You've hit the nail on the head with every single observation here. Every 'improvement' to Chelmsford's roads is a disaster - you could do a whole series on on it - obviously the famous 'temporary' flyover the Army and Navy - which was deemed safe and then unsafe within a matter of weeks and the notorious cycle lane on a main route for emergency vehicles to Broomfield Hospital that is used more by school kids to walk on than cyclists. The list is endless... Thanks Jon you made us laugh about it !
Perhaps you should have nipped along the A12 to Witham to document for posterity what is the UKs longest running Temporary Traffic Light installation on Woodend Bridge. Eight years and counting! Thanks for all the thought provoking entertainment, too!!
Always fun when it just randomly stops working and remains on red. You can't see if someone is waiting on the other side, so you're just left to risk it. That of course is after waiting a few minutes until realising the lights are fucked again.
My nemesis, used to wind me up on a daily basis on the way to work. A van every morning to sit in the cones to make sure the batteries don't die during rush hour. god forbid how much that 'temporary' solution has cost.
So, basically, they frittered the money away on endless rounds of planning and there's suddenly nothing left for the actual roads? Useless. Typical bloody councils.
Likely with several revisions to the plans en-route, as the concerns of NIMBYs and environmentalists are taken into account, while developers are also prone to running back to councils after planning permission is granted to say "we've recalculated things and the entire scheme will be unviable if you don't significantly reduce our s106 contributions and allocated quota of 'affordable' housing" . The Lower Thames Gateway project has swallowed £150m so far, yet it is still weaving through the planning process and not a single spade has broken ground yet; £50m was spent on "Boris Island" (the latest in a series of proposals over the past 50 years for a new London airport in or near to the Thames Estuary), millions has likely been spent on the Heathrow third runway proposals (not including the unknown contributions from Heathrow Airport to the "Back Heathrow" campaign, which, as it's not a public body, doesn't have to disclose its funding, unlike the local councils, who spent around £1.5m opposing it); and probably millions have already been spent on the Stonehenge tunnel proposals. And away from roads, need I mention HS2 / HS3 / NPR ?
@@thomassjcowleyI understand your sentiment but, 5 councils have gone broke recently with another 26 reported to be teetering so, it could be a valid grumble. It’s become more widely known that a lot of people lined their pockets with contracts pertaining to covid & I expect there’s a few ‘back-handers & dodgy handshakes’ metered out within County councils in similar fashion … and, Essex is where you’ll ALWAYS find dodgy, East End-type shysters looking to make an extra bob or two.
@@razzle1964 "so, it could be a valid grumble" Well no. It could be a valid argument if the coalition government didn't come along and remove 50% of local authority funding. You'd probably go bankrupt too if your employer reduced your wage by 50%, then told you to continue paying everything with no extra help.
I will need to drive through that interchange on Saturday. I'll prepare myself for a long wait then. Essex County Council have proven themselves many times to be skilled at taking an inadequate road & turning it into a complete cock up.
Hilariously, corten steel was go-to solution for architects back when I was one over a decade ago. It was rather expensive back then and was a way to show off for a lot of architects. How times change
There's a building on the corner of Farringdon Road and Topham Street, London where they used Corten panels for rainscreen cladding down to pavement level for exactly that "show off" reason. It looks like crap with the panels scuffed and marked and the bin store doors all battered and greasy. Great choice.
@@DavidJCane I was part of a team that was made to use it by our boss in a project here in mainland Europe. It was a facility for fishermen to store their things which were usually messily left all over the place, and try to make the area less of an eyesore. It was mercilessly mocked for looking worse than what it was trying to clear up
I've been commuting past this spot for 30 years and I can safely say that I can remember when it was all fields round there. Essex County Council's road policy has been pretty awful for years. The A12 keeps having tiny improvements made when it basically needs widening from the M25 to Ipswich. The Boreham Interchange will be a nightmare when the new station opens as people from surrounding areas use the nice large car park there instead of driving to the old station in the middle of town. While I'm usually in favour of these out of town transport hubs, they need to be built to withstand the traffic load. BTW if you ever want to do a series about towns with rubbish/unfathomable road layouts and networks, my nearest town of Colchester would be a good start. Gridlock guaranteed at peak hours.
@@richardrivett8917 You're right, I had forgotten Miami, it's been a few years since I've been that way. Don't know if you remember the burger van that used to be in the lay-by between Miami & the Army & Navy by the school entrance. That was our "go to" place after Dukes.
I remember that in the early 1960s - it was the Chelmsford by-pass! Daily, the 44A would cross (elsewhere on it) on its way down from Moulsham Lodge estate, taking me into town to take the #311 to Braintree for school. Happy days in rural Essex . . .
Please do more of these types of video highlighting the sheer incompetence of councils when it comes to road infrastructure, it really needs to be talked about.
