A127
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The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is a major road in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It was constructed as a new arterial road project in the 1920s, linking
Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...
with
Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...
, replacing the older A13. Formerly classified as a
trunk road A trunk road is a major highway with a specific legal classification in some jurisdictions, notably the United Kingdom, Sweden and formerly Ireland. Trunk roads are planned and managed at the national-level, distinguishing them from non-trunk ro ...
, it was "de-trunked" in 1997. It is known as the ''Southend Arterial Road'' except for part of its length in Southend-on-Sea. It is also streetlit for its whole length despite its majority coverage through rural land.


Route

The A127 starts as a turning off the A12 at Gallows Corner in the
London Borough of Havering The London Borough of Havering () in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities include Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham, Lo ...
. Traffic heading towards London goes over a flyover and joins the A12 traffic which merges onto the slip-road from the roundabout below, which is where the A127 ends. Traffic heading towards Southend also uses the flyover as well as slip roads. Its first significant junction is a crossroads after (''
Squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...
s Heath'') with ''Squirrels Heath Road'' and ''
Ardleigh Green Ardleigh Green is an area in east London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. It is east-northeast of Charing Cross. This part of London is predominantly residential. History Toponymy The place is an enlargement of a hamlet of ...
Road''. There are traffic lights here, but after that, there are no traffic lights or roundabouts until it enters Southend-on-Sea, though there are a few side turnings. Major junctions follow the layout similar to motorways, being served by high-level or low-level roundabouts accessed via slip roads, except for the straight flyover at the junction with Hall Lane,
Upminster Upminster is a suburb of east London, England, in the London Borough of Havering, northeast of Charing Cross. Historically a rural village, it formed an ancient parish in the Chafford hundred of the county of Essex. The economic history of ...
at about 3.5 km east of Gallows Corner. after Gallows Corner the A127 crosses the
M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major ring road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 th ...
at M25 Junction 29 - the start of slip-roads on the A127, and then immediately crosses into Brentwood. After a couple of minor side road exits, the next major junction is with the A128 Brentwood exit at the Halfway House (pub) near
West Horndon West Horndon is a village and civil parish in the south of the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross in Central London. West Horndon civil parish was abolished in 1934 and created again in 2003 wi ...
, east of the M25. It continues through southern Essex and into the Basildon district. The next junction is east of the Halfway House, for the Dunton (Ford centre) and Laindon exit. further on there is a junction called the Fortune of War. Originally this site was a roundabout with two exits for local routes around Laindon, with a Happy Eater restaurant and the Fortune of War public house adjacent to the roundabout. Some years ago, Essex County Council tried to improve safety on the route by filling in the middle of the road so the junction is no longer a roundabout, but the road layout still resembles one by not being straight. After the Fortune of War, the first of the Basildon exits appears immediately, for the A176 to Basildon town centre and hospital, and
Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...
. After a couple of exits to Crays Hill, the next junction is over on for the A132
Basildon Basildon ( ) is a town in Borough of Basildon, the borough of the same name, in the county of Essex, England. It had a recorded population of 115,955 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. In 1931, the town had a population of 1,159. ...
and
Wickford Wickford is a town and civil parish in the south of the English county (England), county of Essex, with a population of 33,486. Located approximately 30 miles (50 km) east of London, it is within the Borough of Basildon along with the orig ...
exit. London bound there is an exit for the Mayflower Retail Park just past the A132, so traffic Southend bound needs to use the roundabout to head the other way briefly to the Mayflower exit. on Southend bound is the junction with the A1245 (old A130) and new A130
Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...
/
Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...
exit. Indeed, the new A130 bridge over the A127 just before this exit is one of only two non-junction bridges on the entire stretch of road (the other being between the Fortune of War and A176, a minor road to Steeple View). further on is the A129 exit to
Rayleigh Rayleigh may refer to: Science *Rayleigh scattering *Rayleigh–Jeans law *Rayleigh waves *Rayleigh (unit), a unit of photon flux named after the 4th Baron Rayleigh *Rayl, rayl or Rayleigh, two units of specific acoustic impedance and characte ...
and Hadleigh (Rayleigh Weir underpass, built 4 December 1989 to early 1992), which is often the start of congestion in the evenings into Southend. After this, the road soon enters into Southend-on-Sea. In Southend, at the Kent Elms junction with the A1015 Rayleigh Road, there are traffic lights. The A127 changes its name to Prince Avenue. There is a roundabout (the first since Gallows Corner) and a turn-off for a shopping centre (Tesco). The next roundabout is Cuckoo Corner. The exits to the north and east are both the A1159, to
London Southend Airport London Southend Airport is an international airport situated on the outskirts of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, approximately from the Charing Cross#Official use as central point, centre of London. The airport straddles the boundaries b ...
and
Thorpe Bay Thorpe Bay is an area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. located on the Thames Estuary. Thorpe Bay is situated within the Thorpe ward of Southend-on-Sea. It is around 4 mi ...
respectively. However, the A127 turns south and becomes Victoria Avenue. The A127 terminates in the centre of Southend-on-Sea at a junction with the A13 immediately next to Southend Victoria Station.


History

The A127 was designed as the eastern part of a major new road for vehicular traffic between
Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...
and Southend, the other section being the Eastern Avenue (now the A12). It opened in stages between June and September 1924. The road was formally opened by
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Henry William Frederick Albert; 31 March 1900 – 10 June 1974) was a member of the British royal family. He was the third son of King George V and Mary of Teck, Queen Mary, and was a younger brother of kings E ...
on 25 March 1925. Due to initial problems with newly constructed embankments along the line of the road, there were problems with surfacing which subsequently led
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...
to complain that it was "one of the worst pieces of main road in West Essex." The road was not originally dual carriageway, with places being dualled during the 1920s and 1930s. Following concerns about safety, the remainder was dualled in the late 1930s. During WW2 the A127 was used to store army vehicles and equipment prior to the D-Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. The Gallows Corner Flyover, providing a free-flow link between Eastern Avenue and Southend Arterial Road, opened as a temporary link in 1969. The eventual assumption was that the flyover would be replaced by the M12 motorway, which was never constructed.


Future developments


A127/A1159 Cuckoo Corner & Priory Crescent

In 2000 plans were announced to dual an 800 m stretch of the A1159 comprising Priory Crescent and upgrade the Cuckoo Corner junction connecting it to the A127. The road scheme has faced controversy due to its location over the Prittlewell royal Anglo-Saxon burial grave site and environmental loss, and was the site of an anti-road protest camp known as Camp Bling.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0127 Transport in the Borough of Basildon Transport in the London Borough of Havering Transport in Castle Point Transport in Rochford District Transport in Southend-on-Sea Roads in London Roads in Essex