Need to get into Felixstowe for about 10am coming in from the west (M4), what’s it going to cost me ?
If I set off about 5am I’m going to hit it the rush hour, not good me thinks 
Choices I have…
1 is a maybe, 2 is a no no, and 3 sounds like a plan 
I could live with perhaps an hour delay, but not much more, any way around it ?
The roadworks 16 - 18 clockwise arent too bad now as they have made it into 3 lanes instead of 2 lanes and a car only lane. It can still be busy at some times but its much much better then it was a few weeks ago. Used to take me about 1hr and 20 minutes to get through it! I am not sure what its like after J21 though as i head up the M1.
Then youve the folk that think its a good idea to crash and wreck the hole job or break down…
as we do a lot of london work i have worked out recently that if you can get into the roadwroks BEFORE 0615 you can sail through them both ways, if you get into them later than that its a PITA and you can sometimes look at about hour and half to get through them.
i dont know if this helps you or not but its my theory and i stick to it rigidly (if i can)
They dont go as far as J23, i think it’s 16-19!
I regulary make the mistake of getting to J21, looking ahead and it’s clear, only to get a few hundred meteres up the road and end up at a stand still. It’s taken me up to an hour to get to the A41 at J20 at times 
This is usually around 7am-ish.
When i did the Reading Uni run, i used to go through those roadworks around half 5 ish (am) and never had a problem!
I’ve also been caught in jams from the roadworks right back to on the M4 before returning from the Uni, so i’d say the earlier you can get through them, the better.
do,nt forget the roadworks between j26-28 aswell rather you than me oh yeah plus the a12 roadworks at whitham glad i,m heading north monday 
personally i,d run sunday park at the bp garage just before the a120 on the a12(free parking)and have a lay in monday 
n17 trucker:
do,nt forget the roadworks between j26-28 aswell rather you than me oh yeah plus the a12 roadworks at whitham glad i,m heading north monday
That’s a good point, i didn’t think of those
Definitly leave early 
I’ve left from beenham (jct 12 m4) at around 8am and the 25 has been pretty good when I got round to the roadworks, gets abit snarled up around where the m40 traffic joins but once you past there its not too bad, may be abit heavy at the bell common tunnel as it’s 40mph through there with more roadworks (50mph) on the other side, plus you got traffic coming on from the m11.
There is also roadworks on the a12 now around Colchester? 50mph limit again.
The only other alternative is maybe come round the bottom? Cut down to m3 via the 329 through baggshot, round the bottom through tunnel, up the a13, a130 and onto the a12, not sure how much longer it’ll take but there is the cost of the tunnel to take into account?
I haven’t been up round Colchester way for a few weeks so i dont know about those, but it wouldn’t suprise me. They have a habit of starting major roadworks on the A12 at Christmas and cause absolute chaos!
C-Kay is an idiot!
Thanks for your help folks, by the sounds of it this would be the most sensible…
n17 trucker:
do,nt forget the roadworks between j26-28 aswell rather you than me oh yeah plus the a12 roadworks at whitham glad i,m heading north monday
Especially the “free” and “lay in” bit 
Been told I need to be at the gate by 11 to register, so my guess is I’d need to set off from Cardiff before 5am to make it ?
A one hit to the bp and 11 off sounds more attractive…
i’d set off get there be4 and take my 45min so i had a clear run (4.30hours driving) or if you need a full day set off and get there and take 9 hours off there
n17 trucker:
do,nt forget the roadworks between j26-28 aswell rather you than me oh yeah plus the a12 roadworks at whitham glad i,m heading north monday
From the M4 you can miss the whole lot even from as far out as Swindon by using A roads to cut across to the A 41 then from Luton on the 505 to Newmarket and then the A14.