Four potential road options for a Norwich Western Link, designed to improve travel between the A47 and the western end of Broadland Northway (formerly Northern Distributor Road) and tackle transport problems in this area, have been published. Three new dual carriageway roads and a single carriageway upgrade to the B1535 make up the shortlisted options. While the majority of the new or improved roads would be built at or near ground level, viaduct-style bridges over river flood plains are included in some of the options. All of the routes also include improvements to the A1067 Fakenham Road. The shortlisted options, from west to east, are: • Option A – a 7.2 mile single carriageway upgrade to the B1535 and A1067, linking to the A47 at the Wood Lane junction north of Honingham. This option would significantly realign the current B road, smoothing it out to make it a higher standard route. The route would join the A1067 via a new junction at Lenwade and make use of the existing bridge across the River Wensum at Attlebridge. It is predicted this route would carry around 10,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £60 million. • Option B – a new dual carriageway route and dual carriageway upgrade of the A1067 totalling 5.2 miles, with the new route to the east of Weston Longville and linking to the A47 at Wood Lane. At the northern end of this route, two alternatives are given for how it could join the A1067. One would be via a new junction near Attlebridge which would include widening the existing River Wensum bridge at Attlebridge. The other would see a new 660 metre viaduct crossing of the Wensum created, joining the A1067 further to the east. It is predicted this route would carry around 30,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £155 million based on the viaduct alternative as this has a higher cost. • Option C – a new dual carriageway route and dual carriageway upgrade of the A1067, linking to the A47 at Wood Lane and totalling 3.9 miles. Around 350 metres of the A1067 would be dualled before a new junction would take the route between Weston Longville and Ringland, crossing the River Wensum on a 720 metre-long viaduct. It is predicted this route would carry around 32,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £153 million. • Option D – a new dual carriageway route and dual carriageway upgrade of the A1067 totalling 3.6 miles. The route is similar to Option C at its northern end, however it then runs to the west of Ringland and links to the A47 further east at the junction with Taverham Road. Around 400 metres of the A1067 would be dualled before a new junction would take the route between Weston Longville and Ringland, crossing the River Wensum on a 660 metre-long viaduct, then turning more to the south and crossing the River Tud on a second viaduct, this one 120 metres long, before it meets the A47. It is predicted this route would carry around 31,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £161 million. Members of Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee will be asked next Friday (9 November) to approve the shortlist and proceed with a public consultation on the options between 26 November 2018 and 18 January 2019. More detail on the routes will be published to coincide with the consultation’s launch, along with details of consultation events and locations. Cllr Martin Wilby, Chairman of Norfolk County Council’s Environment, Development and Transport Committee, said: “These are four good options for a Norwich Western Link, each with their own merits. If the committee approves them, they will give people real choice to consider during the consultation which will help us to identify a preferred option by next spring. “A lot of work has gone into shortlisting these options. This includes understanding the benefits of each of the routes, particularly in terms of changing the way people travel through the area. And we’ve also given careful consideration to minimising and mitigating the impact of any construction, on the natural environment and on people who live and work in the vicinity. “Assuming the committee approves the options, much more information would be provided when the consultation launches to help people make an informed decision about any of the routes they would support for a Norwich Western Link.” The four routes have been published following months of work to identify which options would be most effective as a Norwich Western Link. This work followed Department for Transport assessment guidelines and included traffic surveys and modelling, gathering information on environmental and ecological factors in the area and developing a longlist of road and non-road options. While road options were found to be the most effective in isolation, the County Council will consider complementing these options with other transport measures such as walking and cycling routes and traffic management measures on other roads. The shortlisted options have also been informed by the results of an initial Norwich Western Link consultation which was held earlier this year. The consultation had more than 1,700 responses and showed that there was very strong support for creating a new link between the A47 and Broadland Northway, with the majority of those responding suggesting a new road as their preferred solution. Key transport issues identified by people through the consultation included slow journey times, rat running and roads not being suitable for the volume and type of traffic such as HGVs. The County Council made providing a Norwich Western Link one of its three infrastructure priorities in 2016. Councillors were aware there were long-standing concerns about traffic congestion on roads and in communities to the west of Norwich and calls from many people to fill in what they saw as the ‘missing link’ between the A47 and Broadland Northway. Since 2016, a number of changes have taken place or been announced – Broadland Northway is fully open and helping to reduce journey times, plans for a Food Enterprise Zone at Easton are progressing and Highways England’s work to dual a section of the A47 between North Tuddenham and Easton is set to start by 2021. The County Council has been in discussion with Highways England for some time about its plans to develop a Norwich Western Link. The A47 junctions for the four shortlisted routes have been chosen to tie-in with the junctions proposed as part of the dualling upgrade of this stretch of the A47. If the Environment, Development and Transport Committee approves the shortlist next Friday, details of the consultation, including information on consultation events, will be made available shortly afterwards.
