Chelmsford North East Bypass construction to begin early next year

25/10/2024

Press Release

A contract has been awarded to deliver a major transport boost for the city.

Major transport infrastructure connecting the north of Chelmsford has moved a step closer with a contract awarded by Essex County Council.

The first phase of the Chelmsford North East Bypass will be constructed by Octavius Infrastructure Limited. Works are scheduled to begin in early 2025 and finish by spring 2026.

Chelmsford North East Bypass

The planned new Chelmsford North East Bypass, together with the new Beaulieu Park Station, will provide important infrastructure to support planned housing and economic growth to the north of Chelmsford.

The transformational road and rail upgrade will bring long-awaited improvements to Chelmsford’s transport network and help relieve congestion on local roads in and around the city, enabling easier, more reliable and resilient journeys.

The bypass will also provide easier access to both the A12 and the new Beaulieu Park Station for people travelling from Braintree and surrounding areas, taking approximately 900 vehicles off city centre roads each morning.

Section 1A

Chelmsford North East Bypass will be delivered in phases.

The first section of the bypass (Section 1A) will connect with Beaulieu Parkway in the south to the future Chelmsford Garden Community.

It will provide access to both the new Beaulieu Park Station, which is currently under construction and due to open in 2025, and junction 19 of the A12 at Boreham Interchange via the new Beaulieu Parkway Bridge.

To the north, Section 1A of the bypass will join with a new east-west link road (Northern Radial Distributor Road), to be built by developers as part of the Chelmsford Garden Community.

The link road will connect the bypass to the A131 Essex Regiment Way at Wheelers Hill roundabout.

Next steps

Works to build the first phase of the Chelmsford North East Bypass are set to get underway in early 2025 after Essex County Council awarded the construction contract.

Following a tender process, a contract has been awarded to Octavius Infrastructure Limited to build the first section of the bypass. Construction of Section 1A of the bypass is expected to be finished by Spring 2026.

Construction of the remainder of the bypass (Sections 1B and 2) will take place in due course in the future when alternative funding has been secured. We will continue to proactively seek funding for the remaining sections, including potential developer contributions.

Building the bypass in phases and working in conjunction with project partners, including developers, means costs, which have gone up significantly, can be spread across future development, so the infrastructure is in place when it is needed.

Progress update

Ahead of the construction of the first section of the bypass, advanced enabling works for the new Chelmsford North East Bypass are underway and preparations are being made ready to commence the main construction works for Section 1A in 2025.

Progress with the advanced works

The first package of enabling works, which were carried out by Octavius Infrastructure, are now complete. The works have involved building a new multi-modal bridge north of Beaulieu Parkway which will ultimately span the new bypass.

The bridge will initially enable the continued operation of an existing mineral quarry, Bulls Lodge, during construction and operation of the bypass. In the future, it will be modified to provide an east-west link across the bypass for all modes of transport, including pedestrians and cyclists. This will enable access to the new Chelmsford Garden Community and existing communities to the west of the bypass.

Picture of new Beaulieu Parkway bridge — Side on view of completed bridge

Octavius Infrastructure are now progressing a second package of the advanced works, which involves excavating a new silt lagoon and infilling two existing lagoons close to the planned bypass.

While delivering the Chelmsford North East Bypass advanced works, Octavius has:

Engaged with residents by providing clear and up to date information to local communities
Improved the environment by minimising CO2 emissions and assessing any potential opportunities for biodiversity enhancement
Increased sustainable employment with employment opportunities for local people
Supported the growth of local businesses by spending money with local small and medium enterprises
Improved opportunities for young people by supporting local education providers and charities, offering industry talks, site visits and work placements

Preparing for the construction of Section 1A

Essex County Council has now awarded the construction contract to build the first section of the bypass to Octavius Infrastructure Limited.

The Council has recently submitted information to the County Planning Authority to discharge a condition of the current CNEB planning permission to approve the construction works for Section 1A as the next phase of work. The submission includes an Environmental Statement Addendum and Transport Assessment Addendum that evaluate the implications of constructing and operating Section 1A as the initial phase of the permitted CNEB scheme. As part of the planning process, people have a 30-day period to comment on the information provided. This period will close on Saturday 2 November 2024, with a decision anticipated later in November based on statutory timeframes. You can view the application by clicking the button below.

Chelmsford North East Bypass Section 1A – CC/CHL/85/21/03/05

Further information

We will continue to update this page regularly throughout the advanced enabling works, including publishing our contractor's regular newsletters. These can be found in the Newsletters section at the bottom of this page.

