Machine trialled to prevent flooding in Essex
Essex Highways is trialling a new method to drain high water levels in order to combat seasonal flooding in rural parts of the county. Grip Cutting fires jets of compressed air into verges to create channels, allowing water to flow into ditches and drains. The new Grip Cutting machine instead clears paths from roads to […]
Prioritising safety and wildflower conservation in Essex this grass-cutting season
Essex Highways is conserving wildflower species in verges across 90 locations in Essex. Where safe, certain roadside verges will be left uncut throughout May until late June. They provide sanctuary for nationally scarce wildlife species. These include such as Sulphar Clover, Lesser Calamint, and Crested Cow Wheat. Essex Highways is working with its arboriculture team to […]
Essex Highways’ 2024 road resurfacing programme underway
Essex Highways has launched its 2024 road resurfacing programme. This will see improvements and upgrades to roads across the county. Resurfacing will improve the condition of roads with deterioration caused by wet weather. It will also ensure that existing roads remain in good condition for longer. Over the forthcoming months residents can expect to see […]
£12 million funding boost for Essex Highways
Essex County Council is allocating an extra £12 million for priority work on its highway network. Over £8 million of this will go towards new crews who will prioritise repairs raised by local councillors. The money will also be used to increase the council’s enforcement team. This team can challenge landowners where overgrown vegetation is […]
Essex Highways to start winter service
Essex Highways is launching its winter service this week. Crews have been familiarising themselves with gritting routes in preparation for the colder months. Routes prioritise main roads, access to emergency facilities and busy bus routes. They also prioritise areas where frost and ice have caused accidents. Essex Highways’ 49 gritters, plus two mini gritters, cover approximately […]
Essex Highways launches 2023/24 resurfacing programme
Resurfacing works on many roads in Essex have now started according to the council. Essex Highways has launched its 2023/24 programme to upgrade the condition of many roads across the county. This will repair some of the damage caused by the cold and wet winter conditions. Essex Highways’ budget for maintaining and repairing the carriageway […]
Essex Highways ready for colder weather as winter service begins
Essex Highways is ready to deliver this year’s winter gritting programme on the county’s roads, a service which starts on Monday 24th October. Salt-barns are filled and gritter truck drivers will be on stand-by from this date. County residents may have seen gritter vehicles at the beginning of October, even though it was not cold […]
New M11 Junction 7A opens to traffic today
A new junction on the M11 opened to the public ahead of schedule last week, following the completion of one of the biggest highways infrastructure projects in Essex. The £76 million M11 Junction 7A scheme has created a much-needed new access into Harlow and included widening and improvement of Gilden Way, plus a new link […]
Innovative electrical equipment trialled by Essex Highways to cut down noise and air pollution
Essex Highways is trialling two new innovations – an electric mini-excavator and a battery-operated wacker plate which is used to compact the ground and aggregates into a solid sub base before laying a road or pavement top surface. Both new machines are run purely on battery power meaning a reduction in both air and noise […]
Essex to install ‘Dutch style’ roundabouts
Two congested roundabouts in Braintree, Essex are to be transformed to give both pedestrians and cyclists priority over vehicles, creating the first ‘Dutch style’ roundabout in the county. The scheme is playing a major role to make Braintree “greener, safer and healthier”. It is one of five Essex towns that the county council hopes to […]
