Travel mayhem as snow causes disruption on roads

9:20am Wednesday 5th December 2012 in News

Snow on the palm trees along the esplanade at Southend seafront..parts of the estuary were frozen over. Snow on the palm trees along the esplanade at Southend seafront..parts of the estuary were frozen over.

Snow and slippery roads has caused mayhem on the roads in South Essex this morning.

There have been delays on the A13 including queueing traffic eastbound from Stanford-Le-Hope to Sadlers Farm Roundabout, because of an accident involving four vehicles on the roundabout. There is also a build-up between the Five Bells Interchange in Basildon and Sadlers Farm Roundabout. Drivers faced delays of upto an hour before the road was cleared before midday. 

The A130 in North Benfleet is blocked and queueing traffic northbound before the A1245 Chelmsford Road junction, because of a broken down lorry and severe ice and snow in the road.

There was queueing traffic on the A127 Southend Arterial Road eastbound between Fortune Of War, Laindon and A130 from 9am although congestion eased at 11.15am.

There is queueing traffic on the A127 Southend Arterial Road in both directions in Rayleigh between Rayleigh Weir and the Progress Road junction. Delays are expected to be more than 45 minutes.

There are long delays on A127 London-bound from the Tesco Roundabout in Southend to A130 in North Benfleet. Travel time is expected to be 60 minutes.

There is heavy traffic on A127 Victoria Avenue in Southend-On-Sea at Victoria Gateway.

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Hockley Road in Rayleigh has been closed and Bread and Cheese Hill in Benfleet is also closed due to the snow and dangerous road conditions.

Runwell Road is shut between Runwell Chase and Runwell Road following a serious crash this morning.

There was also a build-up of traffic on the A13 Stanford-Le-Hope Bypass London-bound in Basildon between Five Bells Interchange and the A1013 junction, approaching midday.

There are lengthy delays at the Mayflower Retail Park, Basildon, although the build up of traffic is currently unexplained.

The heavy snow has left fireman from the night shift stuck at Rayleigh Weir station.

The black ice underneath the early morning layer of snow has meant motorists are struggling to control their vehicles.

Most of the crew at Rayleigh live locally,  but are caught in the same traffic conditions as everyone else.

At Rayleigh Weir, the electricity repairs that have seen one lane closed at the High Road going from the Weir into the town, have compounded the problem.

The High Road is so slippery that most cars have had to turn round and try to get into the town via a different route.

There are reports of cars getting stuck on Hambro Hill in Rayleigh and the bridge near Manners Way, Hockley is backing up after a lorry was stuck in the snow.

Essex Police are advising drivers not to drive unless absolutely necessary due to black ice under the falling snow.

If you know of any further delays or road incidents let the newsroom know on 01268 469379 and also email in your snow pictures to echonews@nqe.com.

 

Comments(36)

Displeased of Shoebury says...
11:06am Wed 5 Dec 12

Weather reports last night forecast this snow would hit the South East first thing.
Once again Southend Council failed to react why?.

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EthanEdwards says...
11:18am Wed 5 Dec 12

I saw no eveidence of any gritting at all around Billericay this morning. Lucily I own a 4WD with M+snow tyres and even I had some 'sideways action' this morning at 15mph.

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Eric Whim says...
11:26am Wed 5 Dec 12

Displeased of Shoebury wrote:
Weather reports last night forecast this snow would hit the South East first thing.
Once again Southend Council failed to react why?.
couldn't hear the reports as they were heads down in the trough

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deltrotter says...
11:43am Wed 5 Dec 12

as usual essex county council state we are ready for the bad weather stock piles of grit to be call on in climate weather 3 nights of frost 1 motor cyclist dead due to black ice 1st fall of snow yes the council were ready for this not crashes cars and hgvs stuck traffic ground to a halt were were the gritters i was on the road at 6-15 am this morning got as far as the witham turn off on the A12 turned round headed back towards southend on sea the first gritter i saw was on the A 127 at 8-45 am yep they were ready after the horse hasbolted again .i bet on think for certain than in april the spare room tax is nicely in place and there wont be any delays with that . once again well done essex county council

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Essex in Sweden says...
11:50am Wed 5 Dec 12

FFS it's not all about gritters or 4WD vehicles to get around, it's about driving sensibly AND having the correct tyres on the car. Having moved from Essex to here in Sweden, we currently have over 30cms of snow, I have a RWD BMW but with correct tyres on and I get around fine !

