ROADWORKS that are causing misery for thousands of drivers could make a busy junction more dangerous, it has been claimed.

Drivers have been stuck in huge jams since roadworks started on Monday to build a new filter lane from Cranes Farm Road into Uppermayne.

Concerns have been raised by motorists who fear the lane could cause similar problems to a scheme on the A176/Pipps Hill slip road, which sparked controversy after opening in April last year.

Drivers using the filter lane will have to give way to cars coming off the roundabout when joining Uppermayne.

The project costs £330,000 and extra lanes are also being added to Uppermayne at either side of the roundabout to cut congestion.

Driving instructor Tariq Musaji, 43, of London Road, Wickford, said it would make the junction more dangerous because motorists’ view of oncoming traffic would be restricted by the severe angle of the junction.

He said: “It’s quite concerning. If there is a severe bend, people don’t always have a clear view, especially if there is heavy rain and there is condensation in the car.”

Mr Musaji is concerned the give way junction will cause the same problems as a similar scheme on the A176/Pipps Hill slip road, which sparked controversy after opening in April last year.

Drivers claimed it was unclear they needed to give way until the last minute and they had to turn their heads at an extreme angle to see.

Work on the Cranes Farm junction is going on for seven weeks and one lane of each road approaching the roundabout has been coned off causing extra congestion.

This has also angered drivers because work only a small section of the coned off area is currently being worked on.

Emma Brown, 28, of Pine Close, Steeple View, said: “It normally takes me five to ten minutes to get to work in Cranes Farm Road.

“It’s been taking me 30 minutes. I can’t stand another seven weeks of this.”

Frustrated motorists have even resorted to performing illegal u-turns to escape the traffic in Uppermayne.

One man fed up at waiting decided to drive across the grass verge separating both tracks of the carriageway to head back towards Basildon.

He failed to see the traffic police car behind him which followed him across the grass verge and pulled him over.

Speaking about the scheme as a whole, a spokesman for Essex County Council said: “The layout has been designed to appropriate design standards and has been subject to the formal road safety audit.”

Tracey Chapman, councillor with responsibility for highways and transportation, added: “The traffic management measures, such as the traffic cones that have been in place, are to ensure that Essex County Councils Highways officers can carry out the work in a safe environment to ensure that the works are completed on schedule in the next seven weeks.”