CONTRACTORS have been speedily working to dismantle the footbridge over the A127 at the Bell pub junction 

The road was closed on Saturday night to allow specialists to take down the old footbridge. 

The project forms part of the ambitious £5m plan to improve the Bell junction and ease traffic flow on the A127. 

Echo: Work is under way. Credit Southend CouncilWork is under way. Credit Southend Council

The £5million Bell junction upgrade project, which is funded with £4.3million from the Government’s Local Growth Fund, will see a number of changes to the layout of the junction to improve traffic flow on the A127.

Part of the improvement work will see the existing footbridge removed as it fails to meet existing disability discrimination legislation because of the stepped ramps, and removal allows room for the new dedicated lane onto Rochford Road and new pedestrian island on Hobleythick Lane.

Southend Council has appointed contractors, Eurovia Infrastructure, to carry out the £5m project to reconfigure the Bell Junction on the A127. Work is planned to continue through to summer 2021.

The project is the latest in a series of junction upgrades - including The Fairway and Cuckoo Corner - which collectively aim to ease congestion at pinch points along the A127 and accommodate both current and projected future traffic levels.

The new junction will improve traffic flow through the junction and help alleviate local air pollution by reducing queuing, which is a major contributing factor to poor air quality in the area surrounding the junction.

This will help manage the increased traffic volumes expected with the ongoing development of the Airport Business Park, which is projected to create thousands of local jobs.

SELEP (South East Local Enterprise Partnership) has allocated £4.3 of the Department for Transport’s “local growth fund” towards the project, with the remainder of the cost being met through the council’s capital budget.

What will the new junction be like?

Key features of the project include:

• removing the ageing footbridge which does not comply with laws around access for disabled people;

• installing new pedestrian crossing facilities at ground level;

• building a new dedicated left-turn lane onto Rochford Road;

• extending the right-turn lane onto Hobleythick Lane;

• banning the underused right-turn onto Rochford Road, in order to free up more “green light” time for motorists going straight ahead along the A127 in both directions; and

• introducing attractive new landscaping in the green space at the north west of the junction.

Southend Council has appointed contractors, Eurovia Infrastructure, to carry out the £5m project to reconfigure the Bell Junction on the A127. Work is planned to continue through to summer 2021.

The project is the latest in a series of junction upgrades - including The Fairway and Cuckoo Corner - which collectively aim to ease congestion at pinch points along the A127 and accommodate both current and projected future traffic levels.

The new junction will improve traffic flow through the junction and help alleviate local air pollution by reducing queuing, which is a major contributing factor to poor air quality in the area surrounding the junction.

This will help manage the increased traffic volumes expected with the ongoing development of the Airport Business Park, which is projected to create thousands of local jobs.

SELEP (South East Local Enterprise Partnership) has allocated £4.3 of the Department for Transport’s “local growth fund” towards the project, with the remainder of the cost being met through the council’s capital budget.

What will the new junction be like?

Key features of the project include:

• removing the ageing footbridge which does not comply with laws around access for disabled people;

• installing new pedestrian crossing facilities at ground level;

• building a new dedicated left-turn lane onto Rochford Road;

• extending the right-turn lane onto Hobleythick Lane;

• banning the underused right-turn onto Rochford Road, in order to free up more “green light” time for motorists going straight ahead along the A127 in both directions; and

• introducing attractive new landscaping in the green space at the north west of the junction.

Echo: How the A127 will eventually lookHow the A127 will eventually look

When will work take place?

Autumn (September – November) 1 September - Highways workers will start by building the new pedestrian island on Hobleythick Lane and moving kerb lines.

18 September - The footbridge – which is ageing and does not comply with disability requirements owing to the lack of ramps – is scheduled to be removed during the weekend of 18 September, for which overnight road closures will be in place.

Winter (December 2020 – February 2021) Once the Hobleythick Lane work is complete, the contractor will work their way around the junction installing new pedestrian crossings on A127 and Rochford Road.

Spring (March – May 2021) The contractor will then move onto installing the new dedicated slip lane into Rochford Road and extending the right-hand turn into Hobleythick Lane.

Summer (June – August 2021) The last thing to complete will be resurfacing the carriageway and commissioning the traffic signals.

During these works the contractor will be providing school crossing patrol officers across the A127 during term times. The officers will be either on the east or west of the junction, depending on construction and pedestrian management.