PLANS have been submitted for a new £70million link road which is being built to allow a 9,000-home new town to go ahead.

Essex County Council has submitted a planning application for the 2.4km road, which will run between the A120 and A133 to the east of Colchester.

Funded through the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, the new link road will support the creation of a new town being built on the Tendring and Colchester border near Elmstead.

Plans state the new road will be dual carriageway with a 50mph speed limit.

A separate dumbbell junction will be created at the junction with the A120 with a new roundabout linking the road with the A133.

A 5m wide segregated pedestrian and cycleway will run alongside the link road, while an underpass also forms part of the plans.

Link Road

Link Road

Plans are also being developed for a so-called rapid transit system to be created in Colchester in conjunction with the new town.

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The system will link two park and rides with the town centre via buses.

A planning report states: “The link road will serve a dual purpose, as a new strategic link to alleviate traffic congestion in and around Colchester, as well as providing direct access to enable the development of up to 7,000 to 9,000 new homes and associated employment at the planned Garden Community.

“It also forms a critical component of the wider emerging transport strategy for Colchester, alongside the proposed Rapid Transit Scheme.”

The garden community cannot go ahead until plans are in place for both the link road and rapid transit system.

Visit https://planning.essex.gov.uk/planningapplication.aspx?AppNo=CC/TEN/31/21 for more information.