Five lanes to fight congestion on M25
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The M25 is to be converted to five lanes in some sections as part of a Government "action plan" to cope with a forecast doubling of traffic.
The decision, unveiled this week by the Department of Transport, also includes more lights and improved signalling and traffic lights on slip roads.
Currently 50% of the motorway is lit, and 220m will be spent on lighting the rest — apart from one section in Kent.
Overhead signs will inform drivers of road conditions ahead and possible detours.
Some of the motorway's 31 junctions will be fitted with traffic lights to control vehicles entering the 188km motorway.
The programme follows the Department's announcement last year that it plans a Ubn investment to expand most of the motorway to four lanes.
DTp consultants warned that unless four lanes were made the M25 "would become extremely congested for most of the working day". They predict traffic will almost double by the year 2007 compared with 1987 just after the motorway was opened.
In the long-term, the Department is pressing ahead with studies into four orbital corridors outside the M25. But has rejected suggestions for a 50mph speed limit.
Heathrow-based haulier Plane Trucking, a regular M25 user, says: "Increasing to four or five lanes won't help at all. And the traffic lights will cause a backlog on to the slip roads."