Help shape the future of transport in Braintree

Consultation on strategy to reduce town congestion and identify larger-scale projects.

The public are being encouraged to have their say on how we will travel in Braintree in years to come.

Created by Essex County Council in partnership with Braintree District Council, the new Braintree Future Transport Strategy responds to the need to reduce congestion in the town and rethink the way we travel.

The strategy sets out the current transport issues and opportunities, as well as a strategy for how transport schemes will be approached in the future.

Once agreed, it will help identify and prioritise potential schemes, ranging from small-scale improvements and interventions to larger-scale strategic projects.  

Cllr Lesley Wagland OBE, Cabinet Member for Economic Renewal, Infrastructure and Planning at Essex County Council, said: “Car use is very important, particularly in more rural areas, but the reality is that we often jump into the car for very short journeys.

“If all of us travelling in Braintree used a different form of transport just twice a week, we would remove around 50,000 peak-time car journeys each day from the town. This would have a significant impact on congestion, through-traffic, air quality and our health and well-being.

“But we know that to do this we need to plan and invest in making it easier and preferable to use those other forms of transport, whether that be walking, cycling or public transport.

“The proposed town Future Transport Strategy looks to address this, creating a blueprint which will help to assess and then prioritise future schemes for funding.”

The new transport strategy sets out three zones with different priorities for the town centre, the wider town area and the strategic road network which supports Braintree.

Councillor Gabrielle Spray, Cabinet Member for Planning and Infrastructure at Braintree District Council, said: “The strategy gives Braintree the opportunity to embrace the future enabling us to enhance connectivity and provide, better faster and more reliable journeys in a way that puts transport firmly onto the climate change trajectory.”

A consultation on the new strategy is now open, with residents, businesses and visitors to the town encouraged to give their views. For more information, visit our webpage.