The A120 needs to be dualled. The single carriageway stretch between Braintree and Marks Tey is one of the most dangerous roads in the country, carries a huge volume of commercial traffic and is a main economic corridor. But it is no longer fit for purpose. Too many lives have been lost and ruined as a result of accidents and it needs to be made safer and dualled to cope with growing demand and traffic.
Those of us who use the road regularly know how bad it gets, and it’s been like this for years. Nearly 20 years ago work commenced on planned dualling scheme, but the last Labour Government scrapped it when they crashed the economy. Since my election to Parliament in 2010, I have campaigned hard to raise awareness of this road and worked with the last Conservative Government and Essex County Council to secure funds for a feasibility study to be conducting.
Alongside the project to widen the A12, which Labour cancelled last July, proposals to dual and re-route the A120 were developed. Local communities and businesses were engaged in this process and a plan was put forward, which would have linked a dualled A120 into what would have been a newly widened A12. All this work and investment was due to be sequenced.
But with the Labour Government axing the A12 widening scheme, the future of the A120 dualling scheme is now in serious doubt. That’s why we all need to campaign hard to save this scheme. Signing petitions and lobbying Government will put pressure on ministers not to make the same mistake again. But this isn’t just about getting the Government to keep the scheme on a future pipeline list with some vague promise. We need to see commitments, action and funding. With the A2 widening scheme cancelled, new work and feasibility studies will need to be undertaken to reflect the impact of this change.
We must use this campaign to force the Government to commit funding and a clear project plan to deliver a dualled road. Since coming to power, Labour have let this part of Essex down, but let’s show them how strongly we feel about getting the A120 dualled.