You can also subscribe to our wider Chelmsford North East Bypass email newsletter.

Please email any enquiries about the advanced works or Chelmsford North East Bypass project to CNEB@essexhighways.org.

Background

Given its importance to the regional economy, Chelmsford needs a transport network to match if it is to properly facilitate future development and economic growth.

As a result, Essex County Council, in partnership with Chelmsford City Council, and in collaboration with Network Rail, is behind schemes to deliver both a north east bypass of Chelmsford and a new railway station at Beaulieu.

The schemes will create important strategic road and rail links, providing the infrastructure needed to support planned housing and economic growth to the north of Chelmsford, notably Chelmsford Garden Community, which along with other strategic sites allocated in local plans, will deliver thousands of new homes, one million square feet of new business space, schools, quality open spaces and community facilities.

Housing Infrastructure Fund

The transformational road and rail upgrade is being delivered with more than £250million which Essex County Council has secured. This includes Government funding through Homes England's Housing Infrastructure Fund, with funds secured as a result of plans for the Chelmsford Garden Community and other local sites for new housing. It is also partly funded by developer contributions.

Essex County Council submitted a Housing Infrastructure Fund bid titled ‘Chelmsford North East Bypass and Beaulieu Railway Station’ for this project in March 2019.

This set out how investment into the bypass and the railway station would support the new development at Beaulieu to reach its full potential. It also demonstrated how the new bypass would help relieve congestion on local roads.

In August 2019, it was announced that the county council had been successful with its bid, receiving £218 million to take forward the plans, alongside £99million to take forward the A120-A133 Link Road and Rapid Transit System project.

You can find out more by viewing our bid summaries.

Chelmsford North East Bypass

A new north east bypass will create a missing link to the wider strategic network and help relieve traffic congestion on local roads.

The bypass was originally put forward in 2005. In 2008, the project was postponed because of insufficient funding, but the proposals were revisited and refreshed in 2015 following consultation with the Beaulieu Park developer and the public, resulting in minor changes to the proposed route.

In 2018, Chelmsford City Council consulted on its Local Plan, which included an updated safeguarded corridor for the proposed bypass.

In 2020, the Chelmsford Local Plan was formally adopted and Essex County Council held a public information event outlining the latest proposals for the Chelmsford North East Bypass.

A planning application for the proposed bypass was approved by Essex County Council's Development and Regulation Committee in April 2022 and the scheme is now progressing through illustrative design and procurement of a main works contractor for Section 1A.

Section 1A connects Beaulieu Park Station and the A12, in the south, with the future Chelmsford Garden Community to the north.

Section 1A is currently under construction with enabling works on site and further construction expected through until 2026.

Beaulieu Park Station

To find out more information about the new Beaulieu Park Station, which is currently under construction and will be the first new railway station on the Great Eastern Main Line in 100 years, please visit the Network Rail webpage.

What are the future phases of the Chelmsford North East Bypass scheme?

Following construction of Section 1A, the full bypass scheme will at a future date connect northwards to Deres Bridge and Great Leighs.

Once all phases are complete, the new 4.6km single carriageway bypass (Sections 1A and 1B) will run through Bulls Lodge Quarry and join a new roundabout on the existing A131 at Chatham Green, with a 1.2km stretch of the existing A131 between Chatham Green and Deres Bridge also widened to a dual carriageway as part of the scheme (Section 2).

A new segregated left turn lane will be created, connecting Main Road, Great Leighs, at Deres Bridge to the southbound carriageway of the A131.

The future phases of the CNEB (Sections 1B and 2) also include various walking, cycling, horse riding and bus improvements. This includes new segregated cycleways and footpaths on each side of the new dual carriageway on the A131 between Chatham Green and the Deres Bridge roundabout, and a new dedicated overpass on the A131 to provide a safe passage for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders. An improved pedestrian and cycle crossing is also planned on the southern arm of the Chatham Green roundabout.

Once complete, the bypass will provide a strategic link between Chelmsford, Braintree, London Stansted Airport and the wider area. It will also relieve congestion on local roads and enable existing routes into the city centre, such as Broomfield Road and Essex Regiment Way, to become sustainable transport corridors, encouraging safer, greener and healthier ways to travel.

The following video was created in 2020 and explains the background to the Chelmsford North East Bypass project, as well as outlining the proposed bypass route and highlighting key elements of the scheme. Please note that some design changes have been made, in consultation with land owners, since the video was published and are not reflected in the visualisations of scheme.