New M25 Junction 10 A3 Cycle Path Wisley to Cobham Interchange

Crossing the new Sandpit Bridge over the M25

In 2017, the then Highways England (now National Highways) started consulting on the options for improving Junction 10 of the M25, aka Wisley A3/M25 Interchange. This included plans for a route for 'Non-Motorised Users' (NMU), a collective term for pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders etc etc. I did a blog cycling the path as it was then. Today, some 9 years later, I rode the new path from the Wisley Gardens car park, around Junction 10 and up to the Cobham Interchange. I did not cycle the bit from the Ockham Interchange, which is a wide cycle path beside the new Wisley access road, crossing the A3 on the new road bridge.

Here is a map.

My route today is in BLUE. The route from the Ockham Interchange is in PURPLE. NB as of today, the Google satellite imagery does not yet show the new infrastructure.

In summary, this is an excellent route for cyclists. It is a wide tarmac path all the way, and includes three new dedicated NMU bridges in addition to the Wisley road bridge:

Cockcrow Green bridge, over the A3 near the Ockham Bites cafe
Sandpit Hill, over the M25 East of J10
Redhill Road Bridge over the A3

There is also a new Clearmount bridge over the M25 West of J10, linking Wisley Common to Byfleet communities: this is not directly on the new NMU route.

In the planning stage, consideration was given to a route that would stay on the Guildford-bound side of the A3, but problems with running alongside the Bolder Mere lake led to swapping sides via the Wisley road bridge, then back again on the new Green Cockrow Bridge. Likewise, I suppose a direct approach up to the Cobham roundabout on the Guildford-bound side was judged too difficult, plus there was a ready-made route along the old Redhill Road on the other side, hence the swap back to the London-bound side via the new Redhill Road Bridge.

The 'jink' over the new Sandpit Hill bridge over the M25 avoids the need for cyclists to negotiate direct crossings of the J10 arms (as used to be the case).

For the last bit up to the Cobham roundabout, the somewhat circuitous route makes a dogleg via the old Seven Hills Road up to, and then alongside, the A245. Presumably, they judged that there was not enough space to squeeze in a new path alongside the A3.

The track has the regulation width and shallow gradients specified to meet the needs of all users. There is no specific figure for the cost, although the Green Cockrow bridge is said to have cost £3.7 million alone.

This new 4-mile route must surely be one of the highest standard roadside cycle routes in the country. The problem, as so often, is that it is not part of a coherent through-route connecting significant destinations. To the South West, it can only be reached from Guildford by a typical 'patchwork' route, alongside the A3 on a rough pavement to the Ripley Turn, then an on-road 'white line' route through the village of Ripley, terminating in a narrow bottleneck coming out of the village to the Ockham roundabout. From the Cobham roundabout, there is no obvious onward route, apart from crossing the junction arms (new lights have been installed), then a dodgy descent on the pavement to Cobham village. Hopefully, in time, this lack of safe connectivity will be rectified, especially with new housing developments at Burntcommon and Wisley Airfield, with several others in the offing.

Here's some photos of the route, heading from Wisley Gardens to the Cobham Interchange.