It's likely not so much incompetence as the councils putting forward plans for decent infrastructure, only to be told by the government there's no money to fund it, so they have to repeatedly cut back the designs until they've got a completely inadequate bodge job but is all the government (and, increasingly, developers) are prepared to contribute towards.
I've often had to drive through that part of Chelmsford and even when it's not congested, the sheer number of roundabouts on the A130/131 means it's slow any time. The new bypass has just as many, currently less of a problem because it runs through open country rather than through a built-up area, which will change once the new Beaulieu development is built (or indeed, being built). The road doesn't just link to Braintree but carries traffic from east Chelmsford to the M11 which previously went up the A130 (now a B-road) but is now directed up the much less direct A131, which used to be a nice straight road but is now a succession of bypasses with multiple roundabouts each.
You should cover the disaster that is the Pitsea flyovers! The refurbishment to stop them leaking that looks to have failed, especially on A132 South Mayne where the rebar is now rusting though for all to see.
Cheers Jon, you have understood this far better than most of the locals who have fallen hook line and sinker for the shiny(rusty) new thing. Currently it’s working well but with the masses of development still coming, the complex layout at the Boreham end and a dog leg across to the A131 of old mean that it’s not going to be long before the cracks appear. The previous route had several roundabouts and several sets of traffic lights due to the developments alongside. This route has all of the same but currently without the development. The problem will just be moved eastwards slightly. I can’t believe my lorry wasn’t in any of the drone shots, I’m across that bridge most days.
Good idea putting the steet lamps at the edge of the carriageway rather than in the center that way they get to move the street lamps at additional cost 👍👍
I like the look of the rusty bridges, have a few on the new Heads of the Valley sections in South Wales. But the they sort of suit the rundown nature of the towns!
Looking forward to further episodes detailing major road network upgrades. M2 J5/a249 currently underway Completed works such as catthorpe M1/M6 The completed ahead of schedule A14 past Cambridge M6 j10 and the new under construction j5a m42 relief junction to j6 with new services.
TBH, the traffic is now far worse on this roundabout / junction. The roundabouts are way too small. The queues to get onto the A12 London bound are even worse. The Beaulieu (I can never spell it) Parkway ends on a silly little roundabout on Essex Regiment Way which with the access road for the mini retail park makes it damn dangerous. There does seem to be a "new road" being built as the bridge can be seen in the distance of The Parkway... Oh, and the railway station, that discussion started in the 80's I think... So, we have a timeline for completion maybe then... Yay! But, we have the A12 widening to look forward from Hatfield Peverel (Just up from the Boreham Interchange) to Marks Tey to come yet... And that will make the traffic at Boreham even worse! Deep joy for us locals! Great channel!
@@samholdsworth420 ehh... better than Trump I suppose but man, I wish the US would just pick someone who isn't close to fossilising for their president.
The new houses, shops and an all years (nursery through 6th form) is all in place. They are now moving on to the next set of houses are now their focus. The road is full of roundabouts ready for them and a relatively low speed limit so it is still faster to use the existing roads rather than the new a road.
I know its not a motorway but i think you could have alot of fun covering the A9 in Scotland . Its one hell of a road, the longest in scotland and 5th longest A road in the uk but by far the nicest scenery
I did wonder when I was going to see this on your channel. Thinking about it the traffic engineering disasters of Essex could be a series all in itself
Reminders of Essex, thanks. Twenty-three years in East Ham, forever blowing bubbles and a lot of travelling led me to your funky channel. Happy days. Ad altiora my man!
The cost of infrastructure is interesting, a very wealthy and successful businessman built a shopping area and hotel north of Stockholm Sweden in the nineties. The municipality said no to build a bridge and slipways along the E4 motorway. He told them he only needed the permits and would build and pay for it himself, he got the permits and built it for half the cost
One from my hood. And the old road was the A130, not the A131, which used to start near Little Waltham. Now the 131 has been extended down to Boreham. Hooray, no more White Hart Lane!
Auto Shenanigans great, great, great, great, great, great grandchildren will be reviewing this current layout in a few centuries, or maybe the temporary replacement for that rusty bridge :)
Down at the Brook Street roundabout on J28 of the M25 they're spending £140-170 million building a new slip from anti clock carriageway in a big loop to join the A12 eastbound.
