A RADICAL idea for changes to a junction off the A12 is being mooted by Colchester’s MP.

Will Quince met with roads minister Jesse Norman in Parliament to present ideas on making the junction at Spring Lane, Lexden, accessible from both directions.

Having already met with senior figures at Essex County Council, Highways England and the Department for Transport, Mr Quince is vying to get the proposal included on the Road Investment Strategy.

The document will outline allocated funding for Britain’s roads with investment focused between 2020 and 2025.

He said: “One of the biggest anomalies is junction 27. You can get on and go London-bound, but can’t go to Ipswich or Harwich-bound.

“Anyone in Lexden and Prettygate or east of Stanway would have to travel to Stanway, or through to the stadium at junction 28, to access the A12.

“With all the housing being developed near the stadium with Northern Gateway, plus housing at Severalls and Tollgate, there will be so more congestion.

“As I see it, we have to think ahead at the best ways to relieve pressure from those two junctions.”

It is too early for a projected figure for the project, but Mr Quince felt given the widening of the A12 at the Ardleigh interchange, the cost of creating a new junction would be “negligible”.

He added: “I’d be amazed if widening the A12 doesn’t end up in the hundreds of thousands.

"The only real challenge is money and land ownership, but lots of it is agricultural land by the Bakers Lane and Spring Lane junction.

“It will also unlock so much growth in terms of the business strategy in Colchester.”

A longer-term scheme is building a southern bypass, comparable to Warren Lane, where there is already a western relief road.

He said: “Colchester Council has set aside Middlewick Ranges for 1,000 homes.

"If it goes ahead then we need to also talk about relief roads in the south, which will help military traffic to get through town but also relieve pressure from an already congested part of the town.

“1,000 homes means a minimum of 2,000 cars which will have to get in and out somehow.”

The Conservative MP has shared his vision for the scheme with both Essex County Council and Colchester Council, but it is again in its infancy.

He said: “The biggest concern about housing is not having the adequate infrastructure to inform it.

“Both of these schemes are achievable and will be pretty crucial if we’re going to see the growth in the borough people are expecting.”