Residents angry that National Highways won't be fined

National Highways will not face any action from regulators for the A12 resurfacing project, which caused traffic chaos for almost two years.

Freedom of Information requests submitted by the Gazette to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) show that despite the delays, National Highways has not been fined for the Marks Tey to Stanway resurfacing scheme.

An ORR spokesman said the resurfacing scheme did not cross the threshold for a fine or sanction to be imposed, which are reserved for “serious, systemic non-compliance with statutory directions.”

Chaos - The A12 works saw road users face incredible delays (Image: Steve Brading)Residents have shared their disappointment with the decision, with some “shocked” after the impact the delays had on them.

Beverley Whitfield, 55, lives on London Road in Stanway, where traffic was diverted while the A12 was closed.

She said that sometimes, the residents wouldn’t be informed when the A12 was closed with a diversion past her house.

Beverly said: "I think it's a travesty, to be honest- I feel people should be held accountable for their failure to deliver on deadlines, especially as this particular work over ran by a year. 

“Us residents were subjected to a torrent of redirected traffic past our house way past the original date. 

"The daily lives of the A12 commuters and the night time horrors for residents living along the B1408 during this time was hellish. 

“Some transparency would’ve been welcomed, because we were just left in the dark.

“In the night we’d be woken up with things in the room trembling from all the HGVs and lorries going past right outside, when we hadn’t even realised the traffic was going to be directed past our house.

“We talked many times about moving house, to be honest. It was awful.”

Expensive - The overall cost hit £44 million by January this year (Image: National Highways) On the Gazette's Facebook page Paul Scotty Thomas said: "Let's put this into perspective shall we?

"Last year I drove around the very busy Hamburg ring road in Germany and the work force were knocking down an old flyover and replacing it as well as tarmacing for a few miles.

"I drove back the same way three weeks later and drove over the new flyover and on the new tarmac." 

Businesses were also impacted by the works, with Colchester delivery firm Pallet Plus telling the Gazette previously that the business would have to fork out an extra £1,000 a week to accommodate for delays. 

A National Highways spokesman said: "We are sorry for the delayed completion of the A12 J25 - J26 concrete road replacement project, and we understand the impact this had on those regularly using the road.

"More challenging ground conditions below the road's surface and unprecedented rainfall were contributing factors that significantly impacted on the delivery of this work.

"The improvements we have made to the A12 between Marks Tey J25 - Stanway (J26) and on the nearby Margaretting bypass have made the road safer, smoother, quieter, and with less need for ongoing maintenance and disruption."