Come on England, get a grip (literally) on the situation !

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Olivia2847 says...
12:44pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Eric Whim wrote:
Displeased of Shoebury wrote:
Weather reports last night forecast this snow would hit the South East first thing.
Once again Southend Council failed to react why?.
couldn't hear the reports as they were heads down in the trough
Very good you actually made me laugh after reading about that arrogant man Rin TIn Tin and his comments about Sadlers Farm ....

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EthanEdwards says...
12:46pm Wed 5 Dec 12

You have a point but driving sensibly AND having a 4wd with the correct tyres is an even better position to be in. Just saying.

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echoforum says...
1:01pm Wed 5 Dec 12

a mere dusting...man up and get on with it.

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al coniston says...
1:22pm Wed 5 Dec 12

wait until next week ;)

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BuddyS says...
1:25pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Absolutely nightmare this morning on Canvey, left home at 8am went back home at 8:30am and stayed there for about 3/4 of an hour and then tried again and got to Benfleet station at 10am, got into work 11am should start at 9:30am. Absolute joke just a bit of snow and the roads grind to a halt, this is 2012 not 1912!!!

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Dids says...
1:31pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Sunny and clear here in Notts lmao

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AnotherSister says...
1:52pm Wed 5 Dec 12

BuddyS wrote:
Absolutely nightmare this morning on Canvey, left home at 8am went back home at 8:30am and stayed there for about 3/4 of an hour and then tried again and got to Benfleet station at 10am, got into work 11am should start at 9:30am. Absolute joke just a bit of snow and the roads grind to a halt, this is 2012 not 1912!!!
They probably coped with snow much better in 1912, due to the general public having a different, far more sensible attitude towards day to day life back in those days.

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emcee says...
2:02pm Wed 5 Dec 12

It's hardly snow plough weather, is it?
Once again, this country shows it does not mind being the laughing stock of Europe.

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notinwestcliffanymore says...
3:18pm Wed 5 Dec 12

deltrotter wrote:
as usual essex county council state we are ready for the bad weather stock piles of grit to be call on in climate weather 3 nights of frost 1 motor cyclist dead due to black ice 1st fall of snow yes the council were ready for this not crashes cars and hgvs stuck traffic ground to a halt were were the gritters i was on the road at 6-15 am this morning got as far as the witham turn off on the A12 turned round headed back towards southend on sea the first gritter i saw was on the A 127 at 8-45 am yep they were ready after the horse hasbolted again .i bet on think for certain than in april the spare room tax is nicely in place and there wont be any delays with that . once again well done essex county council
Yeah brilliant, a minimum wage council worker is expected to risk his life getting to work to drive the griiter, so you can can get to your oh so important role in life.

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Telinlaindon says...
4:18pm Wed 5 Dec 12

I live in the Basildon area and got to work on time and early. This was predicted last night so i prepared myself by leaving early.
Also, my boys school was open but less than half the staff turned up so not much education going on.
A friend at work came out with a great comment, ...'Its a good job we didn't fight the germans in the snow!'
More snow is predicted for the next few days so prepare yourself.

