Drivers heading out this Halloween weekend face a crowded map of closures and restrictions, with the A40 Westway shutting westbound, the M25 closing at junction 15, and lane restrictions at Brent Cross all landing at once.
The biggest single closure is on the A40 Westway, which closes westbound between Westway Roundabout and Marylebone Flyover from 10pm on Friday 30 October until 5am on Monday 2 November. Signed diversions will be in place. The work is part of ongoing renewals following a bus fire, and drivers using the route late on Friday or over the weekend should expect to be sent another way.
On the M25, the anticlockwise carriageway at junction 15 closes from 8pm on Saturday 31 October until 10am on Sunday 1 November, where the motorway crosses the M4. Traffic will be diverted to and from M4 junction 5. The clockwise carriageway stays open, as do all the links between the M25 and the M4. The reason is preparatory work ahead of replacing two bridge expansion joints in 2027.
This is the same junction 15 closure that was previously postponed. Our earlier report on the postponement of the M25 Heathrow weekend closure set out the original plan; it is now going ahead on these dates, Saturday night into Sunday morning.
At Brent Cross, the disruption is less dramatic but longer lasting. The A41 and surrounding roads face lane restrictions until 20 November for essential safety works, with a contraflow on the A41 flyover from 30 October reducing the road space available. The A406 North Circular westbound through the Brent Cross interchange is also lane-restricted. Journeys on the A41 Hendon Way, the A406 and the surrounding roads are expected to take longer, and for longer journeys the M25 is recommended where appropriate. The area has form for this kind of disruption, with earlier Brent Cross roadworks hitting the A41 and A406 in a similar way.
Elsewhere on the North Circular, the westbound carriageway through Crooked Billet faces significant delays until 4 November, with lane closures in place for a Thames Water water-main leak repair. Queues may extend back to Redbridge Roundabout and its approaches, so anyone heading that way should allow extra time.
The Blackwall Tunnel is also affected. Northbound traffic was diverted on 29 October and southbound traffic is diverted on 30 October, via Aspen Way, Commercial Road, Whitechapel and the A11 Mile End and Bow Road, because of emergency roadworks on the northbound approach.
Events will add to the pressure. On Friday 30 October there are events at the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena and O2 Academy Brixton. On Saturday 31 October, a motoring event takes place on Pall Mall, music events are on at Ironworks and Drumsheds, and football is on at Stamford Bridge, London Stadium, Gtech Community Stadium, The Den and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Expect increased footfall and traffic around those venues, with possible local road closures.
Trams are hit too. There is no service between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and New Addington until 5 November, because of essential engineering works. Rail replacement buses are running between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction via Elmers End, and between East Croydon and New Addington, and passengers are advised to use local buses where they can.
The general advice for the weekend is simple: plan ahead, allow more time than usual, and check before travelling. With a motorway closure, a Westway shutdown, Brent Cross restrictions and a full events calendar colliding, the journeys that go wrong this weekend will mostly be the ones nobody planned.
For anyone driving, the diversion details are worth pinning down before setting off. Westway traffic follows the signed diversions around the closed westbound stretch, M25 traffic at junction 15 is sent to and from M4 junction 5, and Blackwall Tunnel traffic uses Aspen Way, Commercial Road, Whitechapel and the A11 Mile End and Bow Road. Tram passengers, meanwhile, have rail replacement buses on both affected Croydon routes, plus local buses as an alternative. With so many separate works overlapping, the same advice applies across the board: check the route, leave earlier than usual, and expect the journey to take longer than it normally would.
