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Major road improvement schemes are supporting one of the most significant housing developments in the UK.
Essex county councillors have approved the Beaulieu Access Package. This will upgrade the A12 and Beaulieu Park Station roundabout.
The 'infrastructure first' approach will support the growth of the Chelmsford Garden Community. This is creating 10,000 new homes in north east Chelmsford, along with new:
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Essex County Council’s planned Beaulieu Access Package road improvement scheme comprises two projects in support of the Chelmsford Garden Community, one of the most significant housing developments in the UK.
As 10,000 homes are built as part of the development, it is crucial to deliver associated transport improvements with an ‘infrastructure first approach’ so, as far as possible, upgrades are in place ahead of the new housing.
The Beaulieu Access Package supports this approach with planned upgrades to Junction 19 of the A12 at Boreham Interchange and the access roundabout for the new Beaulieu Park Station.
By committing to the early delivery of infrastructure to support growth and development opportunities, Essex County Council, in partnership with Chelmsford City Council, is helping enable the creation of high quality, sustainable neighbourhoods at Chelmsford Garden Community.
The Essex County Council Chelmsford North East Bypass is key to local road improvements as part of the garden community development and Section 1A is currently under construction from Generals Lane in the south to Cranham Road in the north.
The first section of the bypass, it connects with Beaulieu Parkway and the garden community in the south while to the north it will join with a new east-west link road, the Northern Radial Distributor Road, to be built by developers as part of the garden community. The link road will connect the bypass to the A131 Essex Regiment Way at Wheelers Hill roundabout.
However, under plans approved by Chelmsford City Council for the Northern Radial Distributor Road, the capacity of Junction 19 of the A12 at Boreham Interchange has to be increased so it can deal with the additional traffic coming from the garden community via the bypass.
In 2025 the Government cancelled its scheme to widen the A12, including a planned upgrade of Junction 19, and, following this decision, Essex County Council needs to deliver a separate project to enhance capacity and safety at the junction.
Equally, the planning condition for the Northern Radial Distributor Road means it and the bypass cannot open fully until Junction 19 of the A12 is upgraded. City council support for 6,250 of the new homes at the garden community is also conditional on Junction 19 being upgraded.
This is because the garden community will result in considerable additional traffic, including via the new bypass and distributor road, and the network must be able to safely deal with that increase.
To support the building of more houses at Chelmsford Garden Community, Essex County Council is looking at ways to improve the station access roundabout to cope with increasing traffic from the bypass and distributor road, potentially by 2030.
There is a need to upgrade the capacity and enhance safety at the roundabout because, while helping the flow of traffic, the distributor road and bypass will bring more vehicles on to the roundabout at Beaulieu Park Station.
The roundabout was originally put in place to enable existing traffic to safely access and pass the new station. With traffic volumes set to increase, we must ensure the roundabout can continue to do this.
Essex County Council is partly financing development of the two projects with most of the £38 million funding coming from Government bodies Homes England and National Highways as well as contributions from developers.
Essex Highways is finalising designs for the two schemes with a view to going out to tender for the Junction 19 scheme at the end of this year/early 2027. After the appointment of a contractor work would potentially begin towards the end of next year. Delivery of the Beaulieu Park Access Roundabout upgrade is currently planned to be carried out separately and potentially begin in 2028 when the Junction 19 work is finishing. When the Junction 19 upgrade is complete, Section 1A of the Chelmsford North East Bypass would also open to road users.
Junction 19 - indicative layout
The Drovers Lane roundabout will be widened with an additional lane, while extra lanes will also be added for entering and exiting the roundabout. Similarly, at Generals Lane there will be additional lanes for entering and exiting the roundabout. There will also be improved pedestrian/cyclist crossings.
Beaulieu Access Roundabout - indicative layout
The diameter of the roundabout itself will be increased by 16 metres to 70 metres with the A131 Beaulieu Parkway also being widened for a longer two-lane approach and exit plus widening of the Beaulieu Park Station Approach (east) and Station Approach connections.
Construction of the first section (1A) of the Chelmsford North East Bypass is moving ahead well with construction due to complete in Summer 2026.
This is taking place with £250m of funding, primarily from Homes England, to support the housing development, money which also facilitated delivery of the new Beaulieu Park Station.
