News releases and highways newsletters

Historic culvert refurbished beneath Loughton High Street

The 150-year-old underground structure has been successfully refurbished.

The historic Traps Culvert in Loughton has been given a new lease of life thanks to innovative engineering works completed by Essex Highways.

The 150-year-old culvert had become damaged over time, with cracks, missing bricks and a utility intrusion running through, meaning repairs were essential.

The culvert sits directly under a busy high street, meaning traditional repair methods that involved excavating the road weren't possible.

Postponed: Fifth Avenue - Zelenskyy Avenue road closure

The nighttime road closure due to take place on Fifth Avenue – Zelenskyy Avenue A1019 on 22 and 23 November in both directions between the Burnt Mill Roundabout and the Sainsbury’s Roundabout has been postponed due to inclement weather.

We will advise of the new dates in due course.

Fifth Avenue – Zelenskyy Avenue road closure: Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridor

On behalf of Essex County Council, Bouygues UK Ltd are undertaking essential works on Fifth Avenue – Zelenskyy Avenue A1019 as part of the Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridor project.

As a result of these works, a nighttime road closure will take place on Fifth Avenue – Zelenskyy Avenue A1019 in both directions between the Burnt Mill Roundabout and the Sainsbury’s Roundabout. 

Brentwood High Street upgraded as resurfacing works complete

The project saw the replacement of the aging cobbled surface, improving safety for users.

A large-scale project to replace the cobble stones in Brentwood High Street with a harder wearing asphalt surface is now complete.

Crews replaced old granite stones between Crown Street and St Thomas Road with a smooth asphalt surface, making the road safer and easier to use.

Brentwood Borough Council supported the upgrade after concerns grew about the aging cobbled surface, which had become a safety risk.

Switching to asphalt will make future maintenance easier and offer better value for money for residents.

Canvey Island - surfacing improvements completed

Improvement works on the B1014 High Street/Point Road were completed in October 2025 as planned.

Velizy Roundabout Road closures - Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridor

A full closure of the Velizy Roundabout will take place at the following dates and times:

• From 8pm on Friday 7^th November until 5am on Monday 10^th November 2025
• Nightly from 8pm until 5am, on Tuesday 11^th, Wednesday 12^th, Thursday 13^th, Friday 14^th, Saturday 15^th, and Sunday 16^th of November 2025.

Highways Highlights - September 2025

The September edition of Highways Highlights has now been published.

The newsletter for all things highway in Essex.

In this edition:

and more…

Dermot Snow Cleary, Gritney Spears and Ctrl Salt Delete keep Essex roads safe this winter

Essex Highways crews work hard to ensure road network is safe to travel on.

The gritters are ready, the salt barn is full and the crews which keep Essex’s roads safe are primed for cold weather as the winter service for 2025/26 begins.

More than 2,000 miles of road in Essex are treated over the winter, which is about 40% of the road network.

Teams gritted a total of 136,045 miles of road during 2024/25 to ensure road users remain safe in cold and icy conditions.

Burnt Mill Road closure - Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridor

On behalf of Essex County Council, Bouygues UK Ltd are undertaking essential works on Burnt Mill Road as part of the Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridor project.

As a result of these works, a road closure will take place on the eastern end of Burnt Mill Road, at the junction of Elizabeth Way. 

This closure will begin at 8am on Monday 27th October, with Burnt Mill Road remaining closed until 5pm on Friday 31st October 2025. Read full story

Members’ Highways Initiative sees over 5,000 extra repairs across Essex

Initiative enables county councillors to prioritise what matters most to their local residents.

Thousands of highways repairs have been carried out on top of normal maintenance since April through the Members’ Highways Initiative (MHI).

The MHI gives every Essex County Councillor a dedicated Essex Highways crew to carry out repairs every few weeks.

Councillors can use the programme to prioritise local highways issues which matter most to residents.