News releases and highways newsletters

Residential road to close for trial to help stop ‘rat running’

Residents are invited to share their feedback on the scheme during a six-month consultation.

A residential road in Harlow is set to close as part of a trial scheme to help tackle ‘rat running’.

For a number of years residents have raised concerns about Old Road in Harlow being used as a shortcut between Cambridge Road and Gilden Way.

Having considered various options to address the issue and encourage drivers to use more appropriate routes, Essex County Council is trialing an experimental closure of Old Road.

The closure, which will come into effect from Monday 19 October 2026, will be in place between the junctions with Hart Road and The Hoo.

Dovercourt transformation moves forward with Kingsway upgrades

The Dovercourt public realm scheme is part of a wider multi-million pound regeneration programme.

Construction of the Dovercourt Public Realm Scheme is progressing well, with the first half of paving works now complete.

The £2.39 million project involves a series of improvements along the B1414 Kingsway. This is between Dovercourt Railway Station and the seafront.

It is part of the multimillion-pound Dovercourt Capital Regeneration Programme. This is being jointly delivered by Essex County Council and Tendring District Council.

M Group Highways were appointed by Essex County Council to construct the scheme. The works began in late June.

Significant progress has been made since then. This includes new paving laid along most of the eastern side of Kingsway. Benches, litter bins and new trees will be added later in the project.

The works have now switched to the western side of Kingsway. This is fenced off to allow the works to be undertaken safely.

The temporary one-way system on Kingsway remains in place and has moved to the other side of the road. Businesses are open as normal and access to properties will be retained throughout the works.

St Botolph's Circus Regeneration update

Work has been progressing quickly on the St Botolph’s Circus site. The recent overnight closures have helped to reduce disruption and these will continue as set out within our update.

New 90-day repair commitment for less serious road defects

Some defects that currently do not have a fixed timeframe for repair will now be fixed within 90 days

Essex County Council will commit to repair certain road defects within 90 days of them being reported to improve road safety for residents and road users.

The pledge contributes to the council’s 100 Day Plan for reforming Essex. It was agreed as part of the council’s revised Highways Maintenance and Inspections Strategies at its cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 16 September.

Under the new system, these types of repairs will be classified as D3 repairs – filtering out the higher-risk defects from the current S3 (priority 3) defect category. D3 defects will now be repaired within 90 days.

Tree removal on Station way

To facilitate the create the space required for the walking and cycling improvements on Station Way, we need to relocate the existing wall within the Wickes car park and remove four London plane trees.

This work is subject to a street tree consultation. These trees will be replaced as part of the construction works.

Velizy Roundabout Overnight Closures

On behalf of Essex County Council, Bouygues UK Ltd are undertaking essential works on Velizy Roundabout as part of the Harlow Sustainable Transport Corridor project.

These works will require a full overnight closure of Velizy Roundabout and all approaches at the following times:

• From 20:00 on Friday 18th September until 05:00 on Saturday 19th September.

• From 20:00 on Saturday 19th September until 05:00 on Sunday 20th September.

Over 74,000 drains cleared to help avoid flood risk ahead of autumn and winter months

A total of 74,728 drains have been cleared across the county between April and August as Essex Highways prepares for wetter autumn and winter weather.

This is a 20% increase compared to the same period last year.

Essex Highways routinely clears blocked drains to prevent flooding, which can pose inconvenience and risk to road users and pedestrians.

Time to cut back - landowners reminded to trim trees and hedges

Essex Highways is reminding landowners across the county of their responsibility to maintain trees, hedges, ditches and other vegetation bordering roads, pavements and public rights of way following the end of bird nesting season.

Overgrown vegetation can quickly become a hazard, particularly as wetter weather approaches in the autumn and winter months.

Landowners have a duty of care to ensure vegetation from their property does not create a hazard for highway users.

Now that bird nesting season has ended, Essex Highways will continue to work with landowners to address outstanding issues and, where necessary, consider further enforcement action.

Stone Bridge – Temporary footbridge now open

Following our update in July, we can now confirm that the temporary footbridge is now open to the public.

East Hill construction update - update 28/08/26

Works on East Hill remain on schedule. The team continues to focus on installing the new kerb lines on the south side of the road. Works are also underway on the construction of the bus stop and the widening of the crossing point.