Five First Bus routes serving Rayleigh face major diversions from Monday, 22 June, with dozens of stops suspended during a four-week closure of Rayleigh Road, the A1015, for urgent gas mains replacement. Utility firm Cadent is replacing more than 2.6 kilometres of century-old metal pipes, shutting the road between Prince Avenue and Willow Close until 20 July.
Routes 20, 20S, 25, 625, 825 and the X30 Stansted Airport service are all affected, though for most services only journeys towards Hullbridge, Basildon or Chelmsford are impacted. Stops serving Southend Hospital, Prittlewell School, St Thomas Moore School and Westcliff High Schools will not be served, and First Bus is advising passengers to use alternate boarding points which may be up to a mile away.
Cadent says the existing pipes beneath Rayleigh Road and surrounding streets were laid 80 to 100 years ago and have required multiple repairs, causing extensive traffic management. The current phase started on 15 June and will run until 24 August, with a final phase on Snakes Lane from 20 July to 31 August. Engineers are on site Monday to Friday between 07:00 and 19:00, with reinstatement teams also working at weekends to keep the project on track.
A public information session was held on 3 June at Eastwood Primary School and Nursery, and the works have been planned alongside Southend-on-Sea City Council. Rayleigh and Wickford MP Mark Francois has previously raised concerns in Parliament about the disruption caused by Cadent’s ongoing programme.
Full diversion details and revised timetables are available on the First Bus website, and passengers are urged to allow extra time, particularly those travelling to schools and hospital appointments.
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