Chelmsford City Growth Area Scheme

A sustainable transport package with highways improvements to key junctions and route corridors, together with a major focus on improvements to passenger transport and cycling provision, such as bus priority measures, cycling links/corridors, plus upgrades to city wide communications and control equipment to enable dynamic traffic management. A package of schemes to provide additional transportation capacity through enhanced sustainable transport, highways capacity improvements and key safety and technology upgrades for the City of Chelmsford.

Roads at capacity

The City of Chelmsford is undergoing significant growth and it is essential to keep people and goods moving freely and easily around the city. Currently, Chelmsford’s roads are under a lot of pressure, with only 4% capacity remaining on the City Centre core area highway network during morning and evening peak times, meaning that its sensitivity to incidents is heightened. If nothing is done to improve transport accessibility and provide more options for people to travel around, future growth will lead to gridlock on the city’s roads, thereby impacting the city’s economy and having a negative effect on the quality of the environment.

28 improvements

Following a series of public consultations and discussions with stakeholders, 28 improvement schemes have been identified within the three key element groups of bus, cycling and highways. When linked together with signage and technology enhancements, the total package will make a step change in responding to the identified transport problems in the City of Chelmsford.

North Chelmsford – 11 schemes in total, which propose changes and improvements to junctions and road layouts, footways and cycle routes, crossings, and cycling connectivity:-

1. Broomfield Road Corridor;
2. Great Waltham to City Centre Cycle Route;
3. Essex Regiment Way Crossing;
4. Chelmer Valley Road;
5. Lawn Lane Cycle Route;
6. New Nabbotts Way Cycle Route (North);
7. New Nabbotts Way Cycle Route (South);
8. Springfield Road (near Pump Lane) Toucan Crossing;
9. Oliver Way Cycle Route;
10. Pump Lane Cycle Route;
11. Patching Hall Lane Cycle Route.

West Chelmsford – 4 schemes in total – three are centred on proposals for improvements to footways, cycle routes and cycling connectivity, and one proposes enforcement and extension of an existing bus lane restriction:-

1. Melbourne Avenue Cycle Route;
2. Writtle to City Centre Cycle Route Improvements;
3. Admirals Park Bridge Improvements;
4. New London Road Bus Lane Improvements.

Chelmsford City Centre – 4 schemes in total, which propose changes and improvements to cycleways and footways, as well as cycling connectivity and the implementation of crossings and additional parking provisions for people who cycle:-

1. Tindal Square Closure;
2. Chelmsford City Centre Cycling Connectivity;
3. New Street Cycle Route;
4. City Centre Cycle Parking.

Parkway Corridor – 5 schemes – Army & Navy roundabout, new Bus Gate, Parkway Corridor improvements, extended bus lanes, key junction improvements, new and improved cycle routes:-

1. Army & Navy Roundabout improvements: Baddow Road Bus Gate;
2. Parkway Westbound: Bus Priority Lane and improvements to road layout;
3. Manor Road cycling improvements;
4. New London Road/Parkway Junction Enhancements;
5. Odeon Roundabout/High Bridge Road – making left turn restrictions permanent.

South & East Chelmsford – 4 schemes – new and improved cycle routes and connectivity of the existing cycling network:-

1. Great Baddow to City Centre cycle route;
2. Chelmer Village Way cycling route;
3. Beehive Lane and Loftin Way connections;
4. Great Baddow High School cycling route.

City-wide Signage and Technology – new and improved communications equipment and controllers plus improved directional signage:-

1. A signage strategy for the city and upgrade to the directional signage, traffic management and information systems around the key roads within and around the city of Chelmsford.

Objectives

Seven objectives have been determined for the Chelmsford City Growth Area Scheme:

1. Connectivity – Provide high quality transport improvements and enhance connectivity in Chelmsford for all modes of transport;
2. Economic Growth – Support and facilitate sustainable, economic growth and regeneration;
3. Capacity Management – Reduce congestion and manage traffic distribution across Chelmsford’s road network to improve journey time reliability and predictability, maximising the effective capacity through innovative solutions;
4. Sustainable Transport Modes – Encourage increased use of sustainable transport modes and services (bus, cycling, walking) by supporting improved accessibility, travel choice, community cohesion and social inclusion through the integrated public transport network;
5. Environment – Contribute to protecting and enhancing the natural, built and historic environment, to maintain a high quality of life and reduce pollution;
6. Safety – Improve safety on the transport network and enhance/promote a safe and secure travelling environment;
7. Resilience – Secure and maintain all transport assets to an appropriate standard and ensure that the transport network is available for use.

£579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock

In total the SELEP Growth Deal with Government has brought £579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock. Over the lifetime of the Growth Deal (2015-2021) we aim to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes across the SELEP area, with the Deal set to attract a further £960m of investment into the South East over the six year period.

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