The Norwich Western Link has received regional backing and as a result has been put forward for national funding consideration.Transport East, the sub-national transport body that covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Southend-on-Sea, was asked by the Department for Transport to agree their regional priorities for significant road projects that could be constructed between 2020 and 2025. As a result, Norfolk County Council has won regional support for four projects: the Norwich Western Link, Long Stratton Bypass in south Norfolk and West Winch Housing Access Road and a complete redesign of the Pullover junction in west Norfolk.Following the decision by Transport East, business cases for the four Norfolk projects were submitted to the Department for Transport yesterday (Tuesday, 30 July). As a result, the projects can be considered for funding from the national Major Road Network and Large Local Major pots of money, which specifically fund road improvement schemes. It is hoped that the first projects to be awarded funding could be announced later this year.<a href="https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/news/2019/07/regional-backing-secured-for-norfolk-road-projects">You can read more about each of the projects here</a> .

Norwich Western Link made a regional priority

Norfolk County Council’s Cabinet has this morning agreed Option C as the preferred route for the Norwich Western Link. As mentioned previously, we recommended Option C as the best overall solution and preferred route for the new link road between the A47 and Broadland Northway (formerly the NDR) as it balances all of the issues the project needs to address. It limits environmental impacts, has a high cost-to-benefit ratio, reduces congestion and rat-running on existing roads, minimises the impact on communities and properties, and received considerable support through our recent consultation.This is a major milestone for the project and, while there is still much work to be done, having a preferred route brings us a step closer to starting work to construct the Norwich Western Link in late 2022 and opening the road to traffic in early 2025, subject to securing funding and completing necessary statutory processes.Further surveys and design work will now be carried out to develop the preferred route. This will include the development of complementary measures to mitigate environmental impacts, encourage walking, cycling and public transport use, and limit the amount, speed and type of vehicles using the existing road network in the area where appropriate. Alongside our work to identify a preferred route, we have also put together a Strategic Outline Business Case for the project which councillors on our Cabinet also approved today. We intend for this to be submitted to the Department for Transport by the end of the month, which will start the process required to secure funding for the Norwich Western Link from the government. We have an excellent case for the need for the road and strong support from the public, the business community, emergency services, local councils and MPs, so we’re very hopeful we’ll be successful.We’ll continue to let you know when there are significant updates about the project, and we’ll keep the Norwich Western Link pages of the County Council website updated, which you can find at <a href="http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl">www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl</a> . There will also be a further public consultation on the preferred route before we submit our planning application.

Preferred route for Norwich Western Link agreed

We have today (Friday 5 July) published a preferred route recommendation for the Norwich Western Link.The County Council wants to provide a higher standard connection between the western end of Broadland Northway (formerly the NDR) and the A47 to significantly improve travel between these two major roads. There is strong support from the public, the business community, emergency services, local councils and MPs for a link road to be created, which is needed to tackle traffic congestion, rat-running and delays to journeys on minor roads to the west of Norwich.Late last year, the County Council published a shortlist of four potential road options for the Norwich Western Link and carried out a public consultation on these options between November 2018 and January 2019. Having considered the consultation responses alongside other crucial information, such as transport benefits, environmental effects, value for money and impacts on local communities, we have recommended Option C , a new 3.9 mile dual carriageway road, as the best overall solution and preferred route for the Norwich Western Link. Option C would link from the roundabout at the western end of Broadland Northway and extend for around 350 metres along the A1067 Fakenham Road before turning in a south-westerly direction via a new junction. The road would cross the River Wensum on a viaduct and then continue at or near ground level for the remainder of its length. It would link to the A47 via a new junction at Wood Lane (B1535), which forms part of Highways England’s plan to dual the A47 between North Tuddenham and Easton. Please see the map below which shows the route.<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:eco,w_1024/v1562677872/projects/nwloptions/NWL%20Option%20C%20Map.jpg" />We have recommended Option C as the preferred route as it balances all of the issues that the project needs to address, including limiting environmental impacts, having a high cost-to-benefit ratio, reducing congestion and rat-running on existing roads, minimising the impact on communities and properties, and receiving considerable support through our recent consultation.We’re committed to creating this road in an environmentally responsible way and are aiming to achieve ‘biodiversity net gain’ by, for example, creating new habitats and including features such as green bridges. And one of the Norwich Western Link’s project objectives is to encourage people to shift the way they travel to use more sustainable forms of transport, such as walking, cycling and public transport. Taking traffic off the existing road network will help with this, but we’ll also work to develop complementary transport measures that will support this ambition once the preferred route has been agreed.It’s important to say that at this stage the preferred route is only a recommendation. Councillors on the County Council’s Cabinet will meet on Monday 15 July to discuss the contents of the report and will be asked to agree a preferred route for the Norwich Western Link. We’ll let you know the outcome of this meeting and next steps for the project on 15 July.You can read the full report on the Norwich Western Link that our councillors are considering at the Cabinet meeting, as well as further information such as questions and answers, on our website at <a href="http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl">www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl</a> .

Preferred route recommendation for Norwich Western Link published

Give us your views on our four shortlisted options for a Norwich Western Link to help us identify a preferred route. Please tell us what you think before the consultation closes at midnight on Friday 18 January.

Have your say on options for a Norwich Western Link

NWL Options

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