by Elizabeth Daly • A contraflow on one of the
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busiest sections of the M25 is a potential accident blackspot, say truck drivers.
Trucks must use the hard shoulder extended in width by lm, in the roadworks, on the anti-clockwise carriageway between J8 and J7 in Surrey. Drivers say that surface rutting and sinking on the 4kin stretch, between Reigate and Godstone, is causing their trailers to swing into the adjacent lane.
Tony Grech, a driver for Feltham-based Plane Trucking, says: "If you want to drive in a straight line you have to encroach on the middle lane, because if you remain within the inside lane markings the ruts make the trailer jump about so much you're in danger of clipping the cars in the middle lane. There will be a really bad accident there soon." Ray Ford, a driver with Southallbased Dodds Transport, agrees: "You see it happening to the trucks all the time—I'm surprised there hasn't been a major accident!"
PC Martin Keel at Surrey Police agrees there is a potential danger. But Parkman Consulting Engineers, responsible for the initial contraflow plans, says the 50mph speed limit on the contraflow makes it safe. "The tarmac width extension is not keyed into the concrete carriageway," he says, "so the weight of traffic can cause it to sink, creating a lip. However, we are aware of the problem and it is constantly being repaired."