CARS at a standstill and frustrated drivers going nowhere fast. This is the familiar state of rush hour roads in Chelmsford.
With cars already battling for space on our heavily-congested highways and plans approved for a new John Lewis store, Waitrose, cinema and 3,600 homes, fears are growing that the situation is only going to get worse.
Lloyd Green, who runs Lloyd Green Solicitors in the heart of Chelmsford, is calling on Essex County Council, the authority in charge of highways, to take action before the new developments begin and it is too late.
"My office is in Springfield Road a few hundred yards away from the shopping centre and about adjacent to Tesco.
"It is a six-storey building and as my office is on the top floor I have a great view of traffic congestion.
"Especially at this time of year the air is filled with the sound of car horns, the pollution of carbon dioxide emissions and an atmosphere of total frustration.
"Why should it take 20 minutes to leave the Tesco car park and get on to a road which in itself is bottlenecked?
"At 3.30pm last Friday the traffic was so backed up in all directions that I came close to witnessing what could have been a very unpleasant altercation between frustrated drivers.
"In the next couple of years Chelmsford will have a flagship John Lewis store, a new cinema, 25 shops and four new restaurants and these will be located where there is currently a car park in Bond Street between Debenhams and the Gap store in the High Street.
"The development will also have an underground car park with 275 spaces.
"So not only will there be a great influx of traffic into our new city, but the 275 additional car parking spaces won't even cover the expected 450 new jobs that will be created."
Mr Green is not alone with his frustration.
Tony Odden, who runs Chixy Taxi and Courier Company, said: "The roads in Chelmsford are diabolical. As the city has expanded and continues to do so, the roads haven't.
"The council have closed off all the little side roads and so cars can't go through short cuts as they used to and now everything goes onto the main roads which is madness. Major improvements need to be made.
"If it wasn't for the taxi fast lanes it would be impossible for us to do our jobs.
"The council really need to do something about this as more developments are happening around the city, the roads will only get worse."
The Essex Transport Strategy, produced by Essex County Council in June 2011, states: "The population of Chelmsford is set to rise substantially in the near future with the planned construction of 16,000 new homes by 2025. Over the same period regeneration initiatives and new business development aims to achieve the creation of an estimated 20,000 new jobs".
Mr Green said: "As they say, talk is cheap. There is a major problem with congestion and parking now and that is before John Lewis arrives, let alone another 20,000 new jobs.
"We should all be proud that Chelmsford is a city and a flourishing one at that, but until a grip is got of the issue of congestion and parking, the chances of attracting business into Chelmsford will be fanciful.
"Over capacity, just like over trading, can be as dangerous as empty shops or a business making losses. So those in charge please focus on the infrastructure and get that right first – come and stand on the corner of Springfield Road one afternoon and just observe and see what I mean."
Mark Springett, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Moulsham Lodge ward, said: "I think the one thing that's definitely going to cause a major problem is the new Waitrose.
"It's going to be in the heart of the city in Victoria Road and that area is already badly-congested – it's hard enough now trying to get out of the retail park where Staples is, without the extra traffic Waitrose will bring.
"There are plans in place to build a new bypass when the Beaulieu Park development is built, but that will be after it's all completed so I do think things are going to get worse before they get better."
An Essex County Council spokesman said it welcomed "new and exciting city business developments as a source of economic growth and employment which will be of great benefit to the local community and the county as a whole.
"Essex County Council and Essex Highways are working closely with developers to ensure that congestion is minimised, both during the construction period and when the major developments in the city are operational. All measures will be taken to ensure that travel disruption is kept to a minimum."