Opened in 2025, it is the first railway station to be built on the Great Eastern mainline for over 100 years. Forty minutes from London Liverpool Street, the new station relieves pressure on the existing Chelmsford station and provides a better, more resilient and flexible service with three platforms, car parking, a public transport interchange, cycling facilities and new track for passing trains.
Two further sections of the bypass (1B and 2), taking the road further north to Great Leighs, are planned and will progress when further funding is secured.
More information on the Chelmsford North East Bypass scheme is available in our latest project newsletter.
Meanwhile, in December 2025 Chelmsford City Council approved developer plans for the Northern Radial Distributor Road, connecting the first section of the Chelmsford North East Bypass to Essex Regiment Way, improving access from the north of Chelmsford to Beaulieu Park Station and the A12 at Junction 19. However, the planning permission is conditional on Junction 19 being upgraded so it can cope with the increase in traffic from the garden community. In addition, city council support for 6,250 of the new homes at the garden community is conditional on Junction 19 being upgraded.
Once the Northern Radial Distributor Road is built and improvements to Junction 19 are complete, the first section of the bypass will fully open to road users, potentially in 2028.
Chelmsford plays a vital role in the heart of Essex, providing homes, jobs, shopping, healthcare, education, leisure, and recreational opportunities.
As a driver of the regional economy, the city needs a transport network to match if it is to properly facilitate future development and economic growth.
With the building of 10,000 homes together with new business space, schools, open spaces, community and health facilities to the north east of the city at Chelmsford Garden Community, it is vital to progress associated infrastructure improvements, in partnership with Chelmsford City Council.
This means upgrades are in place, as far as possible, ahead of the new housing, helping to ensure new residents are well connected to their community - opportunities, jobs, high quality facilities and amenities - and the impact on existing residents is mitigated.
It is, therefore, vital for the prosperity of Chelmsford that we progress the first section of the bypass and developers deliver the associated link road, while we also deliver the planned improvements to Boreham Interchange and the station access roundabout.
Why is only Phase 1A of the bypass being delivered?
Because of cost and available funding, the bypass is being delivered in phases. By building the bypass in this way and working in conjunction with project partners, including developers, costs can be spread across future development, so the infrastructure is in place when it is needed. We will continue to proactively seek funding for the remaining sections, including potential developer contributions.
Why will the bypass not open when constructed?
To support the development of the garden community, the bypass scheme is not an isolated one, being the first part of a four-scheme package of improvements, along with upgrades to Junction 19 of the A12 and the Beaulieu Park Station Access Roundabout plus the new Northern Radial Distributor Road. As such, each element of the package is needed to enable the bypass to fully open. However, it remains important that we complete Section 1A as planned to meet funding conditions from Homes England.
Why are you planning to make further changes to the roundabouts at Boreham Interchange when the previous improvements have not long been completed?
The previous roundabout improvements at the Boreham Interchange, together with the Beaulieu Parkway bridge and the A131 Beaulieu Parkway, were undertaken by developer Countryside Zest and completed in 2023. The works were required to improve the capacity of the interchange, connect it to the A131 and provide access to the new Beaulieu Park Station, ultimately supporting the Beaulieu development. These improvements were sufficient to support the scale of approved development at that time, however, with additional development now coming forward, further capacity improvements are needed. We recognise residents will be concerned about the prospect of further works at the interchange and once we reach the construction stage of the project we will work closely with the appointed contractor to minimise disruption as much as possible. While we recognise there may be some frustration because the latest upgrades were not delivered as part of the previous package of works, the improvements the developer was required to make at the Boreham Interchange at that stage were based on the scale of development permitted at that time. Until the announcement the A12 scheme had been cancelled, National Highways had advised us to plan around these further upgrades being funded and delivered by government.
Why was the Beaulieu Park Station Roundabout not made bigger when it was built as part of the station scheme?
The roundabout was put in place to deal with the predicted level of traffic, considering existing volumes and those resulting from approved development. However, with more development now approved and further housing likely to be given the go ahead it is necessary to carry out these latest improvements.
Should you not complete the full bypass before spending money on other projects like these two roundabouts?
We remain committed to a full Chelmsford North East Bypass but need additional funding. The money for the Beaulieu Access Package would primarily come from a funding pot specifically to support housing development, in this case Chelmsford Garden Community, and another to support improvements to the A12 J19. This follows the Government’s cancellation of the A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening scheme. As such, these funds cannot be used to finance the remaining sections of the bypass and we, therefore, need to continue to seek alternative funding opportunities
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