HIGHWAYS bosses have reassured drivers a brand new "smooth layer" will be placed on new-and-improved A12 lanes at the end of the £37million reconstruction project.

National Highways revealed work on the Colchester-bound carriageway as part of the works was completed earlier this month.

Now, following this, bosses have said a final asphalt surface will be laid towards the end of the project, “to provide a smooth, consistent surface across all lanes Colchester-bound and London-bound”.

“This will mean the surface is brand new when all of the traffic management is removed”, a spokesman said.

Until then, traffic will continue to drive on the temporary surface, known as the binder course, which will eventually form the underlayer of the road when the final surfacing is added.

National Highways has said during this time road users may notice some “bumps or ridges” but have assured these will be eliminated once the final surface is laid, and any safety issues such as potholes will continue to be repaired until then.

The next set of overnight closures as part of the project are coming this weekend, to finish installing the safety barrier so work on the London-bound carriageway can be completed.

The A12 London-bound will be closing overnight from 9pm to 5am between junction 26 Stanway and junction 25 Marks Tey on Saturday, November 25 and Sunday, November 26.

There will also be an overnight closure for the same time of the London-bound entry slip at junction 27 Spring Lane on Friday, December 8.

Work on the £37million project began back in October last year.

It is seeing both sides of the road reconstructed between Marks Tey and Stanway between junctions 25 and 26.

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

For more information, visit the National Highways website.