Chelmsford Roadworks: A12 Shut Nightly to Friday 9 October

Where Chelmsford roadworks stand on Tuesday 6 October, checked against the orders and the closure reports themselves.

The A12 northbound is shut every night this week, up to and including Friday. National Highways’ closure report for Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October puts the junction 19 to junction 25 carriageway closure on five nights, Monday 5 to Friday 9 October, 9pm to 5am. Nothing is listed for that stretch after Friday night.

National Highways now calls this the final phase. Its scheme page was rewritten since our last check. It says the final phase starts in October and covers sections of Old London Road and new road markings. Friday 9 October is the only closure it names.

Watch the A120 at Great Notley on Tuesday night. The A12 diversion runs up the A131 and joins the A120 eastbound at Panners Interchange. That junction’s eastbound exit slip is listed as shut from 1am to 3am on Wednesday 7 October, and its eastbound entry slip from 3am to 5am, for what the report calls horticulture, cutting and planting.

Mildmay Road is shut and Hall Street still runs both ways. Essex and Suffolk Water’s 33-day mains order in Moulsham started on 28 September, so it can run to the end of October.

Five new closures for half term week. The Essex orders published on 1 October add Patching Hall Lane and Tavistock Road in the city, and lanes in Writtle, Great Waltham and Margaretting, from 26 to 28 October.

The daytime restrictions have not changed. The A12 from junction 19 to junction 25 has been a 50mph road, all day, every day, since Tuesday 1 September. That covers both directions and every slip road. Every lay-by along it is closed too. The order says the works run for about three months.

The A12 order says more than the scheme page does

National Highways’ public page for the A12 Chelmsford to Colchester maintenance has been cut right back. The “weeknights only” wording and the stage table have gone. It now describes resurfacing and central reservation work between junction 20b and junction 22, and between junction 24 and junction 25, “from 11 May to October 2026”. Under “Final phase of works starts October 2026” it lists a single closure: “Friday 9 October (9pm-5am) - A12 northbound between junctions 19 and 25”. It says the full closure is needed because Old London Road can be reached from the A12 at several points (National Highways).

The closure report books more than that page shows. It has the same northbound closure on every night from Monday 5 October, not just the Friday.

The statutory notice it published in the Essex Chronicle on 20 August says something wider. The order took effect on 1 September and allows all of this between junction 19 and junction 25:

• a 50mph speed limit, for 24 hours a day, on both carriageways and all slip roads
• all lay-bys closed, for 24 hours a day
• full weekend closures, 9pm Friday to 5am Monday, of varying lengths, starting on or after Friday 4 September
• overnight closure of the A12 northbound exit slip at junction 20A, Hatfield Peverel, 8pm to 5am, starting on or after Monday 28 September

The order runs for a maximum of 18 months or until the work is finished, whichever comes first (National Highways notice, Essex Chronicle, 20 August 2026).

Two things are worth being precise about. A traffic order is permission, not a timetable: the notice says the restrictions apply only where and when traffic signs show them. And no full weekend closure, the 9pm Friday to 5am Monday kind, has appeared on any closure report we have read. Five weeks into the order those powers have not been used, and the current report has nothing on the stretch for Saturday 10 or Sunday 11 October either. The 50mph limit is the part that does not end with the night closures: the order sets it for about three months from 1 September.

Where the diversion goes

When the A12 does shut between those junctions, northbound traffic leaves at junction 19, the Boreham Interchange, runs up the A131 to Great Notley, then east along the A120 to rejoin at junction 25. Southbound traffic does the same in reverse.

That is why a closure east of the city lands on Chelmsford. The diversion pours unfamiliar traffic onto the A131 and around Boreham for the hours it is in force.

What is actually shut this week

National Highways publishes a seven-day closure report as a spreadsheet, one sheet per day. Since the start of October it has said it uploads a fresh one every day. The one we downloaded on Tuesday 6 October covers Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October (National Highways).

