Housing Infrastructure Fund bids

Chelmsford North East Bypass & Beaulieu Railway Station

The new Beaulieu railway station will provide access to the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML). Trains can pass each other at the new station to make the whole line more reliable. It will relieve crowding at Chelmsford railway station and act as a transport interchange to encourage sustainable travel by bus, cycle, electric vehicles and on foot.

The Chelmsford North East Bypass will run between the A12 and A131, and will complement Highways England’s A12 Junction 19 to 25 improvements. It will relieve congested traffic on the local roads and provide a strategic link between Chelmsford, Braintree, London Stansted Airport and the wider east and southeast of England, including South Essex and the Lower Thames Crossing.

The bypass will enhance access to and increase the catchment area of the station - it is therefore vital that these pieces of infrastructure are delivered at the same time.

What will this do for housing growth?

This infrastructure will maximise the housing and economic opportunity in the area and sustain the continued delivery of hundreds of homes each year. In total the completion of over 10,000 new homes relies on Beaulieu Station and Chelmsford North East bypass opening.

Housing Growth in North Essex – A12 realignment 

The main proposal is to realign the A12 between Kelvedon and Marks Tey. Moving the position of the A12 to the east of its existing alignment would facilitate and realise the growth potential of this part of North Essex.

We plan to complement the realignment with a completely new junction 25 which will provide direct access to the proposed Garden Community, signalising junction 23 at Kelvedon where the A12 meets a new A120 to facilitate traffic flow and widening of the Kelvedon Bypass to four lanes in each direction to accommodate future traffic volumes.

What will this do for housing growth?

To put it simply, fulfilling these proposals will:

• Create quality environments attractive for existing and new communities
• Reduce traffic bottlenecks, making journey times shorter and more reliable
• Provide businesses with reliable journey times
• Enable new businesses to be set up and thrive
• Enable the development of much-needed homes proposed in Local Plans

A120 / A133 Link Road and Rapid Transit System

A rapid transit system will prioritise public transport on key routes in Colchester. It will enable housing growth and deliver transformational modal shift, allowing new and existing residents to benefit from frequent, high-quality, reliable transport connecting to the places they want to go. An example is the Belfast Rapid Transit Glider, pictured on the back page.

The system will service the new Park and Ride and help to better connect the planned Garden Community on the borders of Colchester and Tendring with the rest of the town.

Linking the A120 and A133 with a new road will unlock land to provide housing and will improve connectivity locally and within the wider region. It will also serve new park and ride sites and relieve traffic going to the University of Essex and its Knowledge Gateway technology and research park. Both are major employers and key contributors to the UK economy.

What will this do for growth?

The provision of the link road and rapid transit system is essential to meet local housing need. It will unlock the development of up to 7,500 homes and improve connectivity locally and within the wider East of England, future-proofing the capacity of both the A133 and A120.