A £124 million contract has been secured for upgrade works to the M25 in Essex.

GRAHAM, a construction and civil engineering specialist, has secured the contract from Highways England to design and build critical improvement work to junction 28 of the M25 –  between the M25 and the A12 in Brentwood.

The proposals for the scheme are the subject of an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO).

The Planning Inspectorate, the government agency responsible for operating the planning process for DCOs, accepted the application on June 24, 2020 for formal examination.

Early design works commenced in winter 2020 and construction work is scheduled to start by spring 2022.

Junction 28 is one of the major improvement projects planned within the south east and will provide better access towards Essex and London, as well as connecting Brentwood, Chelmsford, Colchester and Suffolk with London and other key destinations.

Other significant features of the improvement works to be delivered by GRAHAM include a new two-lane loop road with hard shoulder, for traffic travelling from M25 to the A12, works on A12 eastbound to maintain existing access to Maylands Golf Course, an overbridge at A12 eastbound exit road to allow the proposed loop road to join the A12 eastbound carriageway, widening of the M25 anti-clockwise carriageway to provide proposed exit road, and a bridge over the M25 anti-clockwise entry road to facilitate new loop road

M25 junction 28 is a heavily used junction which features a roundabout mainly controlled by traffic lights. It is already operating at full capacity, with traffic queues and lengthy delays, resulting in longer and increasingly unreliable journey times for motorists.

Up to 7,500 vehicles per hour currently travel through the roundabout at peak times. With this level of traffic junction 28 is often operating at, or close to capacity, resulting in traffic queues and delays. In recent years there have been a number of incidents, which create additional delays and disruption to traffic along the M25, A12 and local roads.

Traffic in the area is expected to increase by up to 40 per cent by 2037, so without intervention, conditions will continue to deteriorate.

Dave Brown, highways director at GRAHAM, said:“This is another significant scheme for us to be awarded and the last of the three schemes to sign in the package following the signing of the M25 Junction 25 and M2 Junction 5 schemes.

“It is testament to our growing reputation in the highways sector that we have been chosen as the contractor for another important improvement scheme in the south-east of England.

“We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Highways England for many years, built on collaboration.

“By delivering this scheme we’ll be catering for the road’s future traffic demands, increasing capacity and reducing congestion.

“The improved link to the A12 will also enable development and support economic growth, providing significant benefits to the area.”