You’ll get a lot of humour out of visiting the A12 Jon, the traffic lights on this section only let a very few cars through at a time, great in rush hour. Love the video and I’m looking forward to the next one 👍
@@Dan23_7 I'll start for him. My road in Braintree. They put up signs saying they'd start resurfacing works for it on X day. X day came around.. no sign of them. 2 weeks go by, no sign of them. Then suddenly, oh they've rocked up with no warning and shut the roads to resurface them. But wait! It takes them 2 whole separate sets of closures (of multiple days each) to do each half of the road separately. After all that, you'd think that'd be the end of it but nope, they didn't even bother painting any lines on the recently re-built road. But don't worry, they decided to do that about 6 months later. and after ALL that.. The 'resurfaced road' was still bumpy and had potholes in it, although they were smaller so I guess they did "something". If there was one or two of these errors and inconveniences, I'd chalk it up as such and forget about it. But when they do such a bad job, it's nothing but pure incompetence all around. Similar thing with the road from Witham to Braintree (via White Notley and Black Notley). They recently went to fill in some potholes, but of course they didn't get them all and ended up leaving about half of the potholes still there, including one or two which were even highlighted in spraypaint..
Would be cool to see some coverage of the A417 Air Balloon Roundabout road works. Lots of interesting compromises in that project to maintain access to protected areas nearby.
Drove through there for the first time since covid a few weeks ago. It's about time that 'missing link' got joined up, but yes, it's clearly been quite a challenge to achieve the solution!
a useful video, I need to go to to Chelmsford at some stage to do some work and remember from some years back it was a nightmare then, interesting info on new train station
Also - we'll done for pronouncing Beaulieu properly!! And as for the new stretch if the A131 being widened, I've been saying all along why isn't it? The A131 carries a lot of traffic between Braintree & Chelmsford, and once Beaulieu town/village is finished that'll be a few thousand cars more using that stretch of road. Great video, let's hope the rusty bridge lasts a long time
I also live locally near Braintree and use the A131 (Essex Regiment Way) on my way to and from Chelmsford. I agree with you, the A131 should most certainly be dual carriageway as like you say, it carries a huge amount of traffic between Braintree and Chelmsford / A12. Let's hope that funding for the new bypass / the rest of the plan becomes available soon and they can start sorting out the congestion lol
@@samuelwade Completely agree, the future section of road that will come down across farmland from Essex regiment way near Grasshoppers to join the road shown by Jon should partly alleviate the problem when it gets built, but it does need to be dual carriageway otherwise it will be a wasted opportunity 👍
@@Pesmog Exactly, at the moment, I regularly see the traffic bottleneck at the entrance to Braintree Road (the current A131) on Deres Bridge roundabout in the morning peak so yes it should alleviate the traffic issue slightly for sure. It's all well and good building the new bypass but for it to be "future-proofed" for dualling later on down the line just seems absurd to me as by the time it does get built, the demand will definitely be there for a dual carriageway I believe.
20 years, more like 40, trawl back issues of the Essex Chronicle and plans for the North Springfield train station and A12 fiddling started to appear in the paper around 1983, before the Eastern bypass, and the A12 moving. The previous proposed sight for the station was sold and some flats and an Aldi supermarket built on it ~25 years back (half a mile south of the current site).
Nice one John! I knew the area well but hardly recognise it now. I'm glad we're moving down the West Country soon and away from Essex County Council's road "planning" department.
When our Aloha stadium was build in 1975 the builders said the same thing about the rust saying It forms a layer a protection . Over the years millions after millions have been spent on rusted beams . There has been talk of tearing it down for 10 years and this year the demolition starts .
Living in the area, one thing I've found driving over the new bypass bridge is just how abruptly it seems to come down onto the A12 junction, and with all the traffic added, don't feel is the safest solution even if temporary. Though am I right in remembering a long term plan was to build a dual carriageway from Braintree to a new junction further north. It would free a lot of traffic around Chelmsford.
I rather like the Corton steel colours but I am an engineer and I also know how difficult/expensive it is to get a good durable coating and then maintain it. I know that it’s a bit of a architectural cliché but that’s because of its extreme fitness for purpose.
Personally I quite like the look of corten, I'd take it any day over the alternatives, especially given the climate in the uk which is prone to heavy weathering on concrete construction
Seems as that is the standard for Lincolnshire as well, the new (eastern) part of Lincoln's By Pass was originally planned to be duelled, yet after contractor going bust and delays it's single carriageway with a "If you're too slow to drive up the slight incline" bit of road. Still waiting to hear if they're actually going to build a complete ring road or if that's our lot for another 40 years.
Interestingly enough, if you look up the original plans for the roads on the north side of Chelmsford, the original plans for the A130/Essex Regiment way was it to be a mostly grade separated dual carriageway, and this was in the 70s. However, since it was devised in the 70s it never happened and what was built instead was a quickly upgraded farm lane with roundabouts too close together. This is probably a better solution as it means traffic for the North side of Chelmsford is split off at the first roundabout, and isn't mixed in with traffic for Braintree. Tbh Essex just needs a massive infrastructure rebuild, as does most of the county. It's a pity we can't just build like they did back in the 30s
If you think the traffic is bad at boreham you should try Junction 17 at Howe Green on the A12 with the A130....or Fairglen Interchange between the A13, A130 and A127.
