Traffic problems in Halstead would be a price worth paying to ensure improvements to the A120, according to a county councillor.
The Gateway 120 consortium has announced proposals to dual the carriageway between Braintree and Coggeshall and build 11,000 homes along the stretch of the road.
But any plans to renovate the road would be likely to have a huge knock-on effect with traffic being routed through Halstead instead.
On Monday, a crash involving a tractor and a lorry near Coggeshall closed the A120 in both directions for more than three hours.
As a result of the crash, traffic along Trinity Street, Colchester Road and High Street in Halstead was reported as busier than normal during the evening rush-hour.
And it is a situation that could become more familiar if work to revamp the A120 starts in 2016, as the consortium proposes.
Joe Pike, Halstead’s county councillor, said: “If doing the A120 improvements means traffic is going to get routed through Halstead, that is a price we have to pay.”
Full story in Friday's Gazette.
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