The end is finally in sight for the 20-plus year struggle for a new A130 bypass to the south of Chelmsford.

The Government announcement that it will provide £92million to help fund construction of the 15.5km dual two-lane road, makes it the first local authority private finance initiative scheme to receive such support.

The new road will be built in two stages - the first, from the A12 at Chelmsford to Rettendon, is expected to open to traffic by autumn of 2001, and the southern section, on to the A127 near Southend, by early 2004.

Many feel that this announcemernt is long overdue for a number of reasons:

It is considered vital to the future economic prosperity of the region to provide a faster and more direct link from south to north of the county.

It should be much safer than the present road system, which has been the scene of many road accidents, several fatal, over the years.

It will bring relief to villages along the route of the present road, such as Howe Green and Rettendon, both of which suffer from very high traffic levels with up to 32,000 vehicles a day passing through their communities.

While most reaction has been welcoming, dissentient voices are still being raised to the proposed scheme, with some environmentalists arguing that local schemes would have achieved all that was required.

Under a private finance initiative, a road is provided and maintained to set standards by private money for up to about 30 years, at an annual cost to the local authority, the money being made available through central government.

The financial arrangements are technical, but work rather like a mortgage.

Bird's eye: The A130, which runs between Chelmsford and Rettendon, looks set to be bypassed after a 20-year campaign.

Picture by: EDWARD CLACK

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.