A MAJOR £11million project to repair the “cracked” concrete foundations of the A120 between Colchester and Harwich is set to start this September. 

National Highways will be carrying out road surveys on the A120 between Crown Interchange and Little Bentley roundabout in July in preparation of the works. 

Life Extension Work costing £11.4 million pounds, is set to take place on the old concrete road this year to extend the life of the track by up to five more years.

Works - part of the A120 in Elmstead Works - part of the A120 in Elmstead (Image: Google)

The scheme is located just east of Colchester and is approximately 9km in length.

For the preparation works the A120 wastbound will be closed from July 15 to July 19 and westbound will be shut from July 22 to July 26. 

Throughout both closures, work will be carried out between 10.30pm and 4am each night. 

In a letter from National Highways it reads: "The road closures will take place overnight so that our team can do the work in the safest way possible.

"The preparation work may at times be noisy, and we apologise for any disturbance caused.

"We'll do our best to complete the work as quickly as possible.

"We're sorry for the disruption these closures may cause to your journey and encourage drivers to plan ahead and allow extra time when travelling.

"All dates are subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances and poor weather conditions." 

As part of the works drivers will be taken on diversions of up to 20 miles long across Colchester and into Tendring.

Eastbound traffic will travel to junction 26, turn back to head north on the A12 to come off at junction 27 to pick up the A133.

They will then take this through Elmstead Market, turn left at the traffic lights onto Bromley Road/Harwich road to re-join the A120 at Little Bentley roundabout.

Westbound traffic will travel to Harwich Road/Bromley Road to Elmstead Market, turn left at the traffic lights, turn right towards Colchester on the A133, take this road through to Spring Lane roundabout and take the entry slip road to join the A12 to continue the journey. 

Official work is set to start in September this year and end in winter time 2024. 

Concrete road surfaces that were designed between the 1950s and 1970s have an average life span of 50 years.

Their surfaces are now reaching the stage where they need to be repaired or replaced for safety reasons, to help them be less noisy and to become better to drive on.

For more information go to: http://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/east/a120-crown-interchange-to-little-bentley-roundabout-concrete-surface-repairs-and-maintenance.