Proposals for a pair of new motorway services areas (MSAs) on the M25 near Brentwood are on hold until Moto can demonstrate that its slip-road designs for the £80m project meet road safety regulations.
National Highways, which is responsible for the UK’s strategic road network (SRN) of motorways and major A roads, says the services, proposed for both sides of the London orbital between Junctions 27 and 28, “have the potential to impact on the safe and efficient operation of the strategic road network”.
Road building regulations comprise myriad rules and documents, with motorways having some of the strictest criteria in the DMRB (Design Manual for Roads and Bridges).
National Highways says a Road Safety Audit stage 1 for the services is “still outstanding”, and without seeing this and other plans it cannot give its blessing to the project, as “it is currently not possible to determine whether the application would have an unacceptable impact on the safety, reliability and/or operational efficiency of the SRN”.
The highways agency says discussions with Moto are “ongoing”, however, and “progress is being made”.
The development is still in the outline stages of planning, but is set to comprise a 36,000sq ft main amenity building on each side of the motorway. A pair of six-pump-island filling stations is also proposed for the two services, which would each offer parking for 410 cars, 203 HGVs and 20 coaches. A “large number” of EV charging bays are set to be offered, together with six rapid chargers for electric HGVs.
