5 August 2026
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Home » News » Major road upgrades agreed for Chelmsford
Major road upgrades are supporting one of the most significant housing developments in the UK in Chelmsford.
Essex County Council councillors have approved the Beaulieu Access Package. This will upgrade Junction 19 of the A12 and Beaulieu Park Station roundabout.
The upgrades will support the growth of Chelmsford Garden Community. This is creating 10,000 new homes in north east Chelmsford, along with new:
Crucial to the development is the delivery of associated transport improvements which will help strengthen Chelmsford’s position as a fast‑growing major economic centre.
The Beaulieu Access Package will see essential capacity and safety improvements made. It follows the government decision to cancel the scheme to widen the A12.
The £38 million package will be partly financed by the Essex County Council. The majority of funding will come from:
Alongside this, the council is also continuing to deliver the Chelmsford North East Bypass. Construction is set to be complete at the end of summer.
The bypass will further support connectivity for the garden community. It comes after the county council secured £250 million in funding to build both the bypass and the new Beaulieu Park Station.
Section 1A of the bypass is the first phase of road improvements to support the garden community. It will be followed by the upgrades to Junction 19 of the A12 and the Beaulieu access roundabout. A new road to link the northern end of the garden community with the bypass will also be created.
Known as the Northern Radial Distributor Road, it must be built by the housing developers in the next two years to complete Section 1A.
Under plans approved by Chelmsford City Council, the capacity of Junction 19 also has to be increased so it can deal with the extra traffic coming from the garden community via the link road and bypass.
Once the link road and Junction 19 improvements are complete, the first section of the Chelmsford North East bypass will be able to open to road users.
Find out more about Chelmsford Garden Community
