The next full closure of a section of the M25 in Surrey will not take place until after April, National Highways announced.
A five-mile stretch between junctions 10 and 11 closed in both directions from Friday night until around 6am on Monday.
The agency said the next closure of the motorway will be between junction nine, at Leatherhead, and junction 10, near the A3.
It is not expected “until after April” and will "involve a longer diversion”.
The carriageway between junctions nine and 11 carries between 4,000 and 6,000 vehicles per hour in each direction between 10am and 9pm on a weekend, National Highways said.
A further three closures are planned before September.
Last weekend’s shutdown prompted concerns that thousands of drivers would be stuck in gridlocked traffic on the south-west of the orbital route.
There had been some build-up, with congestion stretching two miles at one point, but traffic along the new route through the towns of Byfleet, West Byfleet, Woking and Ottershaw was not as bad as feared.
Drivers were told to avoid travelling over the weekend, and the advice meant traffic levels were reduced by more than 50 per cent compared with normal and around half an hour was added to journey times.
The closure was the first time all lanes of the M25 were closed since it opened in 1986.
The works were part of a wider £317m project by National Highways. The firm says the decision will lead to improvements, such as increasing the number of lanes, providing safer entry roads for Wisley, Pyrford, Old Byfleet, and RHS Wisley, and reducing pollution caused by traffic jams.
The M25 begins at the Dartford Crossing and travels around Greater London, passing over 33 intersections. It is the second-longest city bypass in Europe at 117 miles.
