A12 widening will ‘dramatically’ impact village
It's feared the closure of an A12 junction will increase traffic through an Essex village
An Essex village is set to be “dramatically” impacted if motorists choose to save miles rather than time when a well-used slip road onto the A12 is removed.
National Highways said the £1.2bn project to widen 15 miles of the A12 from Chelmsford to the A120 to three lanes will ease congestion in the area by increasing capacity by 50 per cent.
Once completed, journey times are expected to be significantly reduced. Motorists travelling on this section of the A12 each day will save as much as 1.5 hours every week, according to Highways’ data modelling.
The Government says that with capacity increased impact on other road users of incidents like breakdowns or collisions – that can lead to delays – will also be reduced.
But the proposed widening would also see the closure of junctions 20a and 20b to allow three lanes between Boreham and Hatfield Peverel. A new junction 21 will be built about a mile further north.
But the closure of the junction 20a access which currently allows vehicles to travel southbound along the A12 towards junction 19 and Chelmsford is expected to lead to a traffic increase along Main Road (B1137) towards Boreham.
Modelling predicts Boreham will see a 33 per cent increase in the morning rush traffic and a 25 per cent increase overall.
The reason for this is that most traffic from Hatfield Peverel and Maldon would be required to travel north towards the new junction 21 to access the southbound carriageway.
And while traffic which previously used this route is expected to join the A12 at the new junction 21 traffic is also nonetheless expected to travel southbound along Main Road through Boreham to access the A12 southbound at Junction 19.
This would lead to a traffic increase on the B1137 through Boreham village, particularly within morning rush hour travel times.
But Bill Kyle, a member of Boreham Conservation Society, said he doubts the prediction given he thinks most people will prefer to save fuel rather than a small amount of time saved from the journey by travelling first north to join the A12 southbound.
He said: “The tragedy of it as Boreham is concerned is the scheme will start later this year I’m guessing. Once 20a is closed and if National Highways have got their assumptions wrong then although they have agreed to monitor the situation, so what?
“If the traffic along the main road is 40, 50 or 60 per cent up there is nothing to be done – they are not going to build a relief road anytime soon and they are not going to reinsert junction 20a.
“Whatever the traffic increase is what it is.”
He added: “This was the original Roman road between Colchester and Chelmsford and the original A12 road.
“The Government built the Boreham bypass to save Boreham from traffic and now to improve the bypass that they built to save Boreham from traffic they are putting more traffic through Boreham.
“Irony and logic obviously escapes them.”
Plans for speed cameras and limits of 40mph between the villages and 30mph within Boreham have been welcomed but Mr Kyle said he worries about the overall impact.
He said: “I think people would rather save a mile than a minute. You know you are going to save that.
“Boreham is going to be impacted and quite dramatically. The die has been cast. There’s nothing we can do. In the last letter, I wrote I said I know you’re wrong, you know you’re wrong and you’ll know when you look in the mirror you were wrong. But when I look out my window to see increased traffic, I’ll also know you’re wrong.”
A spokesperson for National Highways said: “New road developments need to meet modern safety design standards, and junctions (20a & 20b) do not meet those and would need significant upgrading to do so.
“Redeveloping the junctions (20a & 20b) initially formed part of the design phase but was later rejected as this process would have meant the demolition of nearby properties to the north of the A12, Terling Hall Bridge and a historic wall that forms part of the Grade II listed Crix House estate. Adjacent woodland would also have needed to be removed.
“The proposed improvements to the A12 between Chelmsford and the A120 at Marks Tey will transform the road by improving safety, reducing congestion and helping to move traffic away from country roads and nearby villages. It will also support economic growth and provide better facilities for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and public transport users.
“We will continue to listen to local residents and work alongside them to address any concerns they have.”