QUEENSWAY will remain a two-lane carriageway in both directions, a council has insisted.

Southend Council requested expensive reports be produced looking into the future of the road with the report suggesting a single lane possibility among its recommendations.

However the council eventually rejected this both in 2017 and again in September and insist the Better Queensway project will keep the four lanes currently in place if and when a deal with Swan Housing Association is confirmed.

Councillor James Courtenay, deputy chair of the council, said: “The council previously bid for some extra funding for the road out of the Government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund and they gave us £15million to improve road infrastructure.

“What we could have done is said this is what we are going to do with the road and then build houses round it, but that doesn’t necessarily make the whole scheme fit in.

“So we said we would put the requirement to sort the road out into the project and the infrastructure  will be the housing delivered and the road.

“What we’ve also said is the £15million the Government has given us can go into that pot to allow it to be done.”

Mr Courtenay added: “The road will also be four lanes - two lanes in both directions.”

Swan was chosen as a partner after they proposed how the Queensway area could be redeveloped from the three existing tower blocks to a site comprised of 1,600 new homes.

Their proposal includes making improvements to the road and maintaining four lanes of traffic.

Fears the road layout would become a single-lane carriageway were first put forward by council officers when the Better Queensway regeneration scheme was initially discussed. They were later dismissed after a backlash from businesses who feared it would result in gridlock during the summer.

The proposal came up again in September last year when a proposal to make it a single-lane carriageway was found in the council’s new transport strategy.

As before, it was dismissed soon after and the council reiteated it is “committed to four lanes remaining in place in any future design”.

Mr Courtenay said other infrastructure issues, including school demand and GPs, are being kept “under constant review”.

He said: “Better Queensway is the biggest regeneration project we are undertaking in a generation and will seek to transform this vital area right in the centre of our town, delivering better housing, better living and a better place for both the current residents and those that will make central Southend their home in the future.

“This is really just the beginning and there is much more work to be done.”

Councillors will discuss the recommendation of working with Swan next Tuesday.

If approved by Swan’s Board, the council’s cabinet and the full council on February 21 a contract will be awarded.

John Synnuck, chief executive officer of Swan Housing Association, said: “We are delighted to have been selected by Southend Council.

“We’ve been taking on complex regenerations just like this for the last 25 years and our award-winning schemes show that we can not only build high-quality homes of all tenures, but also fantastic public realm, including green spaces.” The partnership is still to be officially approved by both the full council and the board of Swan Housing.