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EthanEdwards says...
4:27pm Wed 5 Dec 12

notinwestcliffanymor
e wrote:
deltrotter wrote: as usual essex county council state we are ready for the bad weather stock piles of grit to be call on in climate weather 3 nights of frost 1 motor cyclist dead due to black ice 1st fall of snow yes the council were ready for this not crashes cars and hgvs stuck traffic ground to a halt were were the gritters i was on the road at 6-15 am this morning got as far as the witham turn off on the A12 turned round headed back towards southend on sea the first gritter i saw was on the A 127 at 8-45 am yep they were ready after the horse hasbolted again .i bet on think for certain than in april the spare room tax is nicely in place and there wont be any delays with that . once again well done essex county council
Yeah brilliant, a minimum wage council worker is expected to risk his life getting to work to drive the griiter, so you can can get to your oh so important role in life.
Isn't that what they are emplyed for?

If they don't want to do it there are eleventy billion unemployed who do, plus half of Europe who also want to do it.

Should we give them a call?

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Antonius says...
4:37pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Driving a 4x4 won't stop you on ice, even with winter tyres fitted.

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saarfender says...
5:48pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Essex in Sweden wrote:
FFS it's not all about gritters or 4WD vehicles to get around, it's about driving sensibly AND having the correct tyres on the car. Having moved from Essex to here in Sweden, we currently have over 30cms of snow, I have a RWD BMW but with correct tyres on and I get around fine !

Come on England, get a grip (literally) on the situation !
It's the sensible driving that is the key, and nobody seems to know it nowadays. Too much reliance on 4x4 or technology and not any understanding of how to drive.

Two years ago, on that first day of heavy snow we had, I had to get the car in to a service. Despite the gridlock and summer tyres I got there without incident by taking the longest most back road route I could. My main gripe when I got there was that I could turn the ESP off to get some control back from the computer, but the ABS couldn't be turned off.

I spent the rest of that snowy time, while everybody was moaning, driving without incident in a bog standard car - or cycling past the gridlock (with decent studded tyres).

Shame I couldn't get out in it today. I love driving and cycling in the snow.

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saarfender says...
5:48pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Essex in Sweden wrote:
FFS it's not all about gritters or 4WD vehicles to get around, it's about driving sensibly AND having the correct tyres on the car. Having moved from Essex to here in Sweden, we currently have over 30cms of snow, I have a RWD BMW but with correct tyres on and I get around fine !

Come on England, get a grip (literally) on the situation !
It's the sensible driving that is the key, and nobody seems to know it nowadays. Too much reliance on 4x4 or technology and not any understanding of how to drive.

Two years ago, on that first day of heavy snow we had, I had to get the car in to a service. Despite the gridlock and summer tyres I got there without incident by taking the longest most back road route I could. My main gripe when I got there was that I could turn the ESP off to get some control back from the computer, but the ABS couldn't be turned off.

I spent the rest of that snowy time, while everybody was moaning, driving without incident in a bog standard car - or cycling past the gridlock (with decent studded tyres).

Shame I couldn't get out in it today. I love driving and cycling in the snow.

Report this post »

jolllyboy says...
6:38pm Wed 5 Dec 12

If this was predicted last night it must have been very late because it was not on the news early evening. If you have to get up early to go to work you dont hear that and jolly well expect them to be able to predict it better than that.

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InTheKnowOk says...
7:46pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Essex in Sweden wrote:
FFS it's not all about gritters or 4WD vehicles to get around, it's about driving sensibly AND having the correct tyres on the car. Having moved from Essex to here in Sweden, we currently have over 30cms of snow, I have a RWD BMW but with correct tyres on and I get around fine !

Come on England, get a grip (literally) on the situation !
Essex Way was like an ice rink this morning, why? because it hadn't been gritted, it had nothing to do with driving sensibly .... Same thing at Vic House, no gritters in sight resulting in chaos all morning, nothing was moving, total gridlock ......

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InTheKnowOk says...
7:53pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Btw, what a loony idea to resurface the roads late last night by the old waggon and horses .. better to have been out gritting i would have thought?

