Funding package now in place to deliver scheme linking roundabout with A133.
Plans for a new link road to support the Garden Community planned for the east of Colchester are continuing to move forward, with the first phase of construction works set to go out to tender.
Following the agreement with Homes England, a funding package is now in place to deliver the first phase of the scheme. This will see the A133 linked to a new roundabout, providing access to the planned Garden Community on the boundary between Colchester and Tendring.
It will comprise 1.8km (just over a mile) of new dual carriageway. Phase 2 of the Link Road, funded by the developer, will see the Link Road extended to join the A120 as the Garden Community progresses.
The Link Road is part of a wider package of measures which will improve connectively across the city including a new Rapid Transit System.
The Rapid Transit System will provide a frequent, reliable, and affordable public transport system. This will link up the Park and Ride to the north of the city with the mainline railway station, city centre, University of Essex, and the new Garden Community.
Elsewhere a new ‘Park and Choose’ facility, being planning as part of the Garden Community and city centre transport improvements funded by the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, will significantly improve the transport network across the city.
Councillor Tom Cunningham, Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Growing the Economy, said: “The creation of the new Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community will provide much-needed economic growth to the area including new housing, services and amenities for new and existing communities, but we have been absolutely resolute that this needs to be delivered in the right way. This means delivering the right homes supported by delivery of the right supporting infrastructure, delivered at the right time.
“The new Link Road – delivered in full – is critical, but we also need to be pragmatic in terms of how we manage the rising costs impacting all construction projects. Following ongoing dialogue with the Government through Homes England, we have reached agreement to deliver the first stage of the Link Road, which in combination with the Rapid Transit System, will support the initial stages of the Garden Community.”
Once complete, the A120 to A133 Link Road scheme will see a dual carriageway connection created between the A133, close to the University of Essex, and the A120, near Ardleigh South Services.
Funding for the Link Road and the city’s new Rapid Transit System was originally announced in 2019 as part of the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, which is designed to forward finance projects to help kickstart development.
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