WITH more closures planned by Thurrock Council on and around the A13 as its long-overdue and controversial road widening project continues, motorists have been warned of further works in the vicinity to the east.

After another weekend of disruption and problems of significant congestion on, local road because of the closure of the A13 between Stanford-le-Hope and Orsett, further closures are planned over the next two weekends.

Evening closures will resume tomorrow (Monday, 7 March) up to and including Wednesday 9 March between 9pm to 5am and 5pm at the Orsett Cock junction, where the entire roundabout and all its approach roads will be closed.

Over the following weekend (from 9pm on Friday 11 March to 5am, Monday 14 March) the A13 will be closed in both directions – closed between the A1089 Tilbury junction and the A128 Orsett Cock junction.

And the weekend after that will see another carriageway closure in both directions between the Orsett Cock and A1014 (Stanford-le-Hope).

In addition to this disruption on one of South Essex's busiest roads, Essex County Council has announced that from Monday, 14 March to the end of the month and into April, there will be more overnight disruption between Fobbing's Five Bells' junction and Pitsea when boith carriageways will be closed.

The closures will be in place between 9pm and 5am each night for 27 consecutive days. The work will see investigations carried out on drainage pipework and will involve trial hole tests on the road itself and soakaway tests on grass verges.

A spokesperson for Essex Highways said: "These investigations will help us to understand the underlying ground conditions and existing drainage of the carriageway, which was built on marshy ground many years ago.

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"This will then allow us to decide what further engineering investment may be needed to improve the road surface in the area for the long-term."

Bizarrely, despite the Thurrock A13 closures being flagged up well in advance, the spokesperson for Essex continues: "These works have been planned carefully to avoid any clashes with pre-existing road closures due to the ongoing A13 widening scheme taking place in Thurrock.

"Essex Highways would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused to your journey."