M25 advice

TakeshiKovacs_2

Good morning/afternoon/evening,
This Friday afternoon, I have the unenviable task of driving from Southampton to Southend, for the cause of love. If I get on to the M25 at Junction 2 and want to come off at Junction 29, does anyone have any suggestions as to which way round I should go?
Thanks in advance.
TK

Queenie

Have you tried looking at The AA website .. they have a routeplanner which is quite good

http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp

HTH

Oh and ... hope the course of true love runs smoothly for you

Hunnymonster

Follow the signs for the Dartford Crossing, then you should see signs for Southend reasonably quickly after you've crossed the river.

waster_2

If you are coming from Southampton why would you get on the M25 at Junction 2? Surely you would come up the M27 and M3 and join the M25 at Junction 12?

I would suggest that going anti clockwise, (i.e around the southern Surrey section) which is also the shortest distance between Junctions 13 and 29 may well be quicker as you will miss all the roadworks around Heathrow. Additionally the section from Junction 15, the M4, to the M1 at Junction 21 is often at a crawl if you hit the rush hour.

However, if there are problems on the souther section the northern clockwise route may prove quicker and is only slightly longer. I would suggest you listen to the traffic reports on the radio. BBC Radio London (94.9 FM) is very good and the traffic reports are very frequent - every 10 - 12 mins in the rush hour. I would also suggest you check their web site for traffic info that includes the M25 http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/roads/m25_feature.shtml Also check out the AA and RAC web sites for traffic as well as the Highways Agency site that shows the actual Motorway dot matrix signs on line so you can see what they say,http://195.188.249.61/map/browse.cgi?X=550000&Y=150000&width=500&height=300&client=tcc&srec=0&coordsys=gb&scale=2000000&currentChk=checked&trafficChk=checked&vmsChk=checked

Good luck and safe journey. Hope you have a cuddly, snuggly weekend.

TakeshiKovacs_2

Thanks ever so much for the responses. Sorry I did mean Junction 12 of the M25 - its Junction 2 of the M3. Looks like it'll be a late afternoon check on the net before I set off that determines which way I go, but by default it'll be anti-clockwise.
Has anyone noticed now that the STRICT speed restrictions are in force, on the M25, around Heathrow, that its actually quicker to get through this stretch?
Thanks again, you'll get an invite to the wedding.
TK

spottydog

As you're nearing the M25 tune your radio into 1152MW as they do travel announcements every 10 minutes and make your final decision then. If there is much trouble clockwise between 12 and 29 then go south (should be signposted Gatwick I think) if the much trouble is between 12 and 1 anti clockwise go north via Heathrow. If you go south over the Dartford crossing its a £1 for the toll.

robnye

try to get to the dartford crossing before 4pm.......... traffic starts to build up and tail back.........