A120 BRAINTREE to A12 Consultation on Route Options 17 January – 14 March 2017
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A120 BRAINTREE TO A12 Consultation on Route Options 17 January – 14 March 2017 1 2 A120 Braintree to A12 Consultation on Route Options 1. FOREWORD I am delighted to announce the start of the public consultation on five options for improving the A120 between Braintree and the A12. For both motorists and communities, To the west of Braintree and the east of still a lot of work to be done to make any improvement to this part of the A120 has Colchester, the A120 is in part a high long term improvement a reality. been a long time coming. The options quality, modern road. While, between These five options support our ambitions to be considered will improve the safety Braintree and the A12, it too often around economic growth and ensure on this stretch of road and improve the resembles a country road – pulling heavy that our roads meet the demands of levels of congestion. goods vehicles through villages. Now, our residents. This consultation is so we have the opportunity to move the In its current form this stretch of road important and I encourage all those A120 away from our villages and double does not have the capacity to meet affected by these proposals to contribute the capacity of our road network. The current or future vehicle demands. their views on the five options that are number of vehicles on the road will grow This is emphasised further by its being presented. as our children become drivers and our increasing strategic importance as a key Councillor Kevin Bentley growing businesses create more jobs Councillor Kevin Bentley international trade route connecting the and the Essex economy grows. Haven Ports, the Midlands, the North, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member M25 and Stansted Airport. The A120 This public consultation is the for Economic Growth and Partnerships plays a vital role in the international trade culmination of not just a year’s technical and economic success of the East of work, but almost 10 years of community England and the UK. and political persistence. But there is 2 3 4 A120 Braintree to A12 Consultation on Route Options 2. INTRODUCTION Essex County Council is committed to supporting local and regional growth through the improvement of local infrastructure to leave a long term legacy of jobs, homes, and strong communities for our children and future generations. The A120 is the primary route linking the to support local and regional growth options. We now have sufficient It is important to remember that at A10 at Hertford in the West to the port is restricted by the last major section information to consult individuals, this early stage the options have of Harwich in the East, roughly following of single carriage way road between communities, representative bodies and been technically developed to a point the original Roman road corridor, Stane Braintree and the A12. businesses on the five best performing where we are confident that they can Street. In the 1970’s and 1980’s road route options for the A120 between be built. However exact details about Already heavily over-capacity, traffic improvements provided bypasses of Braintree and A12. road alignments, junction design volumes are set to increase further - Bishops Stortford, Great Dunmow and and environmental assessments and and without improvement the regular After consultation, Essex County Council Coggeshall and the line of the A120 mitigation measures have not been bottlenecks on the A120 will get worse will consider all responses, and use this around Colchester was diverted to follow completed. Like other major road for everyone. The continual increase in information to make a preferred route the A12 via its upgrades at Stanway and projects this work is undertaken once a traffic over the years and incidents has option recommendation to the Secretary the Colchester Northern Bypass. Finally single option has been selected. led to greater delays. Upgrading this of State and Highways England. a completely new line for the road to strategically important road is essential reach Harwich itself was constructed A1 to unlocking more economic potential east of Colchester. In the early 2000’s i in Essex and the wider South East the Braintree to Stansted Airport dual with tangible benefits to road users, 55 eitoe carriage way bypass was opened. B102 A1 businesses and local neighbourhoods. A12 On 7th March 2005 the Secretary of ari Although the A120 is part of the Strategic 2 State for Transport made the A120 A120 Road Network operated by Highways ar ar rae r from the M11 to Marks Tey part of the onaot it oea ane 2 oeter England, in 2015 the Government A120 Strategic Road Network in recognition of agreed that Essex County Council will B102 its essential role in the supporting long A12 lead on the work to determine the way Braintree distance travel and commerce in the 2 forward. This is a unique opportunity for eeon East of England. 2 everyone in Essex to work with us to find tante Over 40 years of piecemeal the best solution to the problems. ae orner A12 improvements have provided Essex with M11 onaot In the last year we have identified issues, an essential East/West link, however the eor developed 68 options, assessed and 1 A10 effectiveness of the road and its ability reduced these to five best performing oten A12 4 5 This public consultation will run from the 17th January to the 14th March 2017. The five route options that we are asking your views on are: Option This route option is approximately A 14km long, 5km of which runs along the line of the current A120. It starts just west of Galleys Corner then bypasses Bradwell to the north, crossing the River Blackwater, and then joins the current A120. East of Coggeshall, it leaves the current A120, heading south east where it joins the A12 at a new junction between Kelvedon and Marks Tey. Option This route option does not follow the B current A120 and is approximately 13km long. It starts just west of Galleys Corner, passes to the south of Glazenwood Park, runs through Bradwell Quarry, crosses the River Blackwater, joining the A12 at a new junction between Kelvedon and Marks Tey. Option This route option does not follow the C current A120 and is approximately 15km long. It starts on the Braintree southern bypass, passes north of Tye Green and Cressing, runs through Bradwell Quarry, crosses the River Blackwater, joining the A12 at a new junction between Kelvedon and Marks Tey. Option This route option does not follow the D current A120 and is approximately 9.5km long. It starts just west of Galleys Corner, passes south of Glazenwood Park, runs through the south-west corner of Bradwell Quarry, joining the A12 at Kelvedon south junction. Option This route option does not follow the E current A120 and is approximately 11km long. It starts on the Braintree southern bypass, passes north of Tye Green and Cressing, runs through the south-west corner of Bradwell Quarry, joining the A12 at Kelvedon south junction. 6 A120 Braintree to A12 Consultation on Route Options This document provides further We want to hear your views information on the purpose of this consultation, it explains what will We need to understand the views of everyone who may use or be affected by the scheme. happen following the consultation We are asking you to: and informs you when we will be in a Indicate your preferred option and provide comments position to report on the results. Tell us your views about future junction locations Alongside this consultation document, The consultation will run for 8 weeks, commencing on Tuesday 17th January and closing at 23:59 on Tuesday 14th March 2017. the individual option maps and Responses will be analysed and summarised in a Consultation Response Analysis Report. the Options Assessment Report is The project team will then consider the results of the consultation and a Preferred Option recommendation will be taken to Essex available and can be found on our County Council. If the Council endorses the recommendation the Preferred Option will be presented to the Secretary of State and website: www.a120essex.co.uk Highways England for potential inclusion in the Road Investment Strategy. After the Preferred Option is announced by Essex County Council further detailed work will take place. This will include: continued engagement with local communities further investigations into environmental effects, including additional surveys further design work investigation into what mitigation may be required consideration of additional or improved paths/routes for cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders, and redirecting or providing local access routes. Once this work is complete a further public consultation will take place before a planning application is submitted (Development Consent Order). 6 7 • Reliance is poor - the road isn’t built to deal with today’s In the evening peak vehicles travel level of traffic and any unexpected condition or incidents • If there is an incident then the carriage way is too narrow for other traffic to easily pass 15% 22 mph of vehicles each day are SLOWER • Speed is slow due to the number of vehicles and the up to heavy good vehicles and journeys are 14 minutes longer narrow carriageway • No real time signage to raise awareness if any incident • Few suitable alternative routes for many road users uts bo a GALLEY´S CORNER d Major pinch points, n that hold up u There can be less than o PINCH r between passing drivers and create POINTS 90cm 41% congestion are: heavy good vehicles on of traffic using Marks Farm roundabout some parts of the road – is staying on the A120.