Work begins on widening the M25 near Clacket Lane today

by Nisha Chopra

Work on a major upgrade a busy section of the M25 between Kent and Surrey starts today.

Highways Agency workers will begin to clear the hard shoulder ahead of work to turn it into an extra lane later in the year.

The 'managed motorways' scheme is the first in the south east and will see a £250million upgrade to a 15-mile stretch between Sevenoaks and Redhill past Clacket Lane.

Martin Potts, from the Highways Agency, said: "We're looking across the motorway network and for those elements that are heavily stressed with congestion, we're looking to have a programme of‘managed motorway schemes.

"It is a relatively new concept and essentially involves running traffic on the hard shoulder.

"It's about giving us extra capacity and improving the economy for minimal cost."

Workers will be checking more than 1,000 drainage gulleys and chambers, clearing vegetation on the hard shoulder and putting up recovery stations and cameras overnight between J5 and J7.

In November, the roadworks will begin in full - upgrading the central reservation barrier, using four-hour narrow lanes and reducing speed limits.

'Managed motorways' schemes have already been successfully run in the Midlands, which - according to a report by the Highways Agency - reduced congestion on the motorways around Birmingham.

Their research also showed accidents more than halved when using the hard shoulder to carry out works on the M42, between J3a and J7.

However, if there is a collision, Mr Potts added resources are available for the motorway to be "managed".

He said: "There's technology to advise the motorists of lanes being closed and there are cameras from our control centres, so should there be an incident we can attend to it quickly."

The Highways Agency expects to complete the M25 roadworks by 2014/15.