Aerial view of Chelmsford

Chelmsford City Growth Package

The selected schemes

In November 2017 we announced a number of schemes to be take forward following consultation:

Scheme	Works	Status	Completion
Broomfield Road	Installation of cycle tracks	Complete
City Centre cycle parking	Creation of additional cycle parking facilities	Complete
City Centre Parkway / Victoria Road South	Improving congestion on Parkway	Complete
Chelmer Valley Road	Creation of dedicated bus lane	Complete
Chelmer Village cycleway	Improvements for cycling and walking	Complete
Essex Regiment Way	Introduction of a safe crossing	Complete	Construction complete - signals to be commissioned June/July 2021
Great Baddow to City Centre	Creation of new cycle route	Complete
Great Waltham to City Centre	Creation of new cycle route	Planning in progress	Construction planned for 2021/2022
New Street cycle route	Creation of cycle tracks	Complete
Signage and technology	Improvement into signage and automated traffic management	Complete
Writtle cycleway / Admiral Park bridge	Improvement to cycle way and replacement of bridge	Complete

What’s the problem?

Chelmsford is growing and developing into a place where people want to live, work, shop, and spend time. With this growth, there is an increase in demand for travel on our already busy road network.

At the moment, the road network has only 4% space left at peak times.

If we don’t do something to reduce the pressure on the existing road network, the problem is going to get worse

More frequent traffic jams
A negative effect on the city’s economy
A negative effect on air quality

There is not the available space in the city centre to increase capacity on the existing roads, or build new roads. This would also not solve the issue as it would further encourage extra car journeys and quickly use up the new space.

What’s the solution?

We need a strategic approach to help solve the issues that are currently in existence on Chelmsford’s transport network. Looking to the future, we need to progress in a way that ensures that what we have in Chelmsford can be used and enjoyed for generations to come.

Investing in sustainable transport methods is therefore a key part of the solution.

We also need to challenge the way people think about travelling to, from and within Chelmsford.

We need to make alternatives to the car attractive enough to persuade people to alter their habits.

Chelmsford City workers living inside the City 23,710 - 50% travel by car — Source: Census (2011) journey to work data

The Chelmsford City Growth Package

Essex County Council has secured £15 million to be invested in sustainable transport methods designed to help alleviate pressure on Chelmsford’s road network. These improvements to the network need to be made by 2021.

The Chelmsford City Growth Package went out to public consultation in summer 2017 receiving over 900 responses. This helped us decide which schemes to bring forward in November 2017.