The Northern Section (Chelmsford to the A132 Rettendon Turnpike) was opened to traffic in January 2002 and the Southern Section was opened in February 2003. The new road provides much-needed relief to the villages along the old A130, one of the busiest single carriageway roads in Europe and links East Anglia with South East Essex.

The new bypass will aid regeneration in South East Essex and will improve the quality of life of local residents, easing congestion and reducing accidents on county roads in the area which have suffered from heavy traffic for many years.

The design and construction was carried out working together with local Parish Councils, landowners, residents, Essex County Council and other interested parties. The new link reduces delays, provides reliable journey times and has been specifically designed to minimise long-term maintenance. The road has also been heavily landscaped to reduce noise and its visual impact on local communities.

During its development the A130 scheme won widespread support from the business community in Essex.

The A130 is operated and maintained in accordance with TRMM (Trunk Roads Maintenance Manual) and the project-specific requirements of the DBFO Contract. Many of these contractually defined performance criteria exceed those of the majority of similar class roads nationally and this, coupled with the high quality of both planned and reactive maintenance, ensures that road users experience minimum disruption time to their journeys, benefiting Essex County Council through a reduction in the volume of user complaints and enquiries.