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Thomo100 says...
8:09pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Essex in Sweden wrote:
FFS it's not all about gritters or 4WD vehicles to get around, it's about driving sensibly AND having the correct tyres on the car. Having moved from Essex to here in Sweden, we currently have over 30cms of snow, I have a RWD BMW but with correct tyres on and I get around fine !

Come on England, get a grip (literally) on the situation !
Agreed but...
I drive a 4x4 with winter tyres.
Problem is that 99.999999% of the population do not so I still cannot drive over the top of the idiots driving M3's, Merc SL 55 AMG's, Jaguars, and Mopeds (yes, I saw 4 this morning).
What I do not understand is would would not attempt to drive these totally unsuitable cars across a muddy field so why even bother with snow and ice!

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Shoebarian Barbarian says...
9:13pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Left Shoeburyness at 07.10 got to rayliegh wier by 10.10 absolutely useless what would happen if we had to evacuate from this part of the world a bit sharpish, it would not and could not happen because of the A130/A127/rayleigh weir bottle neck needs a lot of money to develop a better system i thought last weeks flooding was a once a winter debacle and a week later this rubbish.

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billericay boy says...
9:17pm Wed 5 Dec 12

I had my snow boots on this morning, the left heal was a bit worn, but I managed to get my bacon and eggs for a nice fry up, left my 4X4 in the drive.

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stevejms says...
10:24pm Wed 5 Dec 12

Agreed but...
I drive a 4x4 with winter tyres.
Problem is that 99.999999% of the population do not so I still cannot drive over the top of the idiots driving M3's, Merc SL 55 AMG's, Jaguars, and Mopeds (yes, I saw 4 this morning).
What I do not understand is would would not attempt to drive these totally unsuitable cars across a muddy field so why even bother with snow and ice!"

Maybe they only have one car and they have to go to work. Cannot all be like you and have different cars for different weather conditions

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Steve H says...
11:46pm Wed 5 Dec 12

BuddyS wrote:
Absolutely nightmare this morning on Canvey, left home at 8am went back home at 8:30am and stayed there for about 3/4 of an hour and then tried again and got to Benfleet station at 10am, got into work 11am should start at 9:30am. Absolute joke just a bit of snow and the roads grind to a halt, this is 2012 not 1912!!!
Why didn't you walk?

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Bosniavet says...
12:38am Thu 6 Dec 12

I drove home to Westcliff from work in Canary Wharf this morning, it took me 3.5 hours for a journey I usually manage in about an hour. The conditions when I left at 7.00am were not bad at all (sleet, turning to snow in London), & the traffic only started to slow down between the Five Bells turn-off & the Pitsea Flyover, but once I got past the lorry that was stuck on the flyover, it was fairly easy going (with care & caution as others have said), & I got round Sadlers Farm Roundabout into Benfleet/Thundersley just before 8.00am. It was at this point that I came to a complete standstill, & it took me until 10.30am to reach home between Hamlet Court Rd & The Cricketers. As soon as I saw the traffic building up round basildon, I had started to scan the 2 main local radio stations (I won't name them, we all know which ones), one of which even claims to be specifically for Southend, for their traffic reports, hoping to hear about conditions on the A13. In fact, all I heard was that traffic was heavy between Sadlers Farm & Stanford-le-Hope in both directions, & was even told that once past Sadlers farm eastbound traffic was flowing freely. At no point was there a mention that bread & Cheese Hill was closed (& as there were no Police, Highways Agency or Council personnel in the area, I fail to understand how it could have been), although I was told in great detail about minor roads in the Chelmsford area, & had to endure inane chatter from the breakfast show DJs.
Throughout the whole of my journey, I did not see one single Police vehicle or officer, nor did I see any Highways Agency vehicles or Council vehicles of any description, so I think it is safe to say that no effort was made to prepare for the weather, even as it became blatantly obvious there would be problems.
Incidently, I have to place in print my thanks & appreciation for the unknown man who took his shovel to the grit bin on Bread & Cheese Hill & started to singlehandedly spred grit to help with traction on the road. If anyone can identify this chap, I do believe he should receive a good citizen award of some sort (not to mention maybe a day's pay from the council responsible for looking after this stretch of road who pointedly failed to do anything).
Had I been told that the road was impassable at Bread & Cheese Hill prior to getting stuck in the traffic, I would have found somewhere safe (maybe Tarpots car park) to leave my car with a note & then made myway to the train stationas I would have been home well before 10.30am that way & could have collected my car this afternoon on my way back to work.
Hopefully, you will correct your story & someone will be able to explain why none of the authorities did anything to help those of us stuck as a result of their incompetence.

