Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - oldroverboy.

Had to go from Cochester to Heathrow friday afternoon, expecting Chaos, but at Road maximum speeds all the way through.. left at 4pm

.Is brexit working?

Return journey 1 hr 40 minutes

Edited by oldroverboy. on 22/07/2017 at 08:03

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - John F

Had to go from near Wellingborough to LHR and back last Monday morning - 160m return, all dual carriage way/Mway. Should have taken little more than 2hrs at the sensible French mway speed of 80mph. But took the whole morning from 6.30am. I feel very sorry for those who have to waste their days regularly on our inadequate roads.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Engineer Andy

Had to go from Cochester to Heathrow friday afternoon, expecting Chaos, but at Road maximum speeds all the way through.. left at 4pm

.Is brexit working?

Return journey 1 hr 40 minutes

Probably just good luck more than any other reason - for once, there may not have been any accidents on the M25 that day!

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - bathtub tom

I went from the M3 to M1 the other Saturday evening around 9-10pm. Hit stop-start traffic at M4 and LHR junctions and numerous 40MPH limits. There was a long stationary queue on the anti-clockwise side!

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Wackyracer

That has got to be a one off, I've spent many a friday afternoon creeping from J6 around to the Dartford crossing in the traffic.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - oldroverboy.

That has got to be a one off, I've spent many a friday afternoon creeping from J6 around to the Dartford crossing in the traffic.

Certainly surprised us... we had time to go for some food before going into the airport...

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Wackyracer

It usually takes me an hour to get from the M25 to Colchester on the A12.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Smileyman

Lucky, lucky, now try to do the same again a second time!

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - oldroverboy.

Lucky, lucky, now try to do the same again a second time!

Agreed... but happy all the same.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Ethan Edwards

When crossrail is fully open just get to Shenfield and let the train take the strain.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - RaineMan

A couple of Sundays ago I visited relatives in Kent (vis Dartford crossing). A few years ago it was just under two hours each way. Ignoring breaks it took two and a half to get there and four to return!

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - carl233

Use this awful motorway around 1 or sometimes 2 days a week and often there are issues. Lanes 1 and 2 are usually off limits due to HGV's side by side for miles on end and more recently they seem to take up the 3rd lane as well leaving the car driver with a single lane for making progress.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - gordonbennet

Use this awful motorway around 1 or sometimes 2 days a week and often there are issues. Lanes 1 and 2 are usually off limits due to HGV's side by side for miles on end and more recently they seem to take up the 3rd lane as well leaving the car driver with a single lane for making progress.

In another 10 years it will be three lanes solid of HGV's 24/7 when the population has increased by another 5 million, something to look forward to.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Smileyman

what is really worrying when looking at the proposal for a new tunnel further east of Dartford is the image of only two lanes in each direction .... really ought to be constructed 4 lanes in each direction from the start .... anything less will merely be an excercise in planned future congestion!

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Ethan Edwards

Totally Agree.

I remember when the QE2 bridge opened I said it should have been a double deck one like I saw in San Francisco several years ago. Even if it wasn't going to be used for a few years. Because it will be needed and then will cost five times as much to build then as it will now.

Still holds true. Need two lanes now? Build six or eight.

British short term thinking doing it on the cheap always costs more in the long run.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - oldroverboy.

Still holds true. Need two lanes now? Build six or eight.

British short term thinking doing it on the cheap always costs more in the long run.

Absolutely true...

BUT.. here in the uk there is an obsession with price and cost. A bigger bridge or tunnel will cost more.. Now every engineering project is vastly undercosted to appear "Good Value" and then costs double or triple, and faces years of planning appeals/inquiries/appeals cuts in funding and then the inevitable higher costs.

Don't get me going on the state of essex highways...

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - Brit_in_Germany

British short term thinking doing it on the cheap always costs more in the long run.

This has always been the case. The M25 planning (from memory) was that either you have an inner and an outer orbital if they are three lanes or an outer orbital with six. What did they buid?

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - carl233

I do not know how people manage to drive around the M25 or indeed many areas of outer London on a daily basis it must be soul destroying. Would not even consider living in that area for any amount of money.

Off to heathrow - M25 Friday (smiles all round) - oldroverboy.

I do not know how people manage to drive around the M25 or indeed many areas of outer London on a daily basis it must be soul destroying. Would not even consider living in that area for any amount of money.

People do live there.... for employment and money because there is no choice.

I Know someone who lives in Colchester and wotks in Chelsea?Kensington, and he drives evry day.. self employed gardner. Another friend drives from swindon to heathrow daily.... and a hefty % of essex drives/trains or buses into Londo daily.