The Chelmsford stretch has one closure, on five nights, plus one extra:

• A12 northbound, junction 19 Boreham to junction 25 Marks Tey: carriageway closed 9pm to 5am on the nights starting Monday 5, Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October, for carriageway reconstruction
• Old London Road, both directions: listed as a carriageway closure on the night starting Thursday 8 October, 9pm to 5am, under the same A12 scheme
• nothing on Saturday 10 or Sunday 11 October, in either direction

The A120 slip roads on the diversion route. National Highways is also working its way along the A120 between Marks Farm, at Braintree, and Priorywood, at Great Dunmow, shutting one slip road at a time for two hours. Two of them sit at Panners Interchange, where the A131 from Chelmsford meets the A120 at Great Notley:

• eastbound exit slip, 1am to 3am on Wednesday 7 October
• eastbound entry slip, 3am to 5am on Wednesday 7 October
• westbound entry slip, 9pm to 11pm on Wednesday 7 October

The first two fall inside the A12 closure on Tuesday night. A12 diversion traffic joins the A120 eastbound at that junction. The report does not say how it will be routed while the slips are shut, so allow extra time if you drive that way in the small hours.

The rest of the A12 entries do not send traffic through Chelmsford:

• A12 southbound, junction 28 to junction 27, Colchester: carriageway closed 9pm to 5am on the nights starting Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 October, for reconstruction
• A12 southbound, junction 13 exit slip at Ingatestone: closed 9pm to 5am on the night starting Friday 9 October, for drainage. That is the Trueloves junction, south-west of the city

One other A120 job is further east. The carriageway between Horsley Cross and Ramsey, near Harwich, is shut 9pm to 5am in both directions every night from Monday 5 to Friday 9 October for a survey.

Did the A12 and its diversion shut together on 2 October?

We said last week that this was the night to watch. The A131 Great Leighs Bypass, the A12 diversion route, was booked to close from 6pm on Friday 2 October to 5am on Saturday 3 October for filming (Essex County Council notice, 17 September 2026). The closure report that covered that Friday was replaced before we could read it, and the current one starts on Monday 5 October. We cannot confirm whether the A12 was shut that night too.

The A12 widening is still cancelled

For years the answer to A12 congestion around Chelmsford was the junction 19 to junction 25 widening scheme: two lanes to three, junctions 20a, 20b and 23 removed, two bypasses, roughly £1.2 billion. It received development consent on 12 January 2024.

It was then cancelled. National Highways’ page for the scheme reads: “Following the conclusion of the Spending Review, the Government has taken the decision to cancel the A12 Chelmsford to A120 scheme,” in an update dated 1 August 2025 (National Highways).

What replaced it is smaller and local. Essex county councillors approved the £38 million Beaulieu Access Package on 31 July 2026, upgrading the A12 and the Beaulieu Park station roundabout. The council says it “comes after the government cancelled its scheme to widen the A12”, and that most of the money will come from Homes England, National Highways and developer contributions (Essex County Council).

Swiss Avenue: the order has run out, Cadent’s work runs to 12 October

The county council’s order closed Swiss Avenue for 15 days from 21 September, which ran out on Monday 5 October. Cadent’s own programme runs a week longer, to Monday 12 October. Neither has published anything newer, so we cannot tell you whether the road is open today. Expect the Kings Road traffic lights until the 12th at least.

Cadent started work on Monday 21 September. It is replacing 250 metres of gas main in Kings Road, Swiss Avenue and the street next to them. The pipes are around 75 years old (Cadent).

What Cadent says is happening:

• work runs from Monday 21 September to Monday 12 October
• Swiss Avenue is closed while the work takes place, with signed diversions and access kept for residents
• traffic lights are in use on Kings Road
• gas stays on, apart from brief same-day disconnections for homes fed directly from the pipes being replaced

Cadent held a drop-in on the grass verge in Kings Road on Tuesday 15 September. It has not announced another. Its announcement of 11 September is still the only thing it has published about the job, and its September and October news listings carried nothing newer for Chelmsford when we read them on Tuesday 6 October.

