The long-awaited proposed route of a £220 million dual carriageway to link Braintree and the A12 goes on show tomorrow.
Highways chiefs have opted for a nine-mile dual carriageway from the eastern end of the Braintree by-pass, joining the A12 north of Feering rather than upgrade the existing A120 with road improvements for the villages of Bradwell and Marks Tey.
The road will pass through countryside north of Cressing and the conservation village of Silver End and by-pass Galleys Corner at Braintree. It will cut across the former Second World War Rivenhall Airfield, cross the River Blackwater between Kelvedon and Coggeshall, before joining the A12 at a split-level junction.
Feering Parish Council member and Braintree councillor for Kelvedon Cllr Robert Mitchell said: "I am not impressed.
"The new road will go through sensitive areas and will impact quite significantly on the northern part of the parish."
Silver End Parish Council chairman Greta Tew added: "I fear the road could do damage to the rural character of the village."
James Abbott Essex Green Party co-ordinator and councillor for Bradwell, Silver End and Rivenhall, said: "If this scheme is ever built it will cause immense damage to the countryside."
Meanwhile Braintree District councillor for Cressing and Stisted Cllr Lynette Flint feared the road building could turn the village of Cressing into a suburb of Braintree.
The route will complete the dualling of the A120 from the M11, after the opening of the first section to Braintree last summer.
The Highways Agency, which considered a total of four options, said the favoured route: "Would not directly affect any designated areas of environmental interest and the majority of land taken would be from arable farmland, with low ecological value."
The option put forward is labelled the southern route, while experts also looked at a route passing to the north of Coggeshall, one based on the current Coggeshall by-pass before linking up to the A12 in the same area and an alternative route to the south on a similar line.
But the villages likely to be by-passed on the current A120 have welcomed the move. The chairman of Bradwell Parish Council Mrs Kathleen Hill said: "Anything that decreases the traffic must be beneficial."
Vice chairman of Stisted Parish Council David Cruickshank welcomed the by-passing of the Galleys Corner. "The fact that the new route goes south has to be good for everyone," he said.
The Highways Agency plans for the new A120 will enable the existing route to be re-classified at a B road. At the same time, the A12 will be upgraded to a three-lane dual carriageway between Kelvedon and Marks Tey. The final route will be announced in 2006, with construction to start in 2011 and completed by 2013.
St Paul's Church, St.Paul's Parsonage, Hay Lane, South Braintree, tomorrow 2pm-8pm
St Peters Community Hall, Stoneham Street, Coggeshall, Saturday 10-5pm
Kelvedon Institute 78 High Street, Kelvedon on Friday February 11, 1pm-8pm
St Andrews Church, Church Lane, Marks Tey on February 12, 10am-4pm.
Published Wednesday February 9, 2005
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