TRAFFIC carnage caused by works on a major road which could continue until 2024 is costing Colchester’s economy millions of pounds in lost revenue, a councillor has claimed.

A12 roadworks caused six-mile tailbacks on the London-bound carriageway between Ardleigh and Stanway yesterday.

The delays were caused by lane closures in place between Junctions 26 and 25, with National Highways reconstructing a stretch of road between Marks Tey and Stanway.

In recent weeks Colchester drivers have reported seeing their journey times doubled by the roadworks.

Martin Goss, Colchester councillor for Mile End, watched on as traffic on the slip road onto the A12 at Colchester United’s stadium ground to a halt.

“It is ridiculous, this can’t go on, and I’ve seen the impact first hand while on litter picking visits around the area,” he said.

“It is carnage around North Station, it is backed up all the way from the A12.”

He has demanded a solution from National Highways.

“I’ve said ‘you guys need to sort this out, you cannot allow the road network to grind to a halt like this’," he said.

“It is causing carnage on every arterial road in town.

“It’s not just on my side of Colchester, people are trying to divert along Cowdray Avenue, along Ipswich Road, Bergholt Road, they are trying to find a route but they can’t.

“Someone has to be held to account for this, leaving it like this is totally unacceptable.

“This is affecting people’s mental wellbeing, it is affecting pollution – we’ve got loads of cars churning out fumes – businesses can’t get around the gridlocked roads, people can’t get to work or get their kids to school.

“The effect on the economy in Colchester will be running into the millions of pounds, with late deliveries and people voting with their feet by not going to Stanway and not going into the town.

“Why would they, when they can avoid the traffic, stay at home and use Amazon?

“They need to look at how they are conducting it all.”

A National Highways spokesman said: “We are carrying out a large scale programme to repair or replace around half the old-style concrete roads in the country during the next five years.

"The east of England has the highest concentration of concrete roads across the network managed by National Highways, and this includes the A12.

"Work has started to reconstruct the A12 between junction 25 Marks Tey and junction 26 Stanway.

"Reconstruction will involve completely removing the concrete road surface and some of the foundations, before rebuilding the road and resurfacing it with asphalt.

"The majority of our work will take place under a ‘contraflow’ system.

"By working under contraflow, we will be able to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction on the A12 for the majority of the construction period.

"Full closures will be required at the start of each phase of work so we can adjust our traffic management to allow us to work in other lanes.

"While this work is necessary, we are aware of the inconvenience this causes to those regularly using the road and we remain grateful for their patience while this is completed.

“All closures are planned, publicised and kept to an absolute minimum.

"Our advice is to plan your journey and allow extra time.

"Please visit our website to keep updated with closures and diversions.

"When complete, the new road surface will be quieter, smoother, and easier to maintain. That means increased safety and less disruption over the coming years."