The line of the Halstead bypass must remain on the map despite it not being a priority project, it has been claimed.
Town and district councillor Jackie Pell, who was mayor at the time the bypass route was decided, believes the plans must remain otherwise it will never be built.
Braintree Council has said funding for the project is unlikely but the route must remain in planning documents until Essex County Council, which decides which tranport projects take priority, formally abandon plans for the bypass.
At a meeting last week Braintree Council’s Local Development Framework sub-committee refused plans to allocate land south of the Bluebridge Industrial Estate for employment development.
A number of reasons were cited, including that the route of the proposed bypass is through that area.
Mrs Pell said: “If they build [on the route] then the bypass would never ever happen and you don’t know what is just around the corner so we have got to have that safeguard there.
“The majority of people in Halstead want the bypass.”
She believes it is important for quality of life as more and more lorries are passing through the town, and the bypass would also help businesses such as those already based on the Bluebridge Industrial Estate.
She added that there are already plans to expand the industrial estate to the north.