Fairglen is worse though I think Boreham is as bad as Howe Green. The northbound A12 starts crawling from the A414 junction, the southbound from the same junction but the distance from the 414 to Boreham is a lot longer. I stopped using the A12 ages ago because of it
Believe me, this is old news in terms of the Chelmsford environs being a road building disaster zone. The Army and Navy roundabout is a classic example of this and the ‘parkway’ project which was a half-arsed ring road with a lot of unnecessarily complicated avoiding junctions bits strapped on while many homes were ‘cleared’ to make way, only for the space to be filled by something that looked like it had been designed by playing a road version of that game where you draw the head, then pass it on and the next person adds the shoulders and upper torso, then the next one adds the midriff, etc to the feet. They drew the Army and Navy then when the ‘plan’ reached Broomfield Road, the opened it up and just submitted it. The pedestrianisation of the High Street made sense I guess, for which they created a new diversionary bridge which did at least ease a bit of crap one had to manoeuvre around in the south-east corner of the town centre. In the three years there it was constant road rebuilding and repurposing which got dreadfully dull. Then they trashed half the town centre and rebuilt it. Well, they trashed it and it is still a ‘work in progress’ apparently 😒 In short, you rightly infer that this is typical of many road projects and idiotic deviations that have been created over the years. The A131 was always an utter arse to get onto when travelling across Chelmsford, so one can only hope this might just help a little. But it will still be utter shyte 🙄 Cheers John 🍻👍🍀
With the new A131 road bridge that goes over the Great Eastern Main Line. That is where the new Beaulieu Park railway station is cutunder construction and is due to be completed next year. Plus the A130 it should end at Great Dunmow with a new bypass being built to avoid several villages. And there are plans to widen the A12 between Chelmsford and Colchester both ways. With a new junction 22 to be built. Unless there already is a junction 22 on the A12.
Huge A303 upgrades near Yeovil currently taking place. £300m project. 1/3 has just opened last week. Once it's finished at the end of the year (more likely 2025, was already meant to be completed by now) then the Stonehenge tunnel will begin construction 30 miles eastwards.
Those rusty looking bridges are also present on the M42 now where bridges have been replaced or new ones put in for HS2 related work. It does make them look like they're approaching end of life!
You should check out the recently approved A12 'upgrade' from junction 19 to 25... wonder how much that will deviate from plan. Back to 19 though it's a massive bodge
Can you do the epic failure for the London Silvertown tunnel? I can only foresee after the tunnel opens, the traffic issue still won't be solved a bit as the north side of the tunnel connection. It does not connect to A12 directly or A13, it just connects to A1020 with 2 roundabouts that set traffic lights in them. The funny thing is that A1020 to the east side is supposed to be a dual laneway and very good to drive the whole way down to A13. I was able to do it before the council made the changes before 2021. The lovely council axed the road in Silvertown to a single lane by making another cycle lane that no one uses: I can ride a bicycle on the cycle path next to the pedestrian road as a much more safer option. So the last way to redirect traffic had been killed also. There may be forecast huge traffic problem there and raising the funds to go back to the project, so the lovely mayor going to charge everyone to use not only the new tunnel, but the old Blackwall tunnel as well for 4 pounds each time, double than the Dartford cross.
They did this with the a130 bypass in the south from howe green to the a13/a127. And that's a shocking road in itself with constant traffic congestion at either end, even with all 3 lanes now being used in the northern section. Still, we await the Army and Navy saga to eventually come to fruition sometime before we're all dead..
I lived in Boreham for years so I used the easy-to-navigate roundabout every day. All I have to say about that new roundabout layout is "what the (cluster) fuck is that!". Standard Essex Council.
Jon, Have you done the A47? Particularly the Postwick junction? They built 2 bridges next to each other to support the NDR north. Would love to see your spin on this, would be wicked sweet awesome...!!!
Postwick Junction….now that is one monumental cock up … Over the A47 , turn left at lights, go back over the A47 and go onto roundabout to access the A47 to Yarmouth ….OMFG.
There is one minor benefit when heading A12 southbound and you want to access the services. The new “cut through” roundabout on the southbound exit and the filter lane down to the next roundabout that takes you to the services roundabout is an improvement on the previous design, where people would overtake and then cut across - an improvement, slightly, but not worth the expense IMO. Typical council thinking, where you arrange a meeting to schedule a meeting where you discuss the need for a meeting, and of course there will be biscuits (which for anyone who works in a real job stopped happening back in the 1980s)
I’d like to suggest another reason for the congestion in that it’s the sexy, short-cut route to Stansted for a lot of folk (like me) who might otherwise have used Southend Airport (which is still gettin’ back on its feet after covid). That said, it was ALWAYS a shit interchange to have to negotiate.
Essex council like temporary structures - Gallows corner flyover as an example - built in 1970 as a temporary structure. 54 years later - still there lol
