A WEEKEND closure of the A12's northbound carriageway has been postponed in light of significant traffic congestion.

National Highways' plans to close Junction 25 at Marks Tey this weekend have been postponed.

It comes after road users experienced lengthy delays of more than hour when the closure was first put in place last weekend.

Engineers were working on a £37million project to remove and replace the road's old concrete road surface.

As a result, motorists were made to follow a short diversion off the exit slip road at Junction 25 before rejoining the carriageway via an entry slip road, causing queues of traffic.

Gazette: Delays - weekend works on the A12 have been postponed due to 'serious' traffic congestion last weekendDelays - weekend works on the A12 have been postponed due to 'serious' traffic congestion last weekend (Image: National Highways East)

The decision has now been taken cancel this weekend's closure while a full review is undertaken.

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Apologising for the congestion, Karl Brooks, National Highways programme delivery manager, said: "We are sorry for the delays around Marks Tey last weekend. We carefully plan our roadworks and closures as our intention is always to minimise delays. 

"Where delays are unavoidable we try to ensure those planning on using a particular road, where works are taking place, are given as much advanced notice as possible to allow them to plan their journey - whether that is allowing a little more time or finding an alternate route.

"On this basis, we have made the decision to cancel this weekend's junction 25 northbound closure.

"We will now fully review our plans and see what we can do to make things better ahead of our next proposed weekend closure of junction 25, which is scheduled to be on Friday, July 14 until Monday, July 17."     

Last weekend's closure was the first of six due to take place across weekends between June and August.

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Mr Brooks added: "The reason we plan our work at weekends and overnight is to limit disruption when traffic is at its lightest.

"We are working hard to improve the A12, and we will find a way of achieving this without impacting road users to the extent they were inconvenienced last weekend."

For more information about the scheme, contact National Highways on 0300 123 5000 or email info@nationalhighways.co.uk.