Two details in it do not line up, so check before you rely on either:

• Which street. Cadent’s announcement names the third street as Park Road. The county council’s traffic order, advertised on 27 August, names Park Avenue, closed for 35 metres from its junction with Swiss Avenue. We have used the order’s wording.
• How long. Cadent’s announcement calls the job both “four weeks” and a “three-week period” to 12 October. The order closes Swiss Avenue for 105 metres from Kings Road, and Park Avenue, from Monday 21 September for 15 days, which ends on Monday 5 October. Cadent’s own end date is 12 October, so expect work, and the Kings Road lights, to carry on until then.

The signed diversions in the order run via Park Avenue, the A1060, the A1016 and the B1008 one way, and Swiss Avenue, the B1008, Corporation Road and Kings Road the other (Essex County Council notice, 27 August 2026).

Broomfield Road: still no completion notice

Cadent spent the summer replacing 950 metres of gas main on Broomfield Road, where the metal pipes had been in the ground since the 1930s. Its published programme ran from Monday 6 July to Sunday 23 August 2026 (Cadent).

Six weeks past that date, the company has published no completion notice and no extension, its news index still carries nothing newer for the road than the June announcement, and its Swiss Avenue announcement does not mention Broomfield Road. We cannot tell you the road has reopened, and we will not tell you it is still shut. Check the Essex Highways live traffic map before you plan a hospital run through it.

The 7.5 tonne weight limit on Main Road, Broomfield and Broomfield Road, from the Valley Bridge junction to Hospital Approach, is suspended while closures under the council’s rolling works order run. That order took effect on 3 September and was advertised again on 10 September. Lorries normally banned from that stretch may use it while those closures run.

The A130: now the whole road from Galleywood to Canvey Way

Advertised on Thursday 24 September. Essex County Council has an order letting County Route close the A130 through Chelmsford’s own district, for carriageway resurfacing:

• the A130 southbound, from the Gingerbreadhall Bridge roundabout to the off slip road at Rettendon, about 8,655 metres, plus the off slip itself to the Turnpike Link, about 270 metres
• the A130 northbound, from the Rettendon Turnpike to the Gingerbreadhall Bridge roundabout, about 8,930 metres, plus the on slip from Runwell Road, about 510 metres

The signed alternative is the old road: Southend Road, Main Road and the Rettendon Turnpike, in both directions. Each length gets a temporary “no waiting, no loading and no stopping” restriction while it is shut, and each is closed for its phase and then reopened.

The order says the works “are scheduled to commence after 1st October 2026, as stated on a valid permit”. It gives no dates and no hours for any phase (Essex County Council notice, 24 September 2026). If you use the A130 to reach Wickford, Basildon or Southend, watch for the advance warning signs, because they are the only notice the order promises. Nothing newer has been published: Thursday 1 October’s notices still give no phase dates, and Essex Highways has no scheme page for the job.

South of Rettendon, the order from 17 September

The order advertised a week earlier covers the rest of the dual carriageway, south of Rettendon towards Basildon, Rayleigh and Southend. It lets County Route close, in phases:

• the A130 southbound, from the off slip road at Rettendon to the A1245 Canvey Way junction, about 5,255 metres
• the A130 northbound, from both junctions with Canvey Way, the Rayleigh Spur, north to the on slip road at Rettendon, about 5,510 metres
• the on slip road to the A130 southbound at Rettendon, from Battlesbridge Bypass, about 275 metres

The signed alternative is the A1245 for the carriageway closures and the A1245 and A132 for the northbound stretch. A temporary “no waiting, no loading and no stopping” restriction applies on both sides of each length while it is shut. The work is carriageway resurfacing.

That order lets the work start after Thursday 24 September, and says each length will be closed for its phase and then reopened. It does not say which night any phase falls on either. The council’s wording is that dates may vary and that residents get a letter or leaflet before their phase starts (Essex County Council notice, 17 September 2026). On Thursday 1 October the council confirmed it had made the order, in force from 24 September, with the same lengths and still no dates (Essex County Council notice, 1 October 2026).

