Harlow Gateway Scheme
The Harlow Gateway Scheme is a major urban development project that is underway in Harlow, Essex, England. It involves the regeneration of a significant area in the town's centre and the relocation of many key services.
The area that is central to all the development is the Sports Centre site near to Velizy Avenue in the town's centre, where 530 eco-homes are being constructed. The outdoor artificial ski slope has been dismantled and the football stadium at which Harlow Town F.C. play has been relocated to a new £3million stadium at Barrow's Farm to the northwest of town. The Sports Centre and the separate swimming pool will be rebuilt as one building on the former college playing field site, with state-of-the-art architecture and facilities. The athletics track from the site will be relocated to the new purpose built £1million track at Mark Hall School in the East of Harlow as part of its development into a sports college. Other developments include the building of new flats near railway station and the adjacent Travelodge hotel and pub/restaurant. These were completed in the year 2005.
It is likely that these developments will require considerable infrastructure improvements. The 530 homes, new Sports Centre and the apartment and hotel complex are being built on what is already one of the most congested roads in the town, with traffic jams on an almost daily basis. Money from the sale of the field has helped to fund a new centre at Harlow College as part of its own rebuilding and expansion. This is likely to further fuel the need for road improvements because it is situated on the same road as the other developments. There have also been significant developments in the town centre itself, with the reconstruction of the Town Centre South in a separate project.