Drivers fed-up of daily delays on A13 due to roadworks (From Southend Standard)

Drivers fed-up of daily delays on A13 due to roadworks

2:00pm Wednesday 31st October 2012 in Echo News By Melissa Hills

TRAFFIC chaos has hit drivers using the A13 since roadworks to build a new £10million road junction as part of a gateway to the £1.5billion south Essex superport began.

The work started at Stanford le Hope last week and for the coming weeks one lane of the road Southend and London bound will be closed between 9.30am and 3.30pm.

This has led to long delays for drivers trying to use the main carriageway during those time periods- and contractors J Murphy & Sons, who have over 60 years of experience in building and engineering, have not said how long the lane closure will go on for.

The lane closure starts just after the Marks and Spencer petrol station Southend-bound and the road is coned off until about a mile just before the Basildon turn off.

Dan Wilson, 28, who lives in West Hanningfield and works for a finance company, uses the A13 regularly and said he and friends who use the road are avoiding the roadworks and taking different routes.

He said: “This is just the first week of the roadworks and with Christmas coming up the queues are going to get a lot worse I am sure. This week’s lane closures have caught a lot of drivers out because you wouldn’t expect lane closures in the middle of the day.

“Perhaps the contractors should have looked at doing the works at night so it causes less disruption. Lots of my friends who use that route have said they will use the A127 just to avoid the chaos and queues.

“My other half was going to Lakeside the other day and we always use the A13 but I told her to use another route just so we didn’t get stuck in the traffic.”

Contractors began the roadworks on Wednesday (Oct 24) and started digging up the central reservation of the carriageway.

The huge road project is expected to last a year and will see new, three-lane roundabout, with traffic lights and a sliproad, from The Manorway, at Stanford- le-Hope, on to the A13, will be the most prominent part of the design.

The improvements are part of a £150million funding arrangement which superport site owner DP World, has to carry outas part of its planning agreement with Thurrock Council.

The roadworks have been brought forward five years earlier than planned and are to help lorries get from the London Gateway port to the A13 quicker.

As part of the planning arrangement DP World will also be improving Stanford-le-Hope High Street, the railway and putting in a new bus station and turnaround area, because it’s expected people working at the superport will commute to the town by train.

A spokesman for J Murphy and Sons said they wouldn't be officially commenting on the issue but said the works are going on for the next year and disruption is inevitable.

If you would like more information on the works log onto www.a13roadworks.co.uk