North Street goes one-way on Monday 9 November and car-free at weekends from 13 November, as M11 junction 8 works begin. This week's closures near the town.

The biggest change on Bishop’s Stortford roadworks and travel this month is North Street, from Monday 9 November. Hertfordshire County Council’s trial makes North Street and Water Lane one-way southbound, with no entry from High Street or Market Street and a 20mph limit. Installing the gates, planters and signs takes up to five days from 9 November, between 8am and 5pm (Hertfordshire County Council, North Street project).

From Friday 13 November, North Street closes to motor traffic every weekend, between Water Lane and Bridge Street, from 5.30pm on Friday to 7am on Monday. Buses 35 and 511 move to Link Road for the whole trial. Our North Street story has the parking, taxi and Blue Badge detail.

The same Monday, National Highways plans to start about ten months of work at M11 junction 8, with a 40mph limit day and night and phased overnight closures towards Stansted Airport. Its closure report to 10 November has no roundabout closure dates yet, though it does shut the A120 east of the junction on the night of 10 November. Our full report on the junction 8 plans has every closure and diversion.

Nothing is booked on the A1250 through Hockerill.

Updated 5 November: the motorway section now follows the National Highways report for 4 to 10 November, and Essex’s notices add High Lane and Bury Lodge Lane in Stansted. Hertfordshire’s notices of 5 November were not yet published when we checked.

Updated 1 November: this Bishop’s Stortford roadworks page was rechecked against the National Highways report for 30 October to 5 November and the Hertfordshire and Essex notices of 29 October. The Much Hadham lane closures and the M25 junction 23 to 25 nights have ended. The North Street trial is new.

This week on the roads near the town

Hertfordshire’s notices of 29 October confirm these orders as made. Each closure only takes effect on the days shown on the signs.

From Monday 2 November:

  • B1197 Hertford Road, Hoddesdon, about 30 metres from Cherry Tree Road, ten days, for utility works. The signed route is long: the B1170, the A1170 Ware Road, the B1502, the A414 and back on the B1197.
  • Tollsworth Way, Puckeridge, 12 days.
  • New Road, Ware, 98 metres from Collett Road, three days, for a water main repair, diverted via Musley Hill or The Bourne.
  • A119 High Road, Waterford, 329 metres from Vicarage Lane, five days, diverted via the A602, the A10 and the A414 into Hertford.
  • B1001 Watton Road, Ware, one day, and Holy Cross Hill, Wormley, five days.

From Wednesday 4 November:

Closer to town, in Essex’s notices of 2 November:

  • High Lane, Stansted, 480 metres between Cambridge Road and Birchalls, two days from Monday 9 November, for carriageway patching.
  • Bury Lodge Lane, Stansted Mountfitchet, 230 metres, one night from Wednesday 11 November, 10pm to 5am, for drainage, kerbing and a lamp column.
  • Church Road, Little Hallingbury, 50 metres between Lower Road and Wrights Green Lane, one day from Friday 13 November, for cabling (Essex County Council notices, 2 November 2026).

Madgeways Lane, Great Amwell, 299 metres, closed for eight days from 29 October, diverted via Cautherly Lane and the A1170 Pepper Hill (Hertfordshire County Council notices, 22 October 2026).

The motorways this week

National Highways’ seven-day report, running from Wednesday 4 to Tuesday 10 November, lists no closure at the junction 8 roundabout itself. The entries near the town:

  • A120 eastbound, M11 junction 8 to Dunmow, shut overnight on Tuesday 10 November, 21:00 to 05:00, for carriageway reconstruction.
  • M11 northbound, junction 6 to junction 7, shut overnight on Tuesday 10 November, 22:00 to 05:00, for carriageway reconstruction.
  • M11 southbound link from junction 6 to the M25, shut overnight on Monday 9 November, 22:00 to 05:30, for emergency safety fence repairs.
  • M25 clockwise, junction 25 to junction 26, shut overnight to the morning of Saturday 7 November for tunnel works. Junction 25 is the A10 at Waltham Cross.
  • M25 at junction 25: the clockwise carriageway “up and over” and the anticlockwise entry slip shut overnight on 9 and 10 November, 22:00 to 05:30 (National Highways road closure report).

