Housing Infrastructure Fund bids

Chelmsford North East Bypass & Beaulieu Railway Station

The new Beaulieu railway station will provide access to the Great Eastern Main Line (GEML). Trains can pass each other at the new station to make the whole line more reliable. It will relieve crowding at Chelmsford railway station and act as a transport interchange to encourage sustainable travel by bus, cycle, electric vehicles and on foot.

The Chelmsford North East Bypass will run between the A12 and A131, and will complement Highways England’s A12 Junction 19 to 25 improvements. It will relieve congested traffic on the local roads and provide a strategic link between Chelmsford, Braintree, London Stansted Airport and the wider east and southeast of England, including South Essex and the Lower Thames Crossing.

The bypass will enhance access to and increase the catchment area of the station - it is therefore vital that these pieces of infrastructure are delivered at the same time.

What will this do for housing growth?

This infrastructure will maximise the housing and economic opportunity in the area and sustain the continued delivery of hundreds of homes each year. In total the completion of over 10,000 new homes relies on Beaulieu Station and Chelmsford North East bypass opening.

A120 / A133 Link Road and Rapid Transit System

A rapid transit system will prioritise public transport on key routes in Colchester. It will enable housing growth and deliver transformational modal shift, allowing new and existing residents to benefit from frequent, high-quality, reliable transport connecting to the places they want to go. An example is the Belfast Rapid Transit Glider, pictured on the back page.

The system will service the new Park and Ride and help to better connect the planned Garden Community on the borders of Colchester and Tendring with the rest of the town.

Linking the A120 and A133 with a new road will unlock land to provide housing and will improve connectivity locally and within the wider region. It will also serve new park and ride sites and relieve traffic going to the University of Essex and its Knowledge Gateway technology and research park. Both are major employers and key contributors to the UK economy.

What will this do for growth?

The provision of the link road and rapid transit system is essential to meet local housing need. It will unlock the development of up to 7,500 homes and improve connectivity locally and within the wider East of England, future-proofing the capacity of both the A133 and A120.

Harlow and Gilston Town Sustainable Transport Improvements

Enhancing the infrastructure in West Essex will help to enable significant housing growth in the London-Stansted-Cambridge Corridor and allow the region to capitalise on Harlow’s designation as an Enterprise Zone and Garden Town.

What is proposed?

The proposals will provide a high-quality bus, walking and cycling link from the Eastwick junction in Hertfordshire to Harlow town centre via the railway station, while also providing a second crossing of the River Stort. It therefore includes:

• Expanding the existing crossing over the River Stort to extend the sustainable transport corridor between the Gilston area, Harlow Town Railway Station and Burnt Mill Roundabout
• An additional road crossing over the River Stort, linking the A414 at Eastwick with a new roundabout north of the river and then onwards to Edinburgh Way via River Way
• Improvements to junctions along the A1019 that will enhance their operation, boosting accessibility and attractiveness of the public transport, cycle and walking networks

What will this do for housing growth?

The proposed schemes will remove constraints to development, bringing forward the delivery of homes. The schemes will also facilitate the delivery of new jobs and provide much needed infrastructure for the Garden Town that enables access to and from the new developments.