Moulsham: Mildmay Road shut, and Hall Street runs two-way

The biggest city closure is a water job. Essex and Suffolk Water is renewing mains in Moulsham, and from Monday 28 September the order allows 33 days of closures, which takes it to the end of October:

• Mildmay Road, 95 metres from the Goldlay Avenue junction to its end
• Rochford Road, 45 metres from the Mildmay Road junction to its end
• Hall Street, where the one-way restriction between Moulsham Street and Mildmay Road is suspended for the duration, so the street runs both ways

The signed alternative route is Mildmay Road, Grove Road, Roman Road and Hall Street. If you park in that grid or walk children through it to school, the one-way suspension is the part to watch: drivers who have used Hall Street the same way for years will meet cars coming the other way.

London Road Bridge: still on traffic lights, still no date

The longest-running restriction in the city is on New London Road. Essex Highways installed temporary two-way traffic lights on 24 June 2025 to reduce loading on a defective cast iron beam beneath the bus lane. Priority goes to vehicles travelling from Parkway towards Bellmead.

The Park and Ride bus stop on New London Road, in front of Grosvenor House opposite the Job Centre, is still suspended. Walking over the bridge and use of the river beneath it are unaffected.

More than a year on there is still no repair date. Essex Highways is “designing and assessing the feasibility of repair options”, the bridge is Grade II listed so Listed Building Consent is needed first, and “at this stage, a completion date cannot be determined as it is dependent on the outcome of the design and approval process” (Essex Highways). If you route through the south of the city centre at peak times, plan as though those lights are permanent, because for now they are.

Army and Navy: buying land, and the page still contradicts itself

The Army and Navy Sustainable Transport Package is real, funded and consented. It is also years away.

What is in it:

• A hamburger roundabout, a roundabout with a road through the centre of it
• A 350-space expansion of Sandon Park and Ride
• A new northbound bus lane on Princes Road, and better bus priority both ways on Parkway
• Walking and cycling improvements on the junction and its approaches

Chelmer Valley Park and Ride will not be expanded. Essex Highways dropped it from the package in March 2026.

The cost is £81 million, of which the Department for Transport conditionally committed £68.75 million in October 2023. Planning permission came in November 2024 and the government confirmed the scheme could proceed in July 2025. The project is now “in the process of securing the land needed”.

On timing the scheme page still says two different things, as it has all summer. Under “Next steps” it reads that construction “is scheduled to start in 2028 and is expected to be completed in 2031”. Four questions down the FAQ it reads that construction “is expected to start in 2027 and be completed in 2029” (Essex Highways).

Either way the answer to the only question drivers ask is the same: nothing is being built at the Army and Navy this year or next.

What is shut now, and what starts before the end of October

These are the Chelmsford City closures from the Essex County Council orders published on 27 August, on 3, 10, 17 and 24 September and on 1 October. Four short closures from last week’s list have run their scheduled days and come off it, including the A131 filming night.

Eleven are under way or due to be under way today, going by the start dates and durations in the orders.

The rest of October is mostly villages, then a cluster in half term week. The 1 October orders add five closures from 26 to 28 October, two of them in the city itself: Patching Hall Lane, near Longleat Close, and Tavistock Road, near Bodmin Road. Pennys Lane in Margaretting has no diversion at all.

Start dates on statutory notices are the earliest date the order can be used, not a promise the cones appear that morning. Essex County Council says on each one that the dates may vary and that the live position is shown on one.network.

Advertised, but with no dates yet

Two rolling orders cover long lists of Chelmsford roads with no dates attached. The council says only that “exact dates will be specified on one.network”, and that residents get a letter or leaflet before their phase starts. The newest, which took effect on 3 September, is the one to know about, because it names some of the busiest roads in the district:

• Essex Regiment Way, Little Waltham, Broomfield and Springfield, 4,155m from the Sheepcotes roundabout to the Nabbotts Farm roundabout, plus the Wheelers Farm, Pratts Farm and Channels Drive roundabouts
• Broomfield Road and Main Road, Broomfield, 745m from Patching Hall Lane to Vellacotts, and Valley Bridge, 870m to Broomfield Road
• Writtle Road, Chelmsford Road, Bridge Street and The Green, Writtle, 1,445m from Ongar Road to Longacre
• Wood Street, Chelmsford, 870m from Galleywood Road to the Wood Street roundabout
• Channels Drive, Broomfield and Chelmsford Garden Community, 490m to Albatross Way
• School Lane, Broomfield, 320m; Lodge Road, Writtle, 105m
• Downham Road, Stock and West Hanningfield, 2,450m; Rettendon Road, The Tye and The Common, East Hanningfield, 1,685m; Creekview Road and Broughton Road, South Woodham Ferrers, 780m

An earlier order, in force since 20 August, covers Main Road and Dunmow Road, Great Waltham (4,155m), Thames Avenue (545m), Chignal Road (535m) and Wicklow Avenue (400m) on the same terms. A separate Gigaclear order covers Mill Road and Fountain Road, Good Easter.

