Chevening Interchange
| Chevening Interchange | |||
| Location Map ( geo) | |||
 | |||
| A typical day on the Chevening Interchange | |||
| |||
| Location | |||
| Chevening | |||
| County | |||
| Kent | |||
| Highway Authority | |||
| National Highways | |||
| Junction Type | |||
| Unique | |||
| Roads Joined | |||
| M25, M26, A21 | |||
The Chevening Interchange is a restricted access freeflow interchange between the M25 (junction 5), M26 (junction 1) and A21 northwest of Sevenoaks in Kent. It is notorious for requiring a TOTSO for M25 traffic, and having no turn offs for the M26 westbound and A21 northbound. Consequently, the A25 between Sevenoaks and Wrotham is a primary road.
The reason the TOTSO exists is that the M25 was originally going to continue on the M26's mainline, to end on the M20 as part of the Ringway 4 plan. What is now the northbound M25 was originally a simple continuation of the A21 Sevenoaks Bypass. If the Ringways had been built as intended, the junction would have been a 3-level stacked roundabout with a Service Area.
In the late 1970s prior to the motorways being built it was recognised that the proposed limited access junction would cause inconvenience for traffic travelling between south and east. A full access junction was considered but couldn't be justified economically and the decision was taken to proceed with the limited access junction as planned.
In 1986 it was noted that there would hopefully soon be east-facing sliproads built here, after plans for a junction between the M26 and A225 were rejected. These sliproads never materialised. Plans to add the missing sliproads keep surfacing from time to time but without success.
Routes
| Route | To | Notes |
| Dartford Crossing, Stansted Airport (M11), Bromley (A21) | ||
| Gatwick Airport (M23), Heathrow Airport (M4) | ||
| Maidstone, Channel Tnl, Dover (M20) | ||
| Sevenoaks, Hastings | ||
| London, Bromley, Orpington |
Strip Maps
The planned layout of the interchange.
Chevening Interchange as it was in 1980.
The current layout of the interchange.
Links
legislation.gov.uk
- The M25 Motorway (Junction 5) (50 Miles Per Hour Speed Limit) Regulations 2020 - These Regulations introduce a 50 miles per hour speed limit on a length of the clockwise carriageway of the M25 motorway at junction 5 which merges with the south-westbound carriageway of the M26 motorway.
Links
Roads.org.uk - Bad Junctions CBRD - Ringway 4