The M11 junction 7 exit: two months, still not booked

National Highways gave notice in September that it intends to close the M11 northbound exit slip at junction 7, Harlow, for about two months of embankment work, starting on or after Monday 19 October. Traffic would carry on to junction 7A and come back south (National Highways notice, Essex Chronicle, 24 September 2026). The report to 10 November does not include it. The two-month closure has not started. We will add it when it is booked.

Coming: ten months at M11 junction 8

From Monday 9 November, National Highways intends to impose a 40mph limit 24 hours a day on the junction 8 roundabout, the A120 Thremhall Avenue to the airport, the Priory Wood roundabout and the end of the northbound link road. Sections will close overnight, 8pm to 5am, in phases, for “carriageway widening, signalisation and resurfacing”. The works are expected to take about ten months. Diversions use the B1256 through Takeley, junction 7A and the lanes around Round Coppice Road (National Highways notice, Essex Chronicle, 15 October 2026). The order is due to come into force on 2 November. Our junction 8 report has the full list.

Fifth Avenue, Harlow: 30mph since 22 October

Essex County Council has made the order for a 30mph limit on the A414 Fifth Avenue in Harlow, for about 440 metres either side of the East Herts boundary, from 22 October for 549 days, while new road layout works are carried out. The ban on turning right from Fifth Avenue into Burntmill Lane is lifted, and turning right out of Burntmill Lane is banned instead. Harlow is about eight miles south of Bishop’s Stortford (Essex County Council notices, 15 October 2026).

Trains

National Rail’s listings, last checked on 28 October, show nothing on the Bishop’s Stortford line before Sunday 8 November.

What National Rail lists next:

  • Sunday 8 November: no trains via Lea Bridge. Hertford East to Stratford trains run into Liverpool Street instead (National Rail, 8 November).
  • Sunday 15 November: platform work at Liverpool Street cuts the Stansted Express to every 30 minutes instead of every 15, with extra trains between Stratford and Stansted Airport (National Rail, 15 November). Before 08:15 and after 23:59 that day, trains are diverted via Seven Sisters (National Rail, Tottenham Hale, 15 November).
  • Sunday 22 November: before 09:00, Stansted Express trains run via Stratford, up to 10 minutes earlier or later than usual (National Rail, 22 November).
  • Nights of Monday 23 to Friday 27 November: the Seven Sisters line is shut overnight. Between 23:35 and 05:15, Greater Anglia and Stansted Express trains that normally use it run via Tottenham Hale instead, with slightly longer journeys (National Rail, 23 November).

For live running on the day, use National Rail status and disruptions. Journey times and season ticket prices are on our trains to London page.