Two more were advertised on 24 September, each for a single long road:

• Longmead Avenue and Meadgate Avenue, Great Baddow, 1,870m from Baddow Road to Maldon Road, diverted via Maldon Road and the B1009. In force since 17 September
• Inchbonnie Road, South Woodham Ferrers, 1,995m from Ferrers Road to its end, diverted via Ferrers Road. In force from 1 October

Neither gives a date for the closure itself (Essex County Council notice, 24 September 2026).

A414 west of the city: a 50mph limit to be made permanent

The council also proposes to make the current temporary speed limits on the A414 between Ongar and Chelmsford permanent. The longest part is a 50mph limit on Chelmsford Road, Ongar Road and Greenbury Way, about 14.7 kilometres east from the Four Wantz roundabout in Ongar. That takes in the side road mouths at Cooksmill Green, Highwood Road, Margaretting Road and the Hylands estate access road. Nearer Ongar, two stretches would become 40mph.

Objections go to TrafficRegulation.Order@essexhighways.org, quoting TRAF/8937, by 16 October 2026. The plans are on the Essex Highways traffic regulation orders page (Essex County Council notice, 24 September 2026).

Long path closures

Three footpath and byway closures in the district run for months rather than days, and none of them shows up on a driving app:

• Footpaths 22 and 23, Chelmsford Garden, closed 1 September 2026 to 1 March 2027 for construction of the Northern Radial Distributor Road. Both run north to Wheelers Hill, 400m and 595m respectively. We have written about what that closure signals in the road that unlocks 10,000 homes
• Byway 25, Great Waltham, closed 17 August to 17 November 2026, 2,155m from Ringtail Green south to Penden Hill, for surface improvement
• Footpath 17, East Hanningfield, closed 18 August 2026 to 18 February 2027, 630m from Footpath 18 south-west to the B1245 Southend Road. The order says the closure is “required for the safety of the public whilst the site of a fire and explosion is made safe”, and that no alternative route is available
• Byway 51, Little Waltham, closing 1 October 2026 to 1 April 2027, 120m from Footpath 40 east to Footpath 42, “because of an unsafe river crossing”. The council says the work “will be carried out in due course”, which is not a start date. The signed way round is north via the B1008 Main Road, east via The Street and Brook Hill, and south via Back Lane (Essex County Council notice, 17 September 2026)

Trains: the ground under the track has dried out

The heat has become a timetable problem. GBR Anglia said on Friday 4 September that sustained heat and low rainfall have dried out and shrunk the clay under long stretches of the Essex railway, damaging the quality of the track, and that speed restrictions and amended timetables are being applied as a result (Greater Anglia).

What has actually changed so far is on a different line from ours. The amended timetable came in on Tuesday 1 September between Southend Victoria and London, where some journeys now take two to eight minutes longer. Nothing has been announced for the Great Eastern Main Line through Chelmsford.

Two things in the announcement matter here anyway:

• the operator says engineers are monitoring track conditions across the region and that further speed restrictions may be needed in the coming weeks
• the restrictions stay until the ground recovers, so this is a months problem rather than a weeks one

Network Rail says it expects to drop 49,000 tonnes of new ballast across Anglia during 2026, having treated around 100km of track affected by dried-out soil last year.

No weekend closures on the Chelmsford line before half term

We worked through National Rail’s own planned incident list again on Tuesday 6 October. It carries every closure as a dated page.

