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The A127, also known as the Southend Arterial Road, is a major road in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. It was constructed as a new arterial road project in the 1920s, linking Romford 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 southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...
, replacing the older A13. Formerly classified as a trunk road, 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. 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 ('' Squirrels Heath'') with ''Squirrels Heath Road'' and '' Ardleigh Green 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 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 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 the lon ...
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, 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. After a couple of exits to Crays Hill, the next junction is over on for the A132 Basildon and Wickford 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 Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Lond ...
/
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 A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...
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 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 m ...
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 Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered t ...
.


History

The A127 was designed as the eastern part of a major new road for vehicular traffic between
Wanstead Wanstead () is a town in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge, London, Redbridge to the east and Forest Gate to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is ...
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 the third son and fourth child of King George V and Queen Mary. He served as Governor-General of Australia from 1945 to 1947, the only memb ...
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 politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Min ...
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
Royal Saxon tomb in Prittlewell The Prittlewell royal Anglo-Saxon burial or Prittlewell princely burial is a high-status Anglo-Saxon burial mound which was excavated at Prittlewell, north of Southend-on-Sea, in the English county of Essex. Artefacts found by archaeologists ...
grave site and environmental loss and was the site of an anti-road protest camp known as
Camp Bling Camp Bling was a UK-based Road protest (UK), road protest camp set up in Southend-on-Sea, Essex during September 2005 to obstruct a £25 million plan to widen the Priory Crescent section of the A1159 road over the Royal Saxon tomb in Prittlewel ...
.


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