The next three weeks

Road and rail closures around Bishop's Stortford, 1 to 21 November 2026 Timeline, 1 to 21 November 2026. North Street trial works from 9 November for up to five days, then North Street closes to traffic each weekend from Friday 13 November, 5.30pm Friday to 7am Monday. National Highways intends a 40mph limit and phased night closures at M11 junction 8 from 9 November. Priory Street in Ware is shut until about 20 November. B1197 Hertford Road, Hoddesdon closes for ten days and Tollsworth Way, Puckeridge for twelve days from 2 November. The M25 clockwise between junctions 25 and 26 closes overnight 2 to 5 November. Chapel Hill, Berden closes on 6 November. No trains run via Lea Bridge on Sunday 8 November. Market Street, Hertford is proposed to close for seven days from 9 November. The Stansted Express runs half-hourly on Sunday 15 November. Gilston Lane is proposed to close for two days and Tye Green Road, Elsenham for three days from 16 November. The next three weeks around Bishop's Stortford Mid green: order made or work confirmed. Dark green: rail. Pale green: still at the "intends to" stage. 1 Nov 4 Nov 7 Nov 10 Nov 13 Nov 16 Nov 19 Nov North Street trial works, 8am to 5pm North Street car-free, Fri 5.30pm to Mon 7am M11 junction 8, 40mph and night closures Priory Street, Ware (to about 20 Nov) B1197 Hertford Road, Hoddesdon (10 days) Tollsworth Way, Puckeridge (12 days) M25 clockwise J25 to J26, nights Chapel Hill, Berden (6 Nov) Trains: no Lea Bridge route (Sunday 8 Nov) Market Street, Hertford (7 days, proposed) Stansted Express half-hourly (Sunday 15 Nov) Gilston Lane, Gilston (2 days, proposed) Tye Green Road, Elsenham (3 days, proposed) Sources: Hertfordshire and Essex County Council notices (15, 22 and 29 Oct 2026), National Highways, National Rail. Graphic by Bishop's Stortford News
North Street's trial and the M11 junction 8 work both start on Monday 9 November, and are the two that touch the town most. Graphic by Bishop's Stortford News.

Still unclear

The 22 October batch includes a made order for “various roads in Westmill, Puckeridge, Hoddesdon, Aston, Waltham Cross and Wormley”. It covers 1.4 kilometres of road at Westmill, about 130 metres of High Street, Puckeridge from Tollsworth Way, Swanfield Road, Waltham Cross, Warners Avenue, Hoddesdon and side roads in Aston and Wormley. The notice as published breaks off mid-list, before its start date and duration, so we cannot tell you when it applies. Puckeridge is about seven miles west of the town.

The 29 October notices do not repeat it, so its dates are still unknown. The A119 North Road, Hertford one-day closure proposed for 29 October, for a bridge inspection, had still not appeared as a made order by 29 October.

Proposed from 9 November

Hertfordshire’s notices of 22 October give notice of these, all still at the “intends to make” stage:

  • Market Street and Railway Street, Hertford, 156 metres from Fore Street to Bircherley Street, seven days from 9 November, diverted via Fore Street and Railway Street.
  • 3U151 near Wareside, two days from 9 November, for a telegraph pole.
  • Lampits and Lord Street, Hoddesdon, one or two days from 9 November.
  • Lammas Road, Watton at Stone, and Tanfield Close, Cheshunt, seven days from 9 November.
  • Hertingfordbury Road, Hertford, one day from 11 November (Hertfordshire County Council notices, 22 October 2026).

The 29 October notices add, still proposed, from 16 November:

  • Gilston Lane, Gilston, 60 metres near Gilston Park, two days, for a telegraph pole, access only. The signed route runs via Bakers Lane, High Wych Lane, High Wych Road and Pye Corner. Gilston is about four miles south of Bishop’s Stortford.
  • Roads in Braughing, five days (Hertfordshire County Council notices, 29 October 2026).

Still running

  • Priory Street, Ware. About 100 metres from Ware Town Footpath 15, shut from 28 September for 54 days, so until about 20 November, for drainage. The signed route is Harriss Lane, Priory Road, the B1001 Watton Road and the A1170 through the Bridge Foot roundabout. Ware is about ten miles west of Bishop’s Stortford (Hertfordshire County Council notices, Hertfordshire Mercury, 24 September 2026).
  • Bridleway Buntingford 013, between Hare Street Road and The Causeway, closed from 11 September for up to six months for development works.

Read the small print on all of them. Each order lasts up to 18 months, but the works are expected to take only the time listed, and the restriction applies only on the days and at the times shown on the signs. An order being live does not mean the road is shut today.

Essex side: Elsenham, Langley, Berden and Harlow

Essex County Council has made these orders north and south of the town:

Harlow Council will close School Lane, Park Lane, and Fifth Avenue southbound from the Burnt Mill roundabout to Fourth Avenue, from 17:00 to 20:00 on Sunday 1 November for its fireworks display (Harlow Council notice, 15 October 2026). Essex also intends a one-day 30mph limit on the A414 Edinburgh Way, from the Burnt Mill roundabout to the Howard Way roundabout, for the same event. The road is normally 50mph (Essex County Council notices, 22 October 2026).

