M11 junction 8 and the A120 to Stansted get 40mph day and night from 9 November, with phased 8pm to 5am closures for about ten months. Diversions listed.

National Highways plans about ten months of work at M11 junction 8, Bishop’s Stortford’s motorway junction, starting on or after Monday 9 November. The roundabout and the A120 towards Stansted Airport would have a 40mph limit day and night. Parts of the junction would also close overnight, from 8pm to 5am, in phases.

Updated 28 October: National Highways’ closure report for 27 October to 2 November has no dates at junction 8 yet, and no notice that the order has been made has appeared on the Public Notice Portal. We will add the first closure nights when they are booked.

The work is described as “carriageway widening, signalisation and resurfacing”. Signalisation means traffic lights. The notice does not say which roundabout gets them.

National Highways published its notice of the order in the Essex Chronicle on 15 October (National Highways notice, Public Notice Portal). It is at the “intends to make” stage. The order would come into force on 2 November and could last up to 18 months.

Where the work is

The notice covers the stretch between the motorway and the airport:

  • Birchanger Roundabout, the junction 8 roundabout over the M11
  • the A120 Thremhall Avenue, both ways, between Birchanger Roundabout and the Priory Wood Roundabout at Stansted Airport
  • the Priory Wood Roundabout itself
  • the northbound link from the M11 to Priory Wood Roundabout, for its last 264 metres

All of those would carry the 40mph limit, 24 hours a day, for the length of the works.

This is a different junction from the last big scheme. Essex County Council replaced the A120 and A1250 Dunmow Road roundabout, on the town side of the motorway, with traffic lights. That work finished in July 2024 (Essex Highways).

The overnight closures

Each closure would run from 8pm to 5am, one section at a time. The notice does not give dates for each phase. These are the closures it lists, with the signed diversions:

What closes overnight Signed diversion
A120 Thremhall Avenue eastbound, towards the airport B1256 east through Takeley to the Dunmow West junction, then back west on the A120
A120 Thremhall Avenue westbound, towards the M11 Local traffic via the B1256 to Birchanger Roundabout. M11 traffic carries on to junction 7A and comes back north to junction 8
Birchanger Roundabout, between Thremhall Avenue and the M11 southbound entry slip M11 and westbound traffic via Round Coppice Road, Bury Lodge Lane, Church Road, Walson Way and the B1383 Stansted Road. Traffic for Takeley via the A120 east and the B1256
Priory Wood Roundabout, between its two Thremhall Avenue arms Round Birchanger Roundabout and back
A120 westbound exit slip at Priory Wood Roundabout Via the B1256 at Dunmow West, or on to the M11 southbound and back from junction 7A
M11 northbound link road exit to Priory Wood Roundabout On to the Bassingbourn Roundabout at the airport and back west on the A120
M11 southbound entry from Priory Wood Roundabout West on Thremhall Avenue to the junction 8 entry slip

The notice also lists a closure of part of Priory Wood Roundabout at its Round Coppice Road junction, and of the M11’s dedicated left-turn lane into Round Coppice Road.

The B1256 is the old Dunmow road through Takeley. Several of the diversions send night traffic along it.

What the notice does not say

It does not say who asked for the works or who is paying for them. It does not give a date for each closure, or a timetable for the phases. National Highways normally lists each night’s closures in its seven-day road closure report. The report issued on 16 October runs to Thursday 22 October and does not yet include any of them.

Emergency vehicles, winter maintenance and works vehicles are exempt from the closures. Emergency services are also exempt from the 40mph limit.

Questions about the notice go to Connect Highways, which handles it for National Highways: leo@connecthighways.com.

What it means for you

  • Using junction 8 after 9 November? Expect 40mph through the roundabout and along the A120 to the airport at all hours, for about ten months.
  • Driving to or from Stansted late at night? Allow extra time. Some nights the direct route between the M11 and the airport will be shut from 8pm, and the diversion may take you through Takeley or down to junction 7A and back.
  • Live in Takeley, Birchanger or Stansted Mountfitchet? The signed diversions use the B1256, the B1383 and the lanes around Round Coppice Road, so expect more night traffic past you while each phase runs.
  • Flying early? An airport run before 5am may still be on a diversion. Check the closure report the week before you travel.

The rest of this week’s closures around the town are on our roadworks and travel page.