorities requiring people to reduce their travel. As a result, traffic levels plummeted by more than 50%, which meant that journey time only increased by around 30 minutes. Wade also expressed delight, saying that the early completion of the work was a great achievement and that the longer term goal was to improve both road safety and air quality in the UK.
The closure involved both carriageways of the M25 between Junctions 10 and 11. Motorists were warned in advance to limit their travel only to essential trips. National Highways suggested that the carriageway in question carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles per hour in each direction on weekends between 10:00 and 21:00. The fact that the closure went ahead during peak times underscores the significance of the efforts being made to address the UK’s present pollution and congestion problems.
National Highways did not specify when the second road closure would take place, but said that people would be informed shortly to give them enough time to plan the journey ahead
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