New London Southend Airport Road Opens

New route opens to the public on 1 September 2011

Attending the official opening of the new road linking Eastwoodbury Road, and Nestuda Way was the Deputy Mayor of Southend, Sally Carr. Sally Carr (seen cutting the official red ribbon) was greeted and given a tour of the new road by Jonathan Rayner (to the right of Mrs. Carr) Head of Business Development at London Southend Airport. Also attending the tour were members from the Eastwood & St. Laurence Residents Association.

Linking Eastwoodbury Lane and Nestuda Way, the thoroughfare has been constructed to facilitate the stopping-up of a section of Eastwoodbury Lane and the extension of London Southend Airport’s existing runway.

When complete, the new runway will allow the airport to accommodate modern, fuel efficient aircraft and operate passenger services to destinations across Europe; including easyJet routes to Amsterdam, Alicante, Barcelona, Belfast, Faro, Ibiza, Malaga and Mallorca from April 2012, in addition to the current services with Aer Arran to Ireland.

The new route which diverts the course of Eastwoodbury Lane has been constructed by the airport operator’s sister company Stobart Rail. Work started in February 2011 and has just been completed on schedule.

The construction has cost London Southend Airport over £5 million.

The new route was carefully chosen and designed to minimise impact on St Laurence Park. A new children’s play area has been constructed – including £800k of state-of-the-art play equipment - and a new wildflower meadow has been installed. The park is now over a hectare larger than before.

Two new bus stops - including shelters - for the Number 9 Arriva bus service have been installed at the Nestuda Way end of the new road, in order to improve access to Tesco and the Royal Bank of Scotland offices.

New foot and cycle paths also run parallel to – but separate from - the road, in order to improve safety.

The Managing Director of London Southend Airport, Alastair Welch, says: “This new road and the subsequent runway extension is one of the final pieces of the jigsaw required to allow the airport to become a fully functional regional airport in time for the 2012 Olympics. This opportunity for South Essex to boast a modern, efficient regional airport - and the significant investment this will bring to the area - is unique, so it is great to see the all developments required to make this happen now taking place.”

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council’s Executive Councillor for Public Protection, Waste and Transport, Councillor Tony Cox says “We welcome this major milestone in the progress towards expanding London Southend Airport. The road heralds the next step in the Airport’s development, which in turn gives the green light to greater regeneration opportunities for Southend, and for the region.”