Government A12 Widening Announcement

1 December 2014

No local consultation and questions on the potential demolition of local homes and businesses.

 

The Government has announced its intention to widen the A12 to 6 lanes through Essex and to do so in “phases” but without clear dates set for work.

 

No consultation appears to have been undertaken with local communities affected in mid-Essex.

 

One of the most difficult sections would be between Witham and Kelvedon, through Rivenhall End, where homes and businesses are situated close to the road and there are many local accesses and a cycleway/footway alongside the road. Widening the A12 to six lanes could potentially result in the demolition of some homes and businesses.

 

The local community has been trying to get safety improvements to the A12 and its junctions at Rivenhall End and Witham for decades, but now that could be put back if there is a long delay before today’s announced works starts and there will be uncertainty as to which local accesses could be cut off – there could be a need for additional local roads as a result of widening the A12.

 

The proposal for technology upgrades to improve safety is something Greens have long supported. Managing traffic, particularly at peak times could help reduce crashes and improve flows. 

 

Cllr. James Abbott, District and County Councillor (covering the A12 between Witham North and Kelvedon South junctions) said

 

“This announcement today, made without consulting local communities, raises many questions. There is no clear timetable for the work that we have yet seen and the costings sound very optimistic. There also appears to be no recognition that local communities along the A12 may be adversely affected, with the potential for the demolition of homes and businesses to make way for a bigger A12.

 

We do support the proposed technology upgrades. We have long supported “a safer A12, not a bigger A12”. Co-ordinated traffic management, particularly at peak times, will help to improve traffic flows and should reduce the number of crashes. This should be introduced as soon as possible to help save lives and prevent injuries.

 

The A12 does need construction investment to make it safer and that should include vital work to improve substandard junctions. There is also a need to provide a pull over strip and extend the footway/cycleway along the whole length through Essex. Those measures would cost a lot less than a full widening to 6 lanes.

 

If the Government has now suddenly found large sums of money for road building, which is strange as we are constantly told that public spending has to be reduced, then there should be a balanced approach that includes improving the main Norwich - London railway line through mid-Essex and the branch lines. The Braintree branch line urgently needs a passing loop so that capacity can be doubled and commuter parking pressures reduced at Witham.

 

Looking to the future, we would ask - is there another agenda here behind the Government’s announcement today ? We already know that major developers are queuing up to get land allocated in the new Local Plans. Is the Government lining up mid-Essex for large-scale development on greenfield sites and a resulting further upward spiral in road traffic ?"       

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