Further ahead, Essex intends these closures in Uttlesford, all still proposed:

  • Tye Green Road and Fullers Lane, Elsenham, 335 metres, three days from 16 November, for Gigaclear.
  • Brixton Lane, Rickling Green, 50 metres, nine days from 17 November, for Affinity Water. Rickling Green is about six miles north of the town.
  • Hall Road, Elsenham, 290 metres from the High Street, in phases at any time over 18 months from 29 October. Essex says the exact dates will go on one.network and residents will get letters before each phase (Essex County Council notices, Uttlesford, 22 October 2026).

Apton Road, in the town itself

The temporary closure order for a 44 metre length of Apton Road in Bishop’s Stortford, for utility service works, came into effect on 27 July 2026 and runs for six months. The works themselves were expected to take about five days, and the restriction only bites on the days shown on the signs.

We could not confirm today whether that work has been carried out. Treat the order as live and the road as normally open unless the signs say otherwise. The diversion, if it is in place, runs via Newtown Road, the B1529 South Street and back into Apton Road (notice published 8 July 2026).

Where to check local roadworks

Hertfordshire County Council does not publish a roadworks list of its own. Its roadworks page offers a map hosted on one.network, the commercial platform councils and utility firms file into. The map loads without an account; the list view asks you to sign in, and one.network’s own data feeds are not open to the public.

Statutory closure orders for individual streets are published as public notices in the local paper and carried on the Public Notice Portal. That is where every street closure above came from.

For the A120 east of junction 8, the road is Essex County Council’s. Essex Highways was checked on 27 September and carries no current closure item on the A120 near Bishop’s Stortford, Stansted or Great Dunmow. East Herts District Council has no roadworks function of its own and refers everything to the county.

The scheme that will actually change things: A10 Cheshunt

The largest highways project in this paper’s patch is not in Bishop’s Stortford at all. Hertfordshire County Council, working with Broxbourne Borough Council, is designing upgrades to three junctions on the A10 Great Cambridge Road through Cheshunt:

  • Church Lane, where right turns onto the A10 from both sides would be stopped and the signals retimed to push more traffic along the A10.
  • College Road, where the southbound A10 approach would be widened to three lanes and new pedestrian crossings added on the north and east sides.
  • Lieutenant Ellis Way and Winston Churchill Way roundabout, which would become a cut-through or “hamburger” roundabout, with straight-ahead lanes running through the middle so A10 traffic does not have to go round.

Underpasses and flyovers at Lieutenant Ellis Way were looked at through the Broxbourne Local Plan and dropped as too costly and too land-hungry. The scheme also adds walking and cycling routes along Church Lane and College Road, between Theobalds Lane and Albury Walk, and alongside the A10 between Church Lane and Halfhide Lane.

The council has run public engagement and is refining the design using junction queue surveys. No construction dates have been published (Hertfordshire County Council). The council says bus services should not be affected, because almost nothing runs along that stretch of the A10 today.

The routes that matter

  • A1250 Hadham Road and Dunmow Road, through Hockerill. The town’s principal east to west route and its worst pinch point. It links Hadham Road in the west to the Dunmow Road climb up to the A120 in the east, through the Hockerill traffic lights. There is no parallel road.
  • A120 Bishop’s Stortford bypass to M11 junction 8. The route to Stansted, Braintree and the motorway. When it closes for overnight work, the signed diversion runs back through the town on the A1250, which is why bypass closures are felt on Hadham Road.
  • A1184 south to Sawbridgeworth and Harlow. Follows the Stort valley and is the road that floods at Spellbrook when the river comes up.
  • A10 through Waltham Cross, Cheshunt, Broxbourne and Hoddesdon. A separate corridor entirely, feeding the M25 at junction 25, and the subject of the scheme above.

