Cllr Rodney L Bass, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation, today (Friday 12 December) announced that Essex County Council would put up £5million to kick start the consultation and design work for dualling the A120 between Marks Tey and Braintree.
The money was pledged in support of the Highways Agency's efforts to achieve design and consultation leading to preferred route status for a dual carriageway link between Braintree and the A12.
He announced the measure at a top level meeting between politicians and businessmen to support Haven Gateway's campaign to upgrade the A120.
Cllr Bass said: “The A120 is an important strategic route through Essex, from the international port of Harwich through to Stansted Airport, with junctions linking it to the A12 and M11.
“The single carriageway from Marks Tey to Braintree gets heavily congested and has one of the county’s worst pinchpoints.
“Essex County Council has been lobbying for improvements to the A120, which is vital to the county’s economy."
The County Council also recently called on the Secretary of State for Transport to support their €12M (£10 million) bid to obtain money from the European Union to carry out improvements to the A120 along the whole length of this vital route from Harwich to Stansted.
Proposed safety improvements include the junction at Horsely Cross for Tendring Europark, Millennium Way slip road and Galleys Corner roundabout, in Braintree, the Earls Colne junction, and Pellens Corner, Little Bentley.
It also includes money to develop route options for dualling the Marks Tey and Braintree stretch.