There is no full closure between London Liverpool Street and Chelmsford, Witham or Colchester before half term. What is listed is lighter than that:

• Sunday 11 October and Sunday 18 October: work between Shenfield and Liverpool Street until 09:45 and again from 23:05 to the end of service. Journeys between Shenfield and London take up to 15 minutes longer, and trains leave Liverpool Street up to 15 minutes earlier than usual (National Rail, 11 October; 18 October)
• Sunday 25 October: the planned work between Chelmsford and Ingatestone is cancelled, and trains will run normally (National Rail)
• Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October: the planned work on the Braintree branch, between Braintree and Witham, is cancelled too (National Rail)

Half term week brings the first late-night disruption beyond Witham. From Monday 26 to Thursday 29 October, work between Witham and Colchester means:

• Monday to Wednesday, the 23:48 from Liverpool Street terminates at Witham, with a bus on to Colchester
• Tuesday to Thursday, the 00:18 and 00:46 from Liverpool Street do the same
• the 04:43 from Colchester starts from Witham at 04:58 instead, with a bus from Colchester at 04:10

(National Rail)

National Rail’s unplanned disruption list had nothing for Greater Anglia when we read it on Tuesday 6 October.

Park and ride

Two park and ride sites keep a lot of cars out of the centre, and both matter more while the London Road Bridge lights are in.

Sandon Park and Ride, Maldon Road, Sandon, CM2 7RU, has 1,377 spaces, plus 28 disabled bays, 7 parent and child bays and 2 EV charging points. Published hours are Monday to Friday 06:30 to 20:00 and Saturday 07:00 to 19:30. No Sunday service is listed.

Chelmer Valley Park and Ride is north of the city off the A130, and also runs a weekday minibus shuttle to Broomfield Hospital.

The Essex County Council tariff, read on 5 September 2026 (Travel Essex):

The free child travel offer that ran through the summer has gone. Children under 19 are back to £1.00.

Three things people miss:

• There is a 20 minute free period for drop-offs, and the barrier opens on approach because the site reads number plates
• After the park and ride buses finish for the evening, your ticket stays valid on First’s service 31 at 20:10, 21:10, 22:15 and 23:10 and service 336 at 20:40, 21:40 and 22:40, Monday to Saturday, from the Duke Street, New London Road and Parkway stops
• You can leave after closing. The barrier opens automatically on your First Bus ticket, or once a park-only ticket has been paid for

A separate commercial operator, Central Connect, runs route 701 from Sandon under its own fares, having taken the route on commercially from 6 March 2026 (Chelmsford Park and Ride). Check which bus you are boarding before you assume the price.

If you would rather leave the car at home, the train into London is 29 minutes at its fastest, and Beaulieu Park station opened with 752 parking spaces on the north-east edge of the city in October 2025.

Bus gates, and the fines behind them

Three Chelmsford locations are enforced by camera for bus lane and bus gate contraventions: Channels Drive, Duke Street and Gunson Gate. Essex County Council publishes the traffic regulation order and photographs of the signed approaches for each. Duke Street in particular catches drivers whose satnav routes them through the middle of the city rather than round it.

Where to check on the day

• Essex Highways live traffic map for what is happening right now: closures, diversions and incidents
• Essex Highways future roadworks map for the next two weeks, council and utility works together, with an email alert option
• National Highways road closure report for the A12 and the rest of the strategic network. The spreadsheet is the useful part: one sheet per day, with start and end times
• Chelmsford City Council temporary road closures for street parties and events, which the city council handles rather than the county
• Potholes, street lights and blocked drains are Essex County Council’s responsibility, not the city council’s. Report them through Essex Highways

More Chelmsford local information

• Chelmsford trains to London: times, 2026 fares and the last train home.
• Chelmsford planning news: why the A12 cancellation forced the Local Plan back open.
• Chelmsford house prices: what homes actually sell for, area by area.
• Parking in Chelmsford: every car park, tariff and permit.
• Things to do in Chelmsford: and where to park for each of them.

