Eastwick Road shuts for seven weeks from 21 September, diverted via Sawbridgeworth and High Wych. Burnt Mill and Zelenskyy Avenue get signals too.

Eastwick Road closes on Monday 21 September and stays closed until Sunday 8 November. That is seven weeks, and the signed diversion runs out through Sawbridgeworth and back through High Wych.

Two more restrictions start on the same day. Temporary two way traffic lights go in at the Burnt Mill junction, and Zelenskyy Avenue runs under two way signals overnight.

This is not a Harlow Council scheme and it is not an Essex County Council one. It is phase two of Central Stort Crossing North, the transport works being built ahead of 10,000 new homes in the Gilston area, and the highway authority for the closed length is Hertfordshire County Council.

What starts on 21 September

The joint venture delivering the work has published the phase on its construction updates page. Three things begin at once:

  • Eastwick Road closes, 21 September to 8 November, about seven weeks.
  • Burnt Mill junction gets temporary two way traffic lights for BT diversion work, phased across a 16 week programme. Every home keeps its access.
  • Zelenskyy Avenue runs under two way signals between 21:00 and 05:30 while utilities are installed and drainage is improved.

A fourth restriction is already the plan for the rest of the year. The 24 hour single lane closures on the A414 dual carriageway west of the roundabout, which reduce two lanes to one in each direction, are to stay in place until early 2027.

Central Stort Crossing North: what runs when A timeline bar chart. Eastwick Road is fully closed from 21 September to 8 November 2026, about seven weeks. Burnt Mill junction runs under temporary two way signals for a sixteen week programme from 21 September. Zelenskyy Avenue runs under two way signals nightly between 9pm and 5.30am from 21 September to 8 November. The A414 dual carriageway keeps 24 hour single lane closures from 21 September until early 2027. Four restrictions, all starting 21 September Length of each restriction as published by the Places for People and Barratt Redrow joint venture. 21 Sep Nov Jan 2027 Mar 2027 Eastwick Road closed to traffic 7 weeks, to 8 Nov Burnt Mill junction two way signals 16 week programme Zelenskyy Avenue signals 21:00 to 05:30 nights only, to 8 Nov A414 dual carriageway one lane each way, 24 hours to early 2027 Source: Gilston Park Estate construction updates, September 2026. Graphic by Harlow Online
The four restrictions and how long each is expected to last. The A414 lane closures have no published end date beyond "early 2027".

The closure, as the order actually words it

The developer’s notice describes it as a “road closure eastbound A414/Eastwick Road”, and says “the road eastbound of the A414/Zelenskyy Avenue roundabout will be closed for seven weeks”.

The statutory order says something stronger. Hertfordshire County Council’s order prohibits all vehicular traffic on that length of road, in both directions. It gives the extent precisely:

“that length of Eastwick Road, Eastwick from its junction with the A414 Fifth Avenue roundabout north eastwards to its junction with Terlings Avenue, a distance of approximately 697m.”

That is worth reading twice if you live off it. “Eastbound” reads as though one direction stays open. The order does not say that.

The two documents also use different names for the same junction. The county calls it the A414 Fifth Avenue roundabout. The developer calls it the A414/Zelenskyy Avenue roundabout. Harlow Council renamed the road in 2023 in honour of the Ukrainian president, and the old name is still on plenty of paperwork.

The diversion, and what it means for Pye Corner

The signed alternative route in the order runs:

  • A414 Fifth Avenue and Edinburgh Way
  • A1184 Cambridge Road and Harlow Road, out to Sawbridgeworth
  • High Wych Road
  • Pye Corner
  • Eastwick Road

High Wych is a Hertfordshire village about three miles north east of Harlow town centre, and the route reaches it by going out through Sawbridgeworth first. For a 697 metre closure, that is a long way round.

There is one consequence buried in the order that residents of Pye Corner and Gilston should know about. The existing 7.5 tonne weight limit is temporarily suspended on Eastwick Road and Pye Corner, from the A414 Fifth Avenue roundabout to Gilston Lane, about 973 metres, “to enable all vehicles to use this length of roads, whilst works are in progress”.

In plain terms, lorries that are normally banned from that lane will be using it for seven weeks.

What the work is for

Central Stort Crossing North is the transport half of the Gilston side of the Harlow and Gilston Garden Town, a cross boundary project run by five councils: East Hertfordshire, Epping Forest and Harlow district councils, alongside Hertfordshire and Essex county councils.

The build is funded by Homes England, financially administered by Hertfordshire County Council, and delivered by a joint venture between Places for People and Barratt Redrow, with Natta as contractor. Planning permission was granted by East Herts and Harlow district councils in February 2022.

Work on this phase of the scheme started in the week beginning 11 May 2026, according to Epping Forest District Council. The sequence set out then was construction accesses off the A414 first, then improvements along the A414 and Eastwick Road and along Fifth Avenue and Zelenskyy Avenue, and in later phases the conversion of Eastwick roundabout to a traffic signal controlled junction.

The end point is a long way off. The joint venture says the full programme “is expected to take approximately two and a half years”, which from the May 2026 start runs into late 2028.

The scale it is being built for is the reason for the disruption. Hertfordshire’s executive director of growth and environment, Mark Doran, put it this way in the May announcement:

“These works mark the start of 10,000 new homes in the Gilston area and, with growth coming forward at this scale, it’s vital that we invest in infrastructure that gives people real alternatives to driving and helps avoid further congestion on local roads.”

The Garden Town partnership’s stated target is for 60% of journeys in the new communities to be made by walking, cycling or public transport.

What it means for you

  • If you use Eastwick Road, plan for seven weeks, not seven days. The closure runs 21 September to 8 November. The order covers all vehicles, not one direction.
  • Burntmill Lane is not the answer. It closes a week earlier, on 14 September, for 14 days of bridge strengthening, and Essex County Council’s order says no diversion route is available. See our Harlow roadworks and travel page for the full list.
  • Two closures land on the same Monday. The Hornbeams also shuts on 21 September, for 43 days, while Cadent Gas replaces the mains.
  • If you live on Pye Corner, expect lorries. The weight limit is suspended for the duration.
  • Night journeys through Zelenskyy Avenue will be slower between 9pm and 5.30am, and the A414 stays down to one lane each way into 2027.
  • Complaints and questions go to the developer, not the council. The joint venture gives construction@gilston.info and 01279 805222 for construction enquiries. The highway authority for the closed length is Hertfordshire County Council, not Essex.
  • Check before you set off. Both counties publish live permits on one.network.

Bigger schemes coming through the district are tracked on our Harlow planning news page, and the rest of this autumn’s closures are on the roadworks and travel page.

Sources