A133 Colchester to Clacton
- Capital Investment - Essex, Southend & Thurrock, More than £2m, LGF1
Approval Status
Fully Approved
Delivery Status
LGF Project Delivered
Project Completion Date
Summer 2020
The A133 is the key route providing access from Colchester to the seaside resort of Clacton–on–Sea and allowing access from the district of Tendring into Colchester. The purpose of this project to deliver a package of schemes to provide highways capacity, cycling and safety improvements for the Colchester to Clacton corridor. National Planning Guidance states that plans should maximise opportunities to accommodate the efficient delivery of goods and supplies, give priority to pedestrian and cycle movements wherever possible and minimise conflicts between traffic and cyclists or pedestrians. This route based strategy aims to do just that. The following improvements were identified from a Route Based Strategy (RBS) study:
- Bromley Road Improvements – Widen to two lane approach from Colchester, introduce new Puffin crossing and modify junction layout;
- Safety Improvements – Implement variety of safety improvements between Frating roundabout and Progress Way, Little Clacton including actions to reduce potential collisions;
- Frating Roundabout – Introduce left-turn slip from A133 (A120 Spur) to A133 E and modify roundabout and approached to accommodate this slip;
- Frating Roundabout – Introduce left-turn slip from A133 E to A133 W;
- Weeley Roundabout – Junction and signage improvements;
- Signage – Various improvements along the route;
- Cycling – Improve cycle paths along the A133 (Salary Brook). In particular, the section from Greenstead Roundabout, up Clingoe Hill that provides links and access to the University of Essex and the B1441 which runs alongside the A133 from Weeley to Progress Way, Little Clacton.
Project change
This project was considered by Accountability Board on 15th February 2019, with the Board agreeing to a proposed change in project scope. The budget for this project initially consisted of a £2.74m LGF allocation and a matching contribution from Essex County Council, bringing the total project budget to £5.48m. Essex County Council recently undertook a review of its capital programme, with a view to reducing capital expenditure. This has resulted in the loss of a majority of the Essex County Council funding contribution towards the delivery of the project, with an updated project budget of £2.925m (£2.74m LGF allocation and £185,000 Essex County Council contribution). There is now insufficient funding available to deliver all aspects of the project as identified within the original project scope. Essex County Council have revisited the scope and have identified the following elements of the project as those which will deliver most benefit:
- Frating Roundabout – including two segregated left turn lanes: one from the A133 eastern arm to the A133 western arm and the other from the A120 link road to the A133 eastern arm; and
- Weeley Roundabout – junction and signage improvements, including the widening of the A133 southern arm approach.
Improvements to these two roundabouts will form the reduced scope for the project and will be delivered within the available budget. The remaining elements of the original project will be paused until sufficient funding is identified through alternative funding sources to enable delivery.
Capital Programme delivery update
Take a look at our update on the delivery of the Local Growth Fund (LGF) and Growing Places Fund (GPF) capital programmes.
£579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock
In total the SELEP Growth Deal with Government has brought £579m of investment to East Sussex, Essex, Kent, Medway, Southend and Thurrock. Over the lifetime of the Growth Deal (2015-2021) we aim to deliver 78,000 jobs and 29,000 homes across the SELEP area, with the Deal set to attract a further £960m of investment into the South East over the six year period.