MORE THAN £485,000 will be spent improving Colchester’s roads.

The Colchester Local Highways Panel recommended 38 schemes to the county council earlier this month.

They included putting zebra crossings in Butt Road and Hawthorn Avenue, and a pedestrian crossing outside the Gilberd School.

A video survey and signal reconfiguration will be done at the junction between Mersea Road and Napier Road, and a review will be carried out on the junction between Blackberry Road and Winstree Road in Stanway.

Money has also been allocated for The Strood, on the way to Mersea, but no details of what work will be completed have been given.

Rodney Bass, responsible for highways, signed off the recommendations on April 15.

He said: “These well-thought-out schemes will improve journeys on Colchester’s highways for many thousands of people.”

Anne Brown, joint chairman of the Colchester Local Highways Panel, added: “I am delighted that the Local Highways Panel has again been positive in prioritising and recommending such practical schemes.”