Essex County Council has admitted that the Fairglen junction upgrade near Rayleigh is facing further delays. The scheme — budgeted at about £59 million after a £15 million boost from the Department for Transport in February 2025 — was expected to start construction in 2025, but as of 27 January 2026 physical works have not begun on the A127/A130 interchange, which handles more than 200,000 vehicles a day.
The council says the delay is due to a prolonged procurement and value‑engineering phase intended to manage inflationary pressures on construction materials and to secure value for money, rather than an immediate start to building works. Although DfT funding was confirmed in early 2025, Essex County Council has not published a revised delivery or completion timetable; local residents and councillors are pressing for a clear start and finish date.
Project documents and SELEP materials show the plans include a new one‑way link road allowing traffic from the A130 southbound to bypass the Fairglen roundabout and join the A1245, alongside widened slip‑roads, improvements to the Rayleigh Spur junction and a new pedestrian and cycle bridge. Councillors and campaigners warn that with roughly 60,000 new homes planned in south Essex by 2043, delays could worsen congestion if the junction is not upgraded in time.
Local leaders have described the interchange as frequently gridlocked and said the improvements have been long awaited. The scheme has been in development since about 2014 and has been repeatedly revised to fit changing budget and delivery constraints. Essex County Council says the works must be delivered responsibly and within available funding; local reporting and council documents put the overall cost at just under £60 million.
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