M25 traffic jam, information boards not updated

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I'm really fed up getting stuck in traffic jams on our motorways, particularly the M25 because the traffic information boards either do not have up to date information, or worst case there is no information at all.  Listening to the radio for traffic reports is useful, but not always accurate or timely either.

Here is an example of a trip I made recently that highlights the problems I faced on what should have been a straightforward journey.  Ok, Im trying to get to Oxford on Friday afternoon from Kent, my normal route is A21, M25 and M40, just as I approach the A21/M25 junction there is a board on the side of the road that should warn you of problems on the M25.  Nothing on the board so great I think to myself, it's all clear and should be an easy trip.

M25 - Why didn't they just close the junctions?

Alas no, 20 minutes later I find myself in the worst traffic jam ever.  The M25 is closed from junction 8 to junction 10 and I am completely stuck!  Why on earth didn't they close the junctions allowing people onto the M25, or at least use the warning boards they have to advise drivers of issues before they joined the motorway?

So, after the superb skills of the highways people and police, I am stuck in a lengthening tailback for 2 hours before I am finally able to get to a junction and turn around, only to find the M25 traffic anticlockwise is also stuck at Dartford because of an accident.  I can understand accidents happen, but I feel the traffic was made a lot worse by a clear lack of communication.

I never did make it to Oxford that day after more than 2 hours of driving and I had travelled only 20 miles in all that time.  Next time I'll give the M25 a complete miss altogether and I might actually reach my destination!

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collar

Guys come on to the M23 from the A3(M) - its all a little fun this day of the year to have the car out on the road round to have a family visit and a BBQ in our back garden,
As a tax payer I believe the signs should be deployed above the highways, and should not be switched off as everything we do on the motorway that is there to get us to our destination is already in place, next you get the police people who will nick a few for going to the toilet on the hard shoulder saying its not safe enough for you,
I say we need a break and stop fining us for minor things in life.

18/04/14 collar

0

Anon

Another easter and all the same idiots out there in cars blocking all the roads up. You'd think they'd learn, no they don't. By the time they get home they are more stressed than when they left. Good old England, you never change.

18/04/14 Anon

0

Jethro

Just heard the traffic news, M25 jammed up again as with other routes. I suppose this is what it's going to be like all the time very soon with all these people coming into the country. Very little point in owning a posh car if you can't go anywhere, just sitting in lines of slow moving traffic.

18/04/14 Jethro

0

jonty

Two weekends running I have been on the M25 clockwise and missed the junction to the M1 (Jctn 21). Are the signs missing, too small or do I need new glasses? I looked out for the junction and then realised I was heading for Potters Bar, so I had to exit from Jctn 22 and head back. For such a major intersection I think the signage is not nearly prominent enough. Has anyone else done that?

19/09/10 jonty

-6

Melo

sat 7 August carshalton to cambridge via m23, m25, m11 easy. 14m tailback on m25 dartford crossing. Journey aborted, destination not reached. M25 management poor. Not good.

09/08/10 Melo

-31

mark8364

saturday 7th august, gillingham to steeple claydon, bucks via M2, M25, M40 normally takes 2 1/2 hours took 7 hours 20 mins due to oil spill on the M25. Better warning before the M25 would have given us time to take a different route

08/08/10 mark8364

-23

woody234

I got stuck on there on the 26th its a bad road from 10am to 6am

27/12/09 woody234

-5

Don Brentwood

We recently travelled from the West and were using M4 - M25 on a Saturday. We were warned that Junctions 27 & 28 were closed, but foolishly thought the M11would still be operating. Apparently not, so everyone tried to pile off at Junction 26. There was no help or geographical advice for alterantive routes for those wothout maps who thought they only had to find the QE2 bridge, heaven help anyone trying to get to Stansted. The police kept the whole things closed from 14:00 to 20:30 and what puzzles me is why there is no agenct to get things moving more quickly. I have seen the police in the past dawdling over accidents and apparently completely unaware of traffic. Perhaps we need another agency with different priorities; certainly to care for the injured quickly, but, that having been done, to get traffic moving again. What foreigners must think I cannot imagine.

12/09/09 Don Brentwood

-4

Terry

You're wise to avoid the M25. It's very busy at the best of times.

15/06/09 Terry

-9

Alex R

If the motorways are closed then it overloads the local road network, it's far easier to keep the motorway open and keep the congestion to one road rather than 43 in the surrounding area. As to the lack of communication, that is very bad, but I've found that the accuracy of the Matrix signs has increased over the last few years. It's just bad that the M25 is nearly the busiest motorway in the UK and they can't keep track of each stretch of road. I mean, some sections of it are so ancient, they are probably unaware of queues building up.

My advice? Avoid the M25 during the daytime altogether.

19/03/09 Alex R

-6

leslog

why do drivers ignore safety warnings on motorways driving rain on sundayon m25 m11 signs for spray plus 50mph ,drivers whizzing by me causing spray making it difficult ,with the spray lashing on the windsreen to drive safetly why do these idiots put other road users at risk these warnings are there for a reason with adverse weather conditions etc

26/01/09 leslog

-13

BarnTupton

Try Walking Matey. Good for the body, good for the soul, good for the spirit, good for the earth, good for politics etc. To see the world from your own 2 feet and to admire the land is an honour and most journeys are unnessecary.

22/01/09 BarnTupton

-13

Neil

Using our road now is becoming very frustrating and unproductive, the issue appears to centre on the lack of skilled management in controlling road closures (a modern phoneme) Its just too easy to close the road. We need a change in the accountable managers and put people in place that understand the need to keep the roads open. Remember some one somewhere has to earn the income to pay that tax that keeps these people.

24/12/08 Neil

-11

Nad

2 hours??? Try 4.5 hours for a 29 mile journey
2 hours??? Try 4.5 hours for a 29 mile journey
2 hours??? Try 4.5 hours for a 29 mile journey
2 hours??? Try 4.5 hours for a 29 mile journey

06/11/08 Nad

-16

Tony

The M25 is nothing but a huge car park. It was not like this a few years ago but then, we didn't have as many people on this Island as we do now.

I really love traffic jams, I don't get frustrated at all. I enjoy wasting precious fuel (burn more fuel stationery than in motion), the sweet aroma of the clutch, stops and starts and in-car entertainment of watching the fuel gauge elevate.

03/07/08 Tony

-4

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