THE Bell junction improvement works must be completed before the deadline hits, or Southend Council will lose more than £4million in funding.

The council has insisted that all of the work will be finished by March 31, 2021, with cabinet member for transport Ron Woodley revealing that the funding grant is reliant on avoiding delays to the A127 work.

And the leading councillor has insisted there will not be a repeat of the delays at Kent Elms - which resulted in a large overspend and delays.

Mr Woodley said: “We have learnt our lessons, we have taken note on what went wrong and it won’t be happening again.

“We have started early to move the underground infrastructure, and we have done as much on site as we can before work actually begins.

“When they get on site everything will be done and ready.

“I will make sure, and I will vow to residents, this will be done in the shortest possible time and within the budget we have set ourselves.

“One, because we cannot have the same issues we had at Kent Elms.

“And two, because we will lose our funding if we do not meet that deadline.

“If we overrun, we will lose funding, which is not an option.

“We will not spend more than the £700,000 we have budget for on this project.”

In a bid to avoid those delays gas and electricity companies are already moving underground pipes and cables around the junction prior to the main works commencing.

The council has been boosted by £4.3million from the Government’s local growth fund, as well as contributing £700,000 from council funds.

The new design includes a new dedicated left-turn lane into Rochford Road, extending the right-turn into Hobleythick Lane and a traffic-signal pedestrian crossing in Rochford Road.

There will also be a new pedestrian island on Hobleythick Lane, a ban on turning right onto Rochford Road and the footbridge will be removed because it does not meet disability requirements.

The work will mark another piece of major improvements made across the A127 in Southend.

Previous improvements have been made at Progress Road, Cuckoo Corner and at Kent Elms.

And residents will be pleased to hear that the council is adamant on avoiding delays, with a number raising concerns over potential delays.

Responding on the Echo’s Facebook page, Paul Woodard said: “Please just leave it as it is. I don’t think I could cope with several more years of delays as we always has. I don’t think this has anything to do with keeping residents happy, it is all about the airport and future land development sales.”

While Kay Comery added: “I live right near this and it is going to be a nightmare. We keep getting the letters saying we live in a high pollution area, so I guess their solution is to speed the traffic up.

“I am not looking forward to it.”