We have been in a position in Brentwood recently where, whichever way you turned, there were traffic lights and roadworks going on.
After a number of complaints from constituents that it was taking the best part of an hour to get from King George’s Playing Fields to Pilgrims Hatch, I contacted Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, Cllr Tom Cunningham to find out why we were being subjected to such a degree of disruption.
Cllr Cunningham has let me know the number of roadworks were a combination of planned works and utility emergencies which can lead to roads being closed with immediate effect providing highways authority (Essex County Council) is notified within two hours of the closure.
At one point in February – at the height of the disruption – there were major mains replacement works by Cadent taking place with open excavations on roads. Added to these were two gas escapes required emergency road closures, London Road being closed for tree felling, and another emergency closure in Shenfield for an electric cable to be replaced.
Clearly there was a great deal of inconvenience caused for a number of reasons leading to Brentwood being gridlocked for several days. If you want advance notice of what roadworks are planned in the area where you live or travel in Essex, please do check out the Essex County Council’s highways site here: https://www.essexhighways.org/