Parking in Bishop’s Stortford, and the £3.70 you are probably wasting

East Herts Council runs eight car parks in Bishop’s Stortford. They do not all charge the same, and the difference for a full day is large. Every figure below was rechecked against the council’s own car park pages on 20 September 2026 and is unchanged.

Cost of parking in Bishop's Stortford, Northgate End against the standard town tariff Paired bar chart comparing East Herts Council car park charges in Bishop's Stortford. Northgate End multi-storey charges £1.05 for one hour, £2.10 for two, £2.70 for three, £3.30 for four, £3.80 for five and £4.40 all day. The standard tariff at Apton Road, Jackson Square and Link Road charges £1.25 for one hour, £2.50 for two, £3.70 for three, £5.00 for four, £6.20 for five and £8.10 all day at Apton Road. Northgate End is cheaper at every duration and £3.70 cheaper for a full day. Northgate End is cheaper at every single duration Monday to Saturday charges, East Herts Council car parks in Bishop's Stortford, checked 20 September 2026. Northgate End multi-storey Apton Road, Jackson Square, Link Road 1 hour £1.05 £1.25 2 hours £2.10 £2.50 3 hours £2.70 £3.70 4 hours £3.30 £5.00 5 hours £3.80 £6.20 All day £4.40 £8.10 Jackson Square and Link Road are short stay, so five hours is their maximum. The £8.10 all-day figure is Apton Road. Sundays and bank holidays: £1.70 all day at Northgate End, £2.10 everywhere else. Christmas Day is free. Blue Badge holders park free for up to three hours in all of them. Apton Road gives 30 minutes free with a ticket.
A full day at Apton Road costs £8.10. The same day at Northgate End costs £4.40, and it is a five-minute walk further.

Northgate End (CM23 2ES) is the multi-storey, 482 bays, including 54 electric vehicle charging bays on PodPoint machines, 31 disabled bays and 10 motorcycle bays. Vehicle access runs 07:00 to 23:00, exit is open 24 hours, and charges apply 07:30 to 20:00 Monday to Saturday. The top deck shuts at 23:00 and does not reopen until 07:00. Charging costs 44p per kWh and is billed separately from the parking, and there is a five hour maximum stay in a charging bay.

Jackson Square (CM23 3XQ) is the biggest at 708 spaces but is short stay only. The rest are Apton Road (86), Basbow Lane (71), Crown Terrace (65), Elm Road (47, long stay), Grange Paddocks (80 to 150 depending on the area) and Link Road (100).

Market traders have their own rate on Thursdays and Saturdays, the town’s two market days: £4.80 at Apton Road, £5.00 at Link Road.

All eight are covered by the council’s car park pages, which carry the individual tariffs and space counts.

Station parking

The station car parks are not the council’s: a multi-storey on Anchor Street (CM23 3BP) and a surface car park beside the station (CM23 3BL). Both are a few minutes from the platforms.

What it means for you

  • Driving into North Street from 9 November? You can only enter from Hadham Road, and the street is one-way south. From Friday 13 November it shuts to cars from 5.30pm on Fridays to 7am on Mondays.
  • Catching the 35 or 511 in town? Use the Link Road stops, not Bridge Street, from 9 November.
  • Using M11 junction 8 after 9 November? Expect 40mph at all hours and night closures towards Stansted for about ten months.
  • Heading for Hoddesdon on the B1197? Hertford Road is shut near Cherry Tree Road for up to ten days from 2 November.
  • Using the M25 towards the A10 late at night? The clockwise carriageway from junction 25 to 26 is shut 22:00 to 05:30, Monday 2 to Thursday 5 November.
  • Driving into Ware from Watton Road or the High Street? Priory Street is shut until about 20 November.
  • Parking in Bishop’s Stortford for the day? Northgate End at £4.40 saves you £3.70 against Apton Road.