CONGESTION-busting improvements to the A127 at the Bell and Kent Elms junctions could be in the pipeline after Southend Council bid for millions of pounds to carry out the work.

Work is under way to improve the Progress Road and Cuckoo Corner junctions, which the council is paying for using a government grant.

But the council says it must also push forward with plans to solve the notorious pinch points despite government spending expected to be limited. The council made its bid to the Homes and Communities Agency for more cash to revamp the two junctions, as well as extending the City Beach scheme along the seafront eastward to the site of the old corporation loading pier.

The council’s Tory deputy leader John Lamb, who submitted the bid, said: “Until this Government spending review is complete, we don’t know what will happen, but we have to be optimistic and prepared to move forward, otherwise we won’t stand a chance of getting anything.

“These are the things we need to do to improve our overall infrastructure and make access to and from the town easier.”

Mr Lamb said key aims would be to improve the traffic light systems and possibly add extra lanes to get vehicles moving more quickly.

Leader Nigel Holdcroft said the cost of the schemes would be similar to the Progress Road and Cuckoo Corner projects, at about £5million each.

Mr Holdcroft added that the A127 improvements were more of a priority than extending City Beach.

The Tory councillor for transport, Mark Flewitt, reassured drivers nothing was likely to happen for a while, and there would be a break from the current roadworks throughout the town.

He said: “These are good things to aspire to and things which need doing.

“But there are a lot of projects ongoing at the moment. We’ve got such a heavy agenda.

“I want some respite time between what’s happening now and all this, before we say to people: ‘Guess what? The diggers are back’.”