Temporary traffic lights Woodend Bridge, Witham
Case reference EIR2025/01414
Received 17 July 2025
Published 25 September 2025
Request
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 regarding the temporary traffic lights on Woodend Bridge, Witham (located just prior to the slip road for southbound A12), which have been in place for approximately 10 years instead of a permanent bridge repair.
I would be grateful if you could provide the following information:
Why were the temporary traffic lights installed initially?
How was the bridge damaged that led to the need for the traffic lights?
What is the estimated cost to permanently repair or replace the bridge?
What is the purpose or intended benefit of the temporary traffic lights compared to permanently repairing the bridge?
Have any assessments or reports been undertaken to evaluate the impact, effectiveness, or risks of maintaining the lights long-term rather than pursuing a permanent bridge solution?
If so, please provide copies. What is the total amount of public money spent to date on the installation, maintenance, and operation of these temporary traffic lights since they were first installed?
Please provide a year-by-year breakdown of costs, including:
Installation costs
Ongoing maintenance and servicing
Equipment rental or leasing fees
Any staffing or operational costs (if applicable)
Are there any current plans, budgets, or timelines for repairing the bridge or removing the temporary lights?
I would also like to note that the current setup of the temporary traffic lights causes significant traffic build-up, which then results in a large volume of vehicles crossing the bridge in batches rather than in a natural, staggered flow. This appears counterintuitive, as it potentially places greater concentrated weight on the bridge at one time, which may further compromise its integrity.
Please advise whether this effect has been considered or assessed by the Council or any other relevant authority.
Response
Why were the temporary traffic lights installed initially?
Following 2 separate bridge strikes to Wood End bridge Witham an inspection of the structure identified that the edge beam of the bridge had been significantly damaged. The beam was deformed and had a crack extending from the edge to the bottom flange to the bottom of the web. Due to the extent of the damage the ability to the bridge to carry normal loading was compromised over the damage beam was such that the decision was taken to remove live traffic loading from the damaged section of the bridge through the implementation of a lane closure requiring the use of traffic lights.
How was the bridge damaged that led to the need for the traffic lights?
Woodend Bridge, which carries the B1389 over the A12 at Witham, was severely damaged in three separate collisions in 2014 and 2015, each involving high vehicles passing below. The severity of the damage to the bridge beams has resulted in the installation of temporary traffic lights and a restriction on the bridge to single lane traffic for safety reasons.
What is the estimated cost to permanently repair or replace the bridge?
Estimated cost to temporarily repair the bridge to allow for the reopening of the closed lane is in the region of £1.6m.
What is the purpose or intended benefit of the temporary traffic lights compared to permanently repairing the bridge?
The current traffic management measures are a measure implemented to ensure the safety of highway users whilst a repair solution had been agreed developed and delivered and not as an alternative to a permanent repair.
The damage to the bridge beams is significant and our assessments initially indicated that they would need to be replaced to allow the bridge to re-open to two way traffic.
The final stages of the design of the repair solution are under way. NH are expecting for the works to start on the ground in the first half of 2026.
Have any assessments or reports been undertaken to evaluate the impact, effectiveness, or risks of maintaining the lights long-term rather than pursuing a permanent bridge solution? If so, please provide copies.
No.
What is the total amount of public money spent to date on the installation, maintenance, and operation of these temporary traffic lights since they were first installed?
Please provide a year-by-year breakdown of costs, including: Installation costs
Ongoing maintenance and servicing Equipment rental or leasing fees
Any staffing or operational costs (if applicable)
Are there any current plans, budgets, or timelines for repairing the bridge or removing the temporary lights?
From the information National Highways holds we can confirm there has been a cost of £986,455.91 associated with the current layout, this covers installation and maintenance of the traffic management layout since 1 October 2019 which is when the previous Asset Support Contract ended and transitioned into the current Asset Delivery contract.
Unfortunately, National Highways does not hold the information of costs associated within the previous contract as the contract with the previous service provider is no longer active and is held solely by the private third-party. Additionally, we do not hold the information that can be provided in the granularity requested such as by year or specific activity and therefore we are only able to provide an overall cost since 1 October 2019 to date, which we have done so above. As such this part of your request falls under Regulation 12(4)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 as information not held.
I would also like to note that the current setup of the temporary traffic lights causes significant traffic build-up, which then results in a large volume of vehicles crossing the bridge in batches rather than in a natural, staggered flow. This appears counterintuitive, as it potentially places greater concentrated weight on the bridge at one time, which may further compromise its integrity. Please advise whether this effect has been considered or assessed by the Council or any other relevant authority.
The current traffic management arrangements moves the live traffic loading away from the damaged elements of the structure.
Advice and Assistance
The damage to the bridge beams is significant and our assessments initially indicated that they would need to be replaced to allow the bridge to re-open to two way traffic. With repair costs at the time estimated to be about £2.5million, we wanted to assess the impact the proposed A12 widening would have on the bridge.
While we considered the impact, we investigated whether there was any safe way of allowing traffic to resume normal two-way movements across the bridge. With that discounted because the damaged bridge beams are unable to safely support the weight of traffic, we also looked at the possibility of making the bridge one way only. We concluded this would unduly disrupt the business located by the bridge.
There are also farm vehicles that use the bridge to access fields on the south side. This would mean having to send these slow-moving vehicles and their machinery onto the A12 for their return journey. We also considered installing permanent traffic lights with sensors that only activate when traffic approaches to go northbound. However, there is no power source at the bridge.
The temporary traffic lights were replaced in 2024 with a more modern system which allows us to amend the sequence of the lights giving priority to vehicles leaving Witham. We continue to be in attendance each morning to manually operate the traffic lights during the peak period, giving priority to vehicles heading towards the A12.
With digital technology advancements aiding further investigation work, we have now determined that we can carry out less intrusive repairs to the damaged beams which will allow us to fully re-open the bridge.
Documents
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