Sources

• National Highways statutory notice, Essex Chronicle, 20 August 2026 for the A12 junction 19 to junction 25 order: the 24-hour 50mph limit, the lay-by closures, the full weekend closures from on or after 4 September, the junction 20A slip road closures from on or after 28 September, the three-month works period and the diversion routes.
• National Highways: A12 Chelmsford to Colchester maintenance for the final phase, the Old London Road work, the Friday 9 October closure and the northbound diversion via the A131 and A120, read 6 October 2026, when the earlier stage table and “weeknights only” wording had been removed.
• National Highways seven-day closure report spreadsheet, covering Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October 2026, downloaded 6 October, for the nightly junction 19 to 25 northbound closures from Monday 5 to Friday 9 October, the Old London Road closure on 8 October, the absence of any closure on that stretch on Saturday 10 or Sunday 11 October, the A120 Panners Interchange and other Marks Farm to Priorywood slip road closures, the junction 28 to 27 and junction 13 closures and the Horsley Cross to Ramsey closures. The link on the road closure report page changes as each new file is uploaded, and the old link keeps serving the old file.
• Cadent: work to replace 75-year-old gas pipes in Chelmsford, 11 September 2026 for the 250 metres of main, the 21 September to 12 October programme, the closures, the Kings Road traffic lights, the gas supply note and the 15 September drop-in, and its news index and October 2026 listing, read 6 October, for the absence of any completion notice for Broomfield Road and of any update on the Swiss Avenue job.
• National Highways: A12 Chelmsford to A120 widening scheme for the cancellation and its 1 August 2025 update.
• Essex County Council, 31 July 2026 for the £38m Beaulieu Access Package and its funding.
• Cadent: Broomfield Road in Chelmsford set for new gas pipes for the 6 July to 23 August programme, the 950 metres of main, the 1930s pipes and the streets affected.
• Essex County Council temporary traffic orders published as statutory notices in the Essex Chronicle on 27 August (second part) and 3 September 2026 (Tidworth Avenue, Runwell) and 10 September 2026 (Woolards Way, Main Road, Bicknacre, rolling works order and weight limit suspension), 17 September 2026, and 24 September 2026 (main bundle, second bundle, Danbury), and 1 October 2026, and the separate footpath order of 27 August, for every road and path closure listed here, its extent, dates, promoter and diversion, for the Swiss Avenue and Park Avenue dates, the Mildmay Road and Hall Street order, the Writtle event orders, the 7.5 tonne weight restriction suspension, the A130 resurfacing orders, the A414 speed limit proposal and the half term closures in Writtle, Margaretting, Great Waltham, Patching Hall Lane and Tavistock Road.
• Essex Highways: London Road Bridge, New London Road for the 24 June 2025 traffic lights, the defective cast iron beam, the Listed Building Consent requirement and the absence of any completion date.
• Essex Highways: Army and Navy Sustainable Transport Package for the package contents, the £81m cost, the £68.75m DfT contribution, the March 2026 Chelmer Valley decision, the land acquisition stage and both conflicting construction date sentences.
• Greater Anglia, 4 September 2026 for the dried-out clay, the speed restrictions, the Southend Victoria to London timetable change from 1 September, the two to eight minute journey increases, the 100km treated last year and the 49,000 tonnes of ballast expected in 2026.
• National Rail’s planned and unplanned incident listings, read 6 October 2026, and the individual pages linked in the trains section, for the Sunday timings on 11 and 18 October, the two cancellations on 24 and 25 October and the half term week changes between Witham and Colchester.
• Travel Essex: Sandon Park and Ride for spaces, hours, the tariff, Park and Pedal, the cycle lockers and the evening ticket acceptance, read 5 September 2026.
• Chelmsford Park and Ride (Central Connect) for the commercial route 701 and the 6 March 2026 change.

Roadworks change at short notice and overnight closures are weather dependent. Check the live maps above before you set off. The National Highways closure report and scheme page, the Cadent news listings, the Essex statutory notices, the Essex Highways pages for London Road Bridge and the Army and Navy, and the National Rail listings were all rechecked on 6 October 2026. The newest Essex traffic orders are the ones published on 1 October. The Sandon Park and Ride tariff was read on 5 September and the Greater Anglia announcement dates from 4 September, and neither has been re-read since, because greateranglia.co.uk and travelessex.co.uk both block automated reads.