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DavidMilne says...
2:13am Thu 6 Dec 12

A dusting of snow and you useless english people want an excuse not to go to work,sit at home on benifits and stuff your lazy faces with pie,meanwhile a little old lady in alaska drove 30 miles in minus 28 degrees and two foot of snow to drop the grandchildren back to there mum,England you have gone down the pan,gutless,useless,
and becoming a third world country

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DavidMilne says...
2:34am Thu 6 Dec 12

Southend council will only react if you no speak english,get rid of your hi-viz and get some work done,get your local benifit scroungers out of bed and do some work,if the council cant clear 2mm of snow,im sure they could.I bet your tax payers money that they would be down at the job seekers allowance if the did not get there hard earnt hand out,leggings and i-phones.Dont forget double bubble pay out for the scroungers,its christmas

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echoforum says...
10:08am Thu 6 Dec 12

So many prats on the road ,especially the geezer in Seaways car park who chose to test out his massive truck 4x4 grip by racing and braking around the snow covered car park then slid straight into a bollard and buckled his front end...LOL.
Light clutch and gas...no instead hard on the gas and cause chaos.

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BuddyS says...
1:55pm Thu 6 Dec 12

Steve H wrote:
BuddyS wrote:
Absolutely nightmare this morning on Canvey, left home at 8am went back home at 8:30am and stayed there for about 3/4 of an hour and then tried again and got to Benfleet station at 10am, got into work 11am should start at 9:30am. Absolute joke just a bit of snow and the roads grind to a halt, this is 2012 not 1912!!!
Why didn't you walk?
Because the first time is was bucketing down with snow,it would have taken me an hour to walk, I have diabetes, and becuase of the diabetes I have a problem with my feet.

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news4us says...
5:38pm Thu 6 Dec 12

When is something going to be done about the hapless highways operations .
We have Sadlers Farm still unfinshed, we have ever changing road markings at Tarpots, We have clowns who do not act to keep us moving until they see the snow .
With a winter to come and no doubt tax rises to follow when will these comedians get a grip and give us services and value from the huge cash pile we have to give them .

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bob7 says...
11:02pm Thu 6 Dec 12

My husband warned me before I left for work on Tuesday night they they were warning of sleet turning to snow by the early hours. Left work in Dagenham at 06:30, about half way home it started sleeting and then by Pitsea is was settling. By the time I parked up and put the rubbish out it was settling on the car. Tucked up in my nice warm bed by 07:30. The joys of shift work and and checking the weather forecast and being prepared before leaving home.

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bignosechaff says...
6:56pm Fri 7 Dec 12

My daughter walked a mile to school in the snow on wednesday only to be sent home because most of the teachers failed to turn up. What kind of message does this send out to the pupils. The snow wasn't even that bad.

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EthanEdwards says...
10:11pm Tue 11 Dec 12

Antonius wrote:
Driving a 4x4 won't stop you on ice, even with winter tyres fitted.
Sorry but that comment displays you have no idea about winter tyres.

See this link for the facts.

http://www.telegraph
.co.uk/motoring/moto
ringvideo/9706105/Ch
oosing-the-right-tyr
es-for-winter.html

Winter tyres will stop you better on ice..fact.

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