History
The A12 was formed in 1922 as part of the Great Britain road numbering scheme, and initially the route went from Stratford to Gallows Corner along the present A118, before continuing to Great Yarmouth; this London section was later amended to follow the current route from Blackwall Tunnel along the East Cross Route, (previously the A102(M) & A106), the M11 link road (in 1999) and Eastern Avenue (in 1930s).
The route from London to Essex has long been important, with Old Ford being the location of an ancient Celtic crossing of the River Lea. The route was altered slightly by the Romans who created a paved road from London to Colchester, which was part of Inter V on the Antonine Itinerary, and parts of this were used by a turnpike road, the Great Essex Road. The crossing of the Lea moved to its current location at Bow around 1110 when Matilda, wife of Henry I, ordered a distinctively bow-shaped, three-arched bridge to be built over the river. A map from 1766 shows a route from London to Great Yarmouth which follows much of the current A12.
The "Ipswich to South Town and Bungay Turnpike Trust" was established in 1785, operating between Ipswich and Great Yarmouth. The trust was wound up in 1872 following the arrival of the East Suffolk Line which was fully operational between the two towns in 1859. Following the demise of the Turnpike trust, responsibility reverted to parish responsibility until the new county councils took over in 1889.
A new section of the A12, known as the "M11 link road" or "A12 Hackney-M11 Link Road", was built in the early 1990s in the face of the major M11 link road protest and finally opened in October 1999. The section of road had originally been proposed in 1903 in a Royal Commission on London Traffic. A public inquiry had been held in September 1961 and a further three public inquiries, a Parliamentary Bill and a High Court challenge had been required before the work started.
Initiated in 2000, the London to Ipswich Multi-modal study reported its conclusions late in 2002.
In 2008 improvements were made to the junction between the A12 and the M25 to increase slip-road capacity, in particular for clockwise M25 traffic turning north onto the A12, and to ease congestion on the Brook Street Roundabout (serving the M25, A12 and local Brentwood traffic as the A1023).
The bascule bridge in Lowestoft, built in 1972, was refurbished in spring 2008.
Essex County Council carried out its own inquiry into the road in 2008 (see below for details).
Work on a £12.4m scheme for the a new junction on the A12 at Cuckoo Farm, Colchester adjacent to the Colchester Community Stadium started in December 2009. It was promoted by Essex County Council who prepared plans in 2001. and received funding from the Community Infrastructure Fund. It opened on December 16, 2010. See the junction under construction.Aerial photo of construction junction 28 A12
Read more about this topic: A12 Road (England)
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