What People Want

Traffic in Harlow has reached breaking point - we all sit in Harlow's traffic every day - enough is enough.

We desperately need a new relief road and an extra junction on the M11 - many have talked about it for years. Now is the time for action.

The purpose of this website is to allow everyone who is Fed Up With Harlow Traffic to support Robert's call for an extra junction on the M11 that will significantly reduce traffic through Harlow.

"Harlow Traffic is a real problem and one that needs addressing asap" - Ms. Field, Katherines

"All of us spend hours a day travelling to and from Harlow (just a matter of miles) - finally someone is doing something about this" - Ms. Hart, Church Langley

A Northern Relief Road in Detail (Researched by Peter Wren and Alan Pond)

Our proposal is to construct a northern relief road, and an extra junction (7A) on the M11.

Phase 1 of the road could follow the Stort Valley, joining the A1184 approximately 0.5 km to the north of Harlow Mill Station. This is a distance of some 3 km and it is anticipated that it would be dualled.
It appears possible to devise a route that would hug the edge of the Stort floodplain thereby avoiding any adverse affects on flood flows and without the need for significant lengths of elevated structure.

Access to the industrial areas at the Pinnacles could be improved if required by dualling the existing Elizabeth Way, a distance of only c.3 km. It should be noted that the original plan for Harlow anticipated the dualling of this and other roads and that there is adequate existing space available for the road to be dualled without any environmental destruction.

The core of this plan was agreed as practical and as achieving the necessary objectives by both Hertfordshire and Essex County Councils in 1990 when the matter was last under discussion. Furthermore it is assumed that the engineers who built the dualled A414 to Eastwick roundabout must always have had the intention of continuing the road through to the M11.

PHASE 1:

PHASE 2:

From the A1184, the road could continue eastwards to the M11. However, there are several different options for delivering this, and each option must be given extensive and genuine local consultation:

Option 2a would take the relief road east, directly to the M11, a distance of only c.2.5km. The new junction on the M11 would be built south of Sheering and north of Old Harlow, away from residential areas. The advantage of this option is that it would be shorter and cheaper, and give faster access to the industrial parks in north Harlow.
Alternatively, Option 2b would take the relief road north, along Eastwick Road and High Wych Road, and would join the M11 north of Sawbridgeworth to meet the A1060 from Chelmsford. The advantage of this option is that it would link the strategic A414 road with the A1060, and directly reduce traffic in Old Harlow, Sawbridgeworth and Sheering.

Thirteen Advantages of the Northern Relief Road

Advantages

The environmental impact is extremely limited. The Stort Valley is narrow to the east of Eastwick Lodge. Therefore the road will not be visually intrusive. The ground over which it will be built is a mix of derelict industrial land and old gravel pits. It is only overlooked in a significant way by the industrial areas of the Templefields.
Because the road will largely be contained within the narrow Stort Valley the impact of noise will be relatively restricted.
The comparatively short distance of the road will ensure that the impact of pollution will be equally restricted.
The only businesses which might be partially impacted are the Moorhen Pub and former Merck Sharpe & Dohme.
Access to the existing industrial areas of Harlow will be significantly improved. The Southern bypass does nothing for the Templefields area. This proposal improves access to both Templefields and the Pinnacles.
The impact on residential communities will be comparatively limited when compared to the havoc that will be caused by the southern route.
The access through to the M11 can be built in stages as demand requires. Improved access to the Pinnacles can be built when required.
The route is relatively short at c.6 km.
The proposal if extended through to the M11 will provide a means of solving Sawbridgeworth's traffic problems without the need to build a bypass.
The route will provide better access to Stansted Airport than any southern route, if it is carried through from the A1184 to the M11.
If the route is carried through to the M11 it will relieve the already excessive pressure on the Hastingwood junction.
The route will enable multi-modal transport hubs at Harlow Town station to be developed.
The northern proposal will be significantly cheaper than the southern proposal. It is shorter, and we assume that there will be additional savings resulting from the fact that compensation claims and litigation costs will be much lower if the northern route is followed.