A PETITION calling for radical improvements to traffic flow at a business park has reached almost 700 signatures.

The campaign was launched by workers at Colchester Business Park last month.

Thousands of workers who drive home from the park, off Severalls Lane, are regularly facing bumper to bumper traffic for hours on weekday evenings.

Members of the Colchester Business Park Network say authorities need to install new traffic lights or new exit routes from the site because it is getting busier.

Will Johnson, of SES Mechanical Services, who is spearheading the campaign, said: “We didn’t expect to get this much support so soon and we are pleased everything is snowballing.

“We have spent a lot of time in our lunch breaks walking around the estate and dropping off leaflets and chatting with business leaders and everyone is behind us because they all suffer with the same thing.

“We are also collecting statements from the businesses to say how it is affecting them, particularly the gyms who have people coming on to the estate later on in the day.”

Mr Johnson met with Anne Turrell, Essex county councillor for Highwoods and Mile End, and Paul Smith, leader of Colchester Council to raise his concerns.

Mrs Turrell (Lib Dem) said: “We are going to bring it up at the next Colchester Transport Strategy Group, which is an Essex County Council meeting chaired by Kevin Bentley, councillor for infrastructure, and looks at Colchester and its transport problems and what improvements can be made.

“There is not one option because Severalls Lane is a really busy road."

The meeting is later this month.

There are only three exit roads off the business park all leading on to busy Severalls Lane.

Motorists trying to leave the estate have to try to pull into that road by finding a suitable gap in the traffic.

This can be can compounded if there is an incident elsewhere in Colchester as the road becomes busier.

Businesses have been resorting to sending employees home at staggered times to try to help.

Mr Thompson has suggested Essex County Council provides an alternative route for getting onto the A12 or Ipswich Road from the estate without having to go via Severalls Lane.

Another option could be to provide traffic lights on Severalls Lane to allow for regulated traffic movements, along with better lane management.

Statements can be emailed to trafficonseveralls@outlook.com and the petition is on the Facebook page Colchester Business Park Network.