M3/M25/M1 Monday Mornings
Discussion
I'm looking at the feasibility of doing an early Monday morning commute from near Winchester on the M3 up to Luton. The plan would be to leave at about 6am, which on a clear road would get me to Luton at about 7:15 in time for work. Has anyone got any experience of the road conditions at this time? I know that the M25 anti-clockwise becomes a car park from about 6am but after keeping an eye on google traffic over the last few days it looks as though clockwise isn't so bad?
No chance! 6am start might get you to Luton for 9am, and I'm not joking. Take it from someone who used to do similar journeys from Winchester...Unfortunately Mr Luxury-Yacht is correct in his assessement, I drive up the M3 on a regular basis and it's stop start traffic up the the M25 from 6am onward and then gets worse the later it is. The M25 around to M1 won't exactly be a barrel of laughs either.
You then need to consider getting home in the evening because the M25 will probably be worse.
Try it once for the experience and then think how much it will compromise your will to live if you have to do it every day.
You then need to consider getting home in the evening because the M25 will probably be worse.Try it once for the experience and then think how much it will compromise your will to live if you have to do it every day.
I actually do the journey fairly regularly already which is why I know I can get to Luton in about 1:15 minutes on a clear road (normally I do the journey in the evening). Trying to do the journey on a Monday morning instead is an experiment to see how feasible it could be in future..
Trevelyan said:
I actually do the journey fairly regularly already which is why I know I can get to Luton in about 1:15 minutes on a clear road (normally I do the journey in the evening). Trying to do the journey on a Monday morning instead is an experiment to see how feasible it could be in future..
It will be an utter t
t, I promise - been there more times than I care to think about. Give it a go then let us know how you get on...
What sort of time of the morning do you make the journey? I'll be doing it in the opposite direction to you but I guess traffic volumes are comparable. I'm now thinking of leaving Winchester at about 5:30am to try and hit the M25 by 6. I've also already warned my manager that I may be late on Monday. I figure I've got to try it once, if it doesn't work then at least I'll know for the future!
Thankfully it would only be on a Monday. I actually live north of Luton during the week but spend weekends near Winchester. Normally I travel back up on a Sunday night but it spoils the weekend. It also seems a bit pointless - I work less than 5 mins from M1 J10 and live near J12/13 so drive past work to get home, go straight to bed then get up and drive back to J10 first thing in the morning. Being able to come straight to work would gain me sleep and save some fuel!
Thankfully it would only be on a Monday. I actually live north of Luton during the week but spend weekends near Winchester. Normally I travel back up on a Sunday night but it spoils the weekend. It also seems a bit pointless - I work less than 5 mins from M1 J10 and live near J12/13 so drive past work to get home, go straight to bed then get up and drive back to J10 first thing in the morning. Being able to come straight to work would gain me sleep and save some fuel!
I reckon you might be alright at 530.
It is definitely one of those journeys that every 10 minutes later you leave it you can add 20-30 minutes on to the total time you take.
Doing the journey one way, once a week will be fine I think as long as you set off at 530 or before.
Report back for us on Monday
It is definitely one of those journeys that every 10 minutes later you leave it you can add 20-30 minutes on to the total time you take.
Doing the journey one way, once a week will be fine I think as long as you set off at 530 or before.
Report back for us on Monday
Well it went remarkably well, thanks mainly to the advice on here. I left just after 05:30 and went cross country to get on the M3 at Basingstoke (I was starting from 8 miles or so the East of Winchester). Apart from a bit of fog around it was quite a smooth journey. I hit the M3 dead on 6am and pulled into the work car park at about 7:10. I could see the traffic building quickly though so I think if I'd have been 15 or so minutes later it would have been a different story. Thanks all...
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