Government’s £7million boost to help cut traffic congestion (From Echo)

Government’s £7million boost to help cut traffic congestion

1:00am Saturday 29th November 2008 in FORUM

MULTIMILLION-POUND bids to ease traffic congestion across south Essex have been boosted by extra cash.

At last year’s forum plans to improve the “bottleneck” junction 30 of the M25, at Thurrock and the Basildon and Wickford junctions of the A127, were revealed.

A study into the best ways to do this has been carried out, and the Department for Transport now hopes to widen the M25 to four lanes, between junctions 27 and 30.

It has committed £7million to further investigate options to increase capacity at the junction, the second day of the forum heard.

Transport Minister Paul Clark said: “I am pleased to announce work to relieve congestion and provide extra capacity at junction 30 has taken a significant step forward.

“The Highways Agency has completed an initial study exploring the options for addressing this bottleneck.

“Now we have committed up to £7million to movw the project into the next phase, which will involve wider consultation on our options in the spring.”

Junction 30 experiences severe congestion and is currently at full capacity.

It directly serves the Port of Tilbury and Lakeside shopping centre, and is regarded as an essential link to the development of the planned London Gateway Port at Shellhaven.

The forum also heard work on relieving congestion on the A127 through Basildon, by improving junctions with the A129 at Basildon and A132 at Wickford, has had funding agreed and should take shape next year.

Thames Gateway Minister Margaret Beckett said: “In transport we will see some major projects coming to fruition over the coming months.

“These include cutting congestion at Basildon. I am glad detailed funding approval has now been given to eleven of the thirteen transport schemes.”