Work to start on footbridge over A127 junction in Southend

Southend Council has confirmed work on the foundations of the new footbridge at Kent Elms will begin next week.

The previous footbridge was removed in November 2016 during work to widen the junction to three lanes each way.

That work should be completed by the summer.

Tony Cox, councillor responsible for transport, waste and regulatory services, said: “In October we announced that work on the junction at Kent Elms could continue until June 2018 following a series in utilities works.

“Those utilities works are due to complete in February and, as soon as utilities workers have vacated the highway, our contractor Eurovia will be back on site to complete their work on the London-bound highway. We expect this to be late February.”

Mr Cox added: “We will start preparatory work on the foundations for the footbridge next week, with work on the foundations starting in earnest in the weeks ahead, with the date to be confirmed by a traffic management order.

“The new footbridge – which was included in the project as a result of consultation with the local community - will be assembled over a series of overnight road closures expected to last no more than a week. This is much the same way as the former footbridge was removed. Work on the footbridge will complete by the completion of the highways works.”

Motorists suffered months of disruption during the junction work but the council says any further work should cause minimum disruption.

Mr Cox said: “While some disruption to traffic will be inevitable during construction work, we aim to keep this disruption to a minimum by avoiding working in busy periods, such as rush hours, wherever possible.”

The design for the new bridge will be based on other similar bridges manufactured by Nusteel – most notably the Home Gardens Footbridge in Dartford, Kent. Its detail was agreed by the council’s culture, planning, major projects team, and engineering specialists.