Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridors
The first Sustainable Transport Corridor in Harlow is now complete
The North-to-Centre route will make walking, cycling and bus use even easier.
This is the next phase of work to develop new sustainable transport provision following delivered following previous schemes already delivered across Harlow.
The Sustainable Transport Corridor runs from an upgraded junction at Burnt Mill, along the A1019 to the town centre.
It features new bus lanes, safer and more pleasant walking and cycling routes, new pedestrian and cycle crossing facilities, improved links to surrounding areas, new public spaces, enhanced landscaping, signage and lighting.
The new Sustainable Transport Corridor is the first of a group of sustainable transport corridors that will link the centre of Harlow to the rest of the town.
They will connect new and existing neighbourhoods to places such as the railway station, primary business areas and other local attractors.
The improvements are the first key part of the infrastructure that will support the Harlow-Gilston Garden Town.
This development will include 10,000 homes built across the Essex-Hertfordshire border. The completed works will allow residents to have better sustainable transport links before the new homes begin construction.
The N-C STC is a scheme Delivered Essex County Council promoted by the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town partnership.
It is part of Homes England’s £172 million investment in Harlow through its Housing Infrastructure Grant.
This grant recognises the need to provide sustainable infrastructure to support the development of housing growth across the wider Harlow and Gilston areas.
The Sustainable Transport Corridors will link to Harlow town centre, providing high-quality public transport and active travel options to quickly connect new and existing neighbourhoods with key destinations such as the railway station and primary business areas.
The North to Centre Sustainable Transport Corridor was the first to be brought forward. You can find out more about how it was developed by reading the StoryMap.
Designed to seamlessly integrate with the proposed new communities, the transport corridors will help to develop a culture of health and wellbeing and support the Garden Town’s transport aim – with 50% of journeys from existing Harlow communities and 60% of those from the new garden communities to be made sustainably.
Part of the adopted and emerging Local Plans (the overarching planning strategy setting out where future development will be located) of the Garden Town partners, the new transport corridors are a key element of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town Vision and Transport Strategy.
In recognition of the need for early investment in the supporting infrastructure, including the Sustainable Transport Corridors, it was announced in March 2020 that Homes England would provide £172m to support the Garden Town plans of funding through a newly created government ‘Housing Investment Grant’.
Scheme Development
Construction on the transformational new Sustainable Transport Corridor started in March 2024 following the appointment of Bouygues UK Ltd as Principal Contractor with Colas delivering the works on site.
The project included work on the following:
- Construction of a no-dig footpath along Zelenskyy Avenue.
- Road widening on First Avenue and Post Office Road, with drainage being installed at the Burnt Mill roundabout, Elizabeth Way, Zelenskyy Avenue, Edinburgh Way and along First Avenue leading up to the Velizy Roundabout.
- The central island on the Velizy Roundabout has been reduced, with the inner ring now surfaced.
- Realignment of kerb lines at Crown Gate and South Gate, with associated drainage, bollards and tactile paving.
- Reconfiguration of the Hammerskjold Road junction of the Sainsbury’s roundabout to support traffic flow.
- A greatly improved pedestrian crossing, supporting public access between the town centre and Harlow College.
- Installation of road signs and street lighting in Crown Gate and Post Office Road, with road surfacing in both areas.
- A new footpath and cycle way along First Avenue from The Hides.
- A no-dig footpath on the southbound side of Zelenskyy Avenue.
- Carriageway surfacing throughout the A1019 corridor, and road markings installed.
- New landscaping throughout the whole scheme, from Burnt Mill roundabout to Velizy Avenue, with an increase of planting to support environmental sustainability.
- Road widening in Zelenskyy Avenue, supporting the creation of a new southbound bus lane connecting Harow Town Train Station to Harlow Bus Station.
- New traffic signals, including pedestrian crossings, in multiple locations.
- The installation of road signs and street lighting throughout the scheme.
Contact the team
Please email: Harlow.NorthtoCentreSTC@essexhighways.org
To see more information about how